Articles
He Began Where I Was & Taught Me
The Bible says “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).
It often takes a good deal of wisdom and skill to lead people to the truth. We must consider our approaches to them. One common mistake that is often made is to rush in upon religiously minded people announcing to them immediately just how wrong they are. This is not to say that approach will never work because a few have been converted that way. They “got mad before they got glad”, corrected their error and obeyed the gospel.
Recently, I read an article from a man named Tim Junkin who had left the denomination in which he was preaching to obey the gospel. It was not easy for him. Providentially, many things were happening around him to challenge his beliefs. He says, “During this time, our two oldest sons grew and married, both to girls who strove to be Christians only. Through study of the Bible alone, my sons soon understood the original truth of the gospel and were baptized “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). He notes they were then added by Christ to His church. He continues, “This caused some consternation on my part! If my own children didn’t follow my teaching, how could I expect others to?” Junkin then says he became acutely aware of the liberal, worldly shift that was underway in the church of which he was a part. “The church I had grown up in was changing. Attendance figures were more important than life changes (contradicting Matt. 7:13-24). Being entertaining and exciting was preferred to being Biblically in-depth and thorough (contradicting Hebrews 5:11-14 and 2 Timothy 4:1-4). Junkin says the church he once knew “had become a human religious club and was no longer what I needed or wanted spiritually.”
The part that really got my attention was the approach that ultimately brought him to the truth. “One night while visiting another congregation, my daughter accepted the truth and was obedient to the gospel of Christ (1 Peter 1:22). I was happy for her, but it troubled my heart. I determined to speak with the preacher at the congregation we were visiting, and met with him and the elder that was my friend. I wanted to talk because my sons and I were too close and would argue about which way was the true way of God. My co-workers and I had argued scripture. Many were telling me I was wrong. I felt like I could be more objective with an outside observer. I just wanted someone to tell me I was alright…I didn’t need to be saved; I had been saved over 40 years.
As we talked, I explained my background about my understanding of the scripture and my assurance that I was “saved”. He never once told me I was wrong. He simply questioned me for more clarity. Then he did something no one else had done. He used the approach of Philip with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-39). The religious Ethiopian was lost, had been to Jerusalem to study and worship, and was reading scripture, but had no way of understanding it unless some man taught him Jesus. He began where I was, and taught me the full truth of Jesus. He showed me that what I had learned of Scripture was correct, but I had stopped short of fully obeying the truth and reaching salvation in Christ. I am not ashamed to say that I wept as I began to understand my soul’s need and the incompleteness of my obedience to the Lord. Within the hour (Acts 16:33), my friend baptized me into Christ (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-5). Next Sunday, I was blessed to baptize my wife. Within the month, my youngest son was baptized at a Gospel Meeting by my oldest son’s father-in-law, Alton Bailey. My household came to believe the truth through the power of God (Romans 6:17). This was through His providential use of the wonderful Christian girls my sons had married, and through this gospel preacher, who never condemned me, but began where I was to teach me the full truth of Jesus.”
The apostles often encountered sincere, religious people who like Junkin needed to be taught more accurately.
We think of Apollos who was an eloquent speaker, instructed in the way of the Lord, fervent in spirit and teaching diligently the things of the Lord. But he only knew in part, knowing only John’s baptism. Aquila and Priscilla heard him and took him aside to explain the “way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:24-28).
Then there are those in Acts 19 who only knew of the baptism of John. Paul taught them more fully about the baptism of Christ and when they heard it, “they were baptized in the name of Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:1-5). Even though they had been previously immersed in water, it was not the baptism of Christ. Its purpose was different. Paul lead them to a greater understanding.
Even Jesus understood the need to meet people where they were. In John 4, Jesus met a woman who worshipped falsely on Mt. Gerizim and she had lived with 5 husbands. Jesus didn’t storm in telling her how wrong she was but he did get there eventually. He stirred her heart by not being prejudiced, excited her interest in living water, and then got her to asking questions. She ends up saying, “Come see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” She was on her way to the truth. Jesus met her where she was.
The examples abound. Just this week, I baptized a woman into Christ. A few weeks ago, we studied Mark 1 together and she observed that John’s baptism was for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4). She said, “Now I am confused. That’s not what I was taught in the church I grew up in.” We studied further emphasizing the need to let the Bible guide our thinking. As she arrived to study chapter 3, she announced that she wanted to obey the gospel! What joy I had as I watched her husband baptize her into Christ (Gal. 3:27).
I’ll never forget a note I received once from a convert to Christ. She said, “Thanks for being bold enough yet tender enough to lead me to the truth”. Bold yet tender was most often the approach of Jesus and His apostles.
Three verses in 2 Timothy sum this up well. “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God will perhaps grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taking captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Let’s begin where they are and teach them.
