Have you tried to teach someone something and they just didn’t get it? Were you frustrated with them? Did you attempt to use a different approach or analogy? Were you finally effective in getting your point across? Do you know people who won’t believe the gospel?
Teaching can be a challenge. We have some students who need to learn one way and others who learn another. Some learn simply by hearing and writing. Others learn through visual aids. Still others learn by physically doing. As teachers, we need to discover how our students learn.
Telling others about the gospel is no different. Sometimes we need to merely speak of the gospel, tell the stories of Jesus, and state why He came for the person we are speaking with to understand. In other cases, we need to speak of history, prophecy, and present archeological evidence for them to understand and believe. We may need to use pictures, graphs, and timelines to get them to understand.
We may be discouraged when someone we want to accept the gospel simply does not understand or will not believe. We should not beat ourselves up. As Paul tells the Corinthians, it is Satan and our culture that will keep them from understanding. They have submitted to the influence of popular belief rather than believing the Word of God.
Unfortunately, it is their failure to believe the gospel and accept Christ as their Savior that will be their demise. Our hearts may ache for them. We may be distraught because they are a family member. Yet, we cannot forcibly cause them to believe. What can we do? Pray that God changes their heart. Ask him to send his Spirit to work on them from the inside out. We can continue to plant the seeds and pray that God gives the growth.
I pray we all continue to teach the gospel. I pray we try to understand how to reach different types of people. I pray each one of us will plant seeds and ask God to give the growth. Teach others the gospel. Use different methods. Plant the seeds of the gospel. Ask God to give the growth.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Marty Pressey 