1After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.2Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.3Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
Each of us has been sent, commissioned, if you will, by the Lord to share and to live His truth. And, the potential to see people won into the kingdom of God is tremendous. When we feel outnumbered by people who don't know Christ, well, Jesus seemed to indicate that would be a problem - but, it's also an opportunity. There are many who don't know Him, and multitudes who can potentially come to know Him. He didn't promise that everyone would be receptive; He sent His followers out as lambs among wolves, but He also recognized they were offering the love and truth of God and sharing words of eternal life, which are powerful and compelling.
In Mark chapter 2, we can read the account of Jesus as He spent time with those who needed to hear the life-changing truth of His message. He had invited a tax collector named Levi, or Matthew, to follow Him, and he responded. We pick up the story in verse 15:
15Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"17When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
The possibility of a free Harley may have been a nice incentive to come for some, but the free gift of eternal life was a much, much bigger takeaway for hundreds of people who stopped by the Dakota Baptist Convention's evangelism tent in the heart of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
A Baptist Press article describes the event as when "the small town of about 6,600 residents hosts nearly a half-million bikers, wannabes and gawkers..." In previous years, the DBC's evangelism tent was on a corner lot on Main Street across from the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and about four blocks from the center of the bar scene. This year it was indoors, one of several "vendors" under one roof. The others: a tattoo parlor, leather goods sales and the like. The strategic location was across the street from a liquor store and adjacent to a bowling alley that becomes a party hub. Two of the biggest drinking establishments in Sturgis were less than two blocks away.
The outreach gave 120 volunteers from at least 20 states and Canada over 3,600 opportunities to share three-minute testimonies, up from over more than 2,100 last year, leading to professions of faith by 513 people, up from 178 in 2013.
This was the ninth year for the intentional evangelism ministry in which "catchers" encourage passers-by to enter an oversized venue to listen to one of the "witnesses" tell about how life changed since the volunteer came to know Jesus Christ personally. The pivotal question: "Has anything like this ever happened to you?" And, to aid the "catchers": the reward for listening was a chance to win a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
In addition to the "catchers" and "witnesses," other volunteers assist in a variety of related tasks, including chaplains who minister to the nearly 1,000 vendors, city employees who handle the daily 55 tons of trash collected, police and fire personnel; shuttle bus drivers who transport volunteers to and from area churches where they bunk for the week and; church site workers who minister to the volunteers; and those who keep ice on hand to keep water cold for the volunteers.
Buck Hill, the convention's missions director, referring to the decision made by Garvon Golden, the DBC executive director, to move locations, said, "It put us deeper into the jungle, into the devil's playground."
There are plenty of spiritual principles at work here. And, I think that first one is something that our Lord Jesus taught in His earthly ministry: Go to where the people are. Jesus was chided for associating with people of less-than-stellar reputations, but His heart was to see people come to a knowledge of God. Because we are all sinners, none of us have a sterling reputation before God - so we don't really have the right to pick and choose the people to whom we are called to share. He is no respecter of persons!
The leadership made a strategic decision to move in a little closer to the action - action that violates Scripture, sure, but they did it knowing that they would be exposed to more people who would need to hear the gospel.
I also appreciate the organization of this outreach and the roles that people would play. You have the "catchers," who are basically saying, "Come and hear." You know, this is important, and we have to make sure that we have a position of being inviting, seeking to reach out to others with compassion, so they might hear the truth. And, you may plant a seed or issue an invitation to attend an outreach event, or we may switch roles and become a "witness," sharing what Christ has done in our lives.
A pivotal question was posed: "Has anything like this ever happened to you?" At some point, the "witnesses," as part of their three-minute testimony, made it personal and related it to the individual lives of the hearers. Perhaps in conversation, this type of question can be useful, to help someone think about his or her own relationship with God, and to help seal the truth in someone's heart.
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