Talking about priorities

The last update mentioned something about priorities and I've been thinking about it for a little bit. I have been getting together with a group of men on Thursday mornings at 6:00am (which is now at 5:45am) to discuss different topics and how they might apply to our lives as Christian men. The book we last were reading was titled "Pray & Watch".

It's a book about evangelism, but it's not.  When's the last time you saw a pastor start off a book with the words: "It would be a mistake to think at this is a book about evangelism.  If it were, you'd hear us talking about how much evangelism sucks."

It talks about how God's priority is eternity.  This world, while beautiful and enjoyable, shouldn't (and can't) satisfy our hearts. And, if that is "true, if the invisible is the only thing that lasts forever; if choosing or rejecting Jesus in this life determines whether we will live eternity in bliss or agony; if people are perishing; if Hell is real; then this must be true as well: What matters most is people finding Jesus."

With this in mind, we might find that our "perspective changes.  We care more about the checkout girl than the rising price of milk.  We care more about the woman than the fact that she brought 23 items through the '10 items or less' checkout line." and "we find that picketing the movie theater has thrown us off the trail of what matters most."

God's priority is about eternity.  He sent his son, Jesus, to die so we could experience it with him.  It says in Isaiah 49:6 [NASB]

"He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

It is too small a thing to save and restore Israel (or the church).  He came to seek and save the lost.  And this is where it turns.  He (God) is doing the seeking and saving as Jesus stated in John 6:44: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him...."  Jesus provided the way through his dying on the cross and he "will raise him up on the last day." (last half of John 6:44).  And the Holy Spirit "will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" [John 16:8].  God does the work of salvation from start to finish.  We can't save souls, only God can.

 While God is the only one who can save souls, we have been invited along to help out.  If we understand this, the pressure is no longer there.  We can vitally participate by praying for those around us.  The book talks about a simple "5-second prayer":

Father, please send your Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of these people.  Draw them to Jesus and make them kingdom laborers.

This is a vital (and simple) way that we can participate in the work of God in his saving of people.  We show we genuinely care about people when we pray that they encounter what matters most.  And the interesting part of this is the last part of the prayer.  We don't just stop at asking God to draw people to him.  We are also praying that their transformation would include them getting involved in God's work of drawing people to him.

This simple prayer is something we can do as we go about our everyday lives with the changed perspective talked about above.  We begin to notice people as God sees them with God's perspective that eternity is the priority.  We get to pray for the people we run into everyday as you shop, as you golf, as you walk your dog, as our kids play, etc.  And we get the privilege of watching how God is working in their lives.

With that perspective, with the priority that the most important thing is people finding Jesus, we get excited to get out into the community around us to watch what God is doing there.  As we pray and as we are watching God's work in those around us, we are there when the Holy Spirit who is working also prompts us to speak for him.  Colossians 2:4-6 [NIV] has the full idea:

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 We pray. We watch. And, as God opens the doors, we speak clearly and full of grace.