Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Reaching the Hard-to-Reach

Most people who keep themselves at arms length from anything religious, typically agree with or identify with at least one of the following four statements.

• I am satisfied with the life I have made for myself and could care less about any kind of religion.
• I believe that the life I have lived has disqualified me from ever being loved by God, so I have given up on any kind of spirituality.
• I take offense at the idea that I could possibly be at odds with God, because I am a really good person.
• I have established a comfortable intellectual belief in God that I feel will keep me out of hell but doesn't require anything from me.

Question: What is the message the church has to offer to the people who find themselves identifying with any of these statements? What are our action steps so that people living in darkness can be exposed to the light of Christ and have the same chance we have had - a chance at Jesus and to be changed from the inside out?

People who identify with any of these four statements must first be covered with prayer. We dare not enter their world without being prayed up and without them being prayed for. Ultimately, just like with all of us, it will take God working in their heart to bring about spiritual restlessness and a desire for spiritual truth. Along with that, we need to find practical ways to get into the lives of the people who identify with the first statement. Perhaps one of the best ways to do this is to ask the question, "What need does this person have in his or her life that I can help with?" By asking this, it gives us the chance to build relationship trust and show God's love to them before we attempt to talk to them about it. Letting them see the Jesus-difference often goes a long way before any mention of Jesus is given consideration.

People who identify more with the second statement, believing their choices have disqualified them from God's love, need to be given clarity of how Jesus actually feels about them. Simply put, Jesus isn't a dictator sitting in heaven ready to strike them with lightening because they've made some bad decisions in life. On the contrary, Jesus was willing on His own to be butchered on a Roman cross for the mistakes all of us have made so that we wouldn't have to pay the price for them in eternity. Jesus was the only person qualified to do this because He was sinless. There is no sin bad enough to keep you out of heaven, and there is nothing you have ever done that Jesus didn't die for. He loves us unconditionally and wants us to experience His love.

Those who identify with the third statement, taking offense at the idea that they could possibly be at odds with God, have made a simple human error in their thinking. They've used other people as their measuring stick of goodness. In the minds of many of these individuals, if they aren't as bad as the person down the street (i.e., I've never murdered anybody, I pay my bills on time, I love my family), then they have nothing to worry about when it comes to God and eternity.

I have also found that their definition of sin is breaking some religious rules and making God really mad. But we need to help them understand that ultimately sin is a personal choice that says, "God, here's the deal. You run the universe, and I'll run me, thank you very much." Sin is living our life apart from our Creator, the One for whom it was made in the first place. We can help these individuals along in their spiritual journey by sharing with them that our goodness falls so short of God's ideal plan that it cost Jesus His life. And only by embracing what Jesus did for them can they truly find peace with God.

Our message to the people who identify best with the fourth statement, who are living with eternal fire insurance but reject the idea of life change, need us to help them understand the importance of true repentance and what it means to believe in Jesus. Repentance means turning from living one way and choosing by God's grace to live another. Believing in Jesus is the picture of a drowning person going down for the third time when suddenly they realize that there is someone there to rescue them. And they reach up and take hold of that rescue swimmer as if they are their only hope.

Who do you know that could identify with one or more of these four statements? Consider allowing God to use your life, example, and caring words to open their eyes to the truth of God's Word and the power of His forgiveness and love.