The prince of preachers Charles Spurgeon once said "...The true gospel of the grace of God needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his utmost soul such a distasteful truth."
The gospel in itself is an offensive message because it shows us how stupid we are to have fallen into horrific sin and how unqualified we are to save ourselves. Galatians 5:11 says "But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed."
However, so many people in church today have taken this idea and made it their goal in life -- to hurt people, and sometimes not necessarily into a relationship with God. Hurting people is not the main goal nor is it the end goal. The end goal will be to always point out the need of a saviour and the presence of one found in Christ.
In fact 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that we are called into the ministry of reconciliation by bringing not just the painful truth, but to present the good news of the finished work. In the 17 years that I have spent presenting the hurtful truth to hundreds of people, I have learned three simple pointers to "hurting" people into a relationship with God.
1. Don't leave out Christ
The gospel is not the gospel if Christ is not in it. In fact, Jesus is the essence of the good news. Without Him there is nothing good that comes out of anything. As we present the depravity and folly that is birth from our sinful nature and ignorance, we must also pound just as intensely or even more the good news of the freedom that we can receive now simply by believing that the finished work of Christ sealed the deal for all mankind.
2. Tell the hurtful truth in love
Condemnation and coercion never work when reconciling people back to God because it's not the goal. However, it must also be stressed that the hurtful truth be presented as well. The truth of the gospel must be proclaimed, but not in a way that causes lasting guilt and shame.
We are to rather cause a temporary hurt that then seeks to find refuge in a source of comfort and then point to Jesus as that source. The way we do so is to nurture a deep love and concern for the lost that will result in an evangelical call to bring people to God with that love.
3. Focus on relationship
It's as simple as this: People will never listen to the hurtful truth unless they trust you, and the best way to earn their trust is to build a relationship first. The first step is not to present the gospel off the bat, but to build strong relationships with others.
Discipleship is not simply evangelism and will always call for relationships to be forged so that we may continue to speak life into people after they come to Christ. Otherwise, you'll probably never hear from people you minister the gospel to ever again.
