Is anyone out of bounds?

Do you ever wonder who we should try to plant churches with? Some of the guys in the jail have done horrific crimes. Is there any hope for them? Is there a line when a person goes so far that God is done with them? I have a litmus test. If they are interested in learning more, they are candidates. This is a sign to me that God is working with them.

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me (John 6:43-45 NIV).

Two weeks ago the prisoners were studying this text together. “What does this teach us about God?” One of the main lessons they all kept reaffirming was that God does not want people to grumble. I was trying to lead them to the fact that it is the Father who is drawing them to Himself, but they were convicted to not grumble in spite of their horrible living conditions. Still, God is drawing people to Himself. I can tell this is happening when I see people who are interested in learning more about Him.

Billy Graham was speaking at an event when someone questioned him how he could pray for and bless a certain president after some scandalous activity became public. “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love” (Graham, B., as quoted by Marin, A., 2009, Chapter 6, Project Reclaiming, para. 2).

If we are going to be effective out in the unchurched world we cannot be appalled by sin. We do not support sin, of course, but sin is a big part of the lives of the people with whom we want to become good news. If they are interested in learning more, God is drawing them in. How can we best help God?

What are your experiences when ministering to unchurched people?

Marin, A., (2009), Love Is an Orientation, InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

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