My husband never ceases to both amaze and challenge me in our walk together, he has a knack for asking questions and making me think like no one else I know. Yesterday before church we were talking and discussing evangelism, when my husband asked me a question that I think many Christians and non-Christians have asked at some point. He asked "If God wants someone to come to Him, and He's all powerful, why does He need me to evangelize to them? Why doesn't He go to them directly?"
At first, as is typical with his faith related questions, I didn't know how to respond. So I asked him to give me a minute to think about. I took his question to the throne and was reminded of Moses and Pharaoh. Evangelism I think, sometimes feels similar to going before Pharaoh on God's behalf because God is all powerful and all knowing, we know that He can reach that person without us, just like He could have freed the Jews from Egypt without Moses if He so chose, but if he had done that would the cultures and people surrounding Egypt and doing business with them have been exposed to the proof of the power of the one true God, the God of Israel? Probably not. If God had not sent Moses and gave him miracles to preform on His behalf would any of the these other nations heard of the God of Israel? Probably not. If God had changed Pharaoh's heart to release the Jews without Moses would anyone have cared who the God of Israel was? Probably not, because all they would know is Pharaoh set the slaves free.
That line of thought took me to this conclusion, while it is true that God in all His infinite power could force His will upon us, He doesn't because love means more when it is freely given from a willing heart, that's why He doesn't just change someone to obey Him but will present Himself to a willing heart and use that heart to touch others. The second conclusion I was brought to was that this is why He uses people with obedient hearts like Moses, because through men and women like that God's glory and power can be exposed in a way where it creates a powerful testimony for Him. This testimony then will oftentimes inspire other people to follow Him. Through the miracles preformed in Egypt by Moses, God not only broke down Pharaoh's heart, which He had previsously hardened, and got him to release the Jews, but He also exposed His might to His children and gave them a testimony to touch their hearts and their offspring's hearts for generations to come in His name. As well as making Himself known to the all nations that would stand in Israel's way as they took possession of the Holy land as the stories spread of the fierce nation of Israel and their mighty God.
So, the answer I came to and gave to my husband after considering these points was, God sends us out to evangelize to others not because He couldn't reach them without us, but to expose His glory to them in a powerful and meaningful way, typically in the form of a personal testimony. This sharing of personal testimony exposes what God has done for you, what He has helped you with and gives the person you are sharing with a chance to connect on a personal level with you and understand that God is a loving caring Father, which brings about another question that often goes with this line of thought, why does God allow suffering? And the simplest answer I know is because it gives us a testimony to share about His character if we rely on Him to see us through the rough stuff as we should.
I hope this blessed you and got your mind searching today, if it did I encourage you to go into the word yourself, to pray for yourself and check me. This is just where I was brought right now, in time God may change this view as He reveals truth and understanding. But in the mean time I hope this encourages you to continue to seek God more, as it has me. Be blessed brothers and sisters.
Exodus 3:7-10
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Matthew 28:19-20
Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
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