He That Winneth Souls Is Wise No. 10

For example, it seems sensible enough to us adults that we should sit down with a child and explain to that child that if he associates with bad company he is going to get into trouble, and that child should avoid bad company like the plague. But, it does not always work that way. You can tell some children these things, and while they are smart enough to figure the parents are warning them because they love them, they think they can go against the warning, even when they are not yet out of their teens, because they think they know more than both their parents put together. How much more must it frustrate God, the Father, Who tells His children things they need in their lives and they do not take His Word seriously. If we are smart we will take heed!

Let us look at the Word of God and see who is smart enough to be a soul winner. Let us look first at-

I. THE PERSONALITY OF A SOUL WINNER.

If God is going to use us to win the lost to Christ, we need to understand the importance of our personality. Lost people are reached, not by angels, but through mortals like you and I, mortals who have all kinds of personalities. A personality is the manner and disposition of a person as an individual. You do not have to have a flamboyant personality, but you have to let Christ shine out through your personality with some life and excitement if you are going to attract lost people to Christ. If you give in to a negative attitude, Christ will not be able to use you to draw men to Him. For example:

Illus: The receptionist with the personality of a sick cow sheds a very bad light on the company and even though the company may be a fine company, she could cause it to lose clients. Or, if you go to a store and are thinking of spending some of your hard-earned money there, you might choose to go somewhere else if the clerk is inattentive and rude.

When we think of people like that we are reminded of the Hollywood actor with so little personality that when he appeared in a colored television show, it came out in black and white... Consider these two things:

A. We need to develop our personality.

Do an objective self evaluation. If you have a "sour" personality, work at changing it, for many who are mean when they are young, tend to get meaner as they grow older.

Illus: Someone said, "Some folks must think they have a dynamic personality that they want to share with everyone because they are always exploding like grenades."

Illus: Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week!

Illus: Let me give you an example, two men went soul winning. One of them had a real aggressive personality. They went to a home and were invited in. After a few minutes one of them began to witness to the man of the house. When the man got through presenting Christ, the homeowner, very nicely, said, "I do not feel that I am ready to make that decision at this time in my life." The man with the aggressive nature would not accept the man's answer. He made another presentation. Again the man of the house stated he did not feel, at that time, he was ready to make such a major decision. The aggressive Christian then became very forceful in pressing the man, so the man told him off and asked him and the other man to leave. To this very day that lost man still gets upset about that incident - not because of the gospel, but because of the aggressive personality of the man who was determined to get him saved whether he liked it or not!

Listen, if you have a personality that causes people to think like that when you call or visit, you will never be a soul winner. Let the Lord help you change your personality. Go to an old-fashioned altar and pray, "Dear God, I want to be a soul winner, but this terrible personality I have makes it so no one wants to be around me. You are going to have to help me to have a pleasant personality that will draw people to you."

When we are persecuted for Christ's sake, we are blessed; but when we are persecuted because of our bad personality, and we deceive ourselves into thinking we are being persecuted for Christ's sake, we are not blessed.

Illus: Not long ago "street preachers" were in the headlines. Why? One report said that they would not even know if the people they preached to were saved or not and they would yell and point their Bibles at individuals and say, "God is going to send your soul to hell!" Peter did not do that on the day of pentecost. He proclaimed Christ. He revealed their sin. He told what God had done for them. He invited them to repent. Three thousand souls were saved. When persecution came it was at the hands of those who rejected the message of Christ, not because of the personalities of the men who proclaimed Him Lord.