We often try to turn people to Christ by what I see as “tempting” them with the benefits of Salvation. In many ways we extol God’s provision, protection, and promises to entice them into giving their life to Christ. But, does this really represent what Christ did? Luke 14:25-30 records what Christ said to those who were following him and sought to become his disciples.
25 Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Jesus here does not entice or tempt those who would be his followers by promises of all that they would gain, but instead tells the people if they want to follow him they would have to be willing to give up everything of worth even their own families and lives. He tells them to count the cost and be willing to pay the price if they would come after him.
It is true that the Gospel is a message of the unending love of God and ultimate sacrifice of Christ to bring salvation to mankind; but that love and sacrifice should not be cast as the foreground of a list of promises or gifts if people will turn to Christ.
Maybe the reason we see such shallow faith in our churches and lives that give up nothing after they have called upon the name of the Lord is because that is what we are teaching. In a very real sense, many of us are guilty of professing a prosperity Gospel in our approach to evangelism. Instead we should start with the unending love of God, the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, and then tell the truth. If they desire to receive the salvation that comes in Christ, they must be willing to give up all that is important to them, pick up their cross, and follow Christ faithfully, obediently, and sacrificially. God will take you as you are, but don’t expect Him to leave you that way.