Hi all, first time contributer here
I think most would agree a person needs to "make a decision" to follow Jesus ie. an exercise of our will.
I submit that the problem we face in "modern Christianity" is that we put all our energy into trying to "coerce" people into such a decision, and then once we've wrung a sinners prayer out of them, we carve another notch on our numbers belt, process them into various church programs, and congragulate them on their eternal destiny!!!
Forgive my cynical humor, but please tell me if I'm wrong or not!!
I'll never forget a sermon I heard by Paris Redhead, he describes how as a child, he observed a butterfly attempting to free itself from it's crysallis. He said that in his sincerity to help the butterfly, he physically peeled the crysallis away from the butterfly. Redhead then described how his actions actually killed the butterfly because it had not yet fully metamorphised from a caterpillar.
The point is we must let the Holy Spirit do His work of conviction so that a soul is truly regenerated. Bringing someone to a "decision" too soon can kill the Holy Spirit's conviction!! Herein lies the problem with so much of our evangelism. Herein is the reason that 95% of "decisions" at "crusades" never come back.
To contine with Readheads illustration, is it possible to suggest that our modern Western churches are full of half-butterfly, half-caterpillar creatures!!! Folk who've been ushered into the church receiving only half the gospel!!!
By all means encourage people to pray!! To seek God, to say "Lord Jesus, if You're real show me" But it's so important any "decision" a person makes is in sync with the leading and power of the Holy Spirit
If that happens then a person won't say they're a Christian cos they made a decision in 1985 or whatever, they'll say they're a Christian cos Jesus Christ is their Lord, Saviour. reason-for-living TODAY
Ooops this is getting kinda long. Thanks for the opportunity to drop my 50cents worth in
Be blessed and be a blessing to the nations