How do I respond? 'It will cost you everything' only 4 mature Christians?

Dear brothers & sisters, it has been a while since I posted & hope you are all doing well in the Lord.

I would love wise counsel regarding a situation I have encountered on social media & how to respond.

I am admin on a facebook group that is for Christians. It was formed recently out from the Christian witness and testimony of our brother in Christ Andrew Chan and the glory he gave God through his execution and the fruit of his labour in jail for 10 years. Andrew got saved right after his trial started (in Indonesia) and he lived a radical life for Christ inside of jail. He was imprisoned for drug trafficking.

The impact of this man and the way God was glorified leading up to his death and including the way he stood strong for Christ right up until the end prompted many people, on social media, to stand up for Christ & also many have been drawn to God because of their interest in the case.

As a result our Christian group was formed. 1. To provide support for Christians and to 2. Be a place where unbelievers will hear the gospel & get saved.

Forming this group was my idea and together this group was formed with 2 other Christian ladies.

The group has been going well for a few weeks.

Last night I posted the sermon jam "It will cost you everything" by Steve Lawson. From I'll Be honest. I have always loved this sermon and it brings me to my knees b4 God every time.

It speaks about how you need to surrender everything to live for Christ and how being a Christian will cost you everything. Steve Lawson preaches from Matthew and preaches Jesus's words about the cost of following Him.

In the past when we (my husband and I) have shared this video we have been "shut down" by fellow Christians. Last night, the same reaction occurred. My fellow admins (through messaging) felt revolted by the video. That is the only way I can explain it. They explained to me that (paraphrasing), some people who are trying to find out about God may get scared watching the video. One mentioned she had no peace about this video and asked me to remove it.

I removed it because I was outvoted...but I have been trying to humble myself and see this from their perspective. However I am still confused.

When I got saved the Holy Spirit only entered my heart/spirit when I completely surrendered to Christ. Which is what I think this video is conveying.

We have 2 people currently in the group who are "searching" and I thought this would be helpful in understanding how to get saved, in working out that you need to surrender all to Christ.

They though this video should only be for mature Christians.

Would any of you consider watching the video and telling me what your thoughts are on it.

Thanks, in Him alone,
Sherid

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/photo.php?lid=2467

Steve Lawson is just repeating what Jesus said to the crowds of people following him; he did not explain the costs of following to mature believers. He did not want mere believers but true committed followers. He didn't want to mislead anyone about what following is or what it ultimately would cost. His truth, candor and demands drove a lot of seeking, interested and curious people away then and it will now. I think it is deceptive to avoid saying what Jesus said it meant to "follow Him' as opposed to solely believing Him as many did and still do.

There are a lot of weak churches in the world filled with professing believers who are not followers and will one day fall away. This is not fair by the way to the professing believer nor is it loving of us to those who are not actually converted followers because we are allowing them to continue in a deception.

Have seen the video several times in the past. Moving, truthful, timely.

I cannot imagine a true Christian finding the video revolting. Some may disagree with it as overemotional, I suppose.

I ask that the Lord grant you direct wisdom from the Spirit, and that he lead you to passages of His Word to understand His thoughts on the matter, His heart for your effort on Facebook.

Hi Sherid

I watched the video you posted and generally it was fine. There is another gospel that is alive and well today and in my experience it is gaining more popular then the true gospel. They talk about knowing Jesus but they dont know him, it is a false jesus they believe in and they are focused on feelings rather then the healing truth. you can not ignore Gods law in your christian walk or else you can not understand your covenant with Jesus Christ and the grace that the father gives us each day. I have 2 friends currently going to a church as described and the troubles they have in the church is very sad, there is no spiritual marks off christ or any growth in the walk. It is ironic that the very video you posted is what happened to you. be encouraged to keep walking where Jesus tells you to and not people.

Sherid,

The video is the truth and a message I bear witness with and have come accustomed to 9 years after I got saved. For the true Christian there is no shame in the truth, yes we have to strike a balance between the love of God and love for others and Gods justice.

How do you respond? I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead you because what He may tell you to do, He may not guide another in the same way.

Some things that come to mind as I watched the video and read your post is that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

As for the Holy Spirits guiding I am reminded of Jude's words. Gods love is what motivates us to preach the truth and to show mercy to those who are lost or deceived. He tells us to have compassion on some. I believe that the compassion he speaks of is to tell those who are more humble and meek about Gods love for them and it will make a difference in their lives and draw them to God.

Others however, need to hear videos like the one you shared and that through the fear of facing a holy God would bring them to repentance.

Jude 1:21-23 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (22) And of some have compassion, making a difference: (23) And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

The consistent message preached by John the baptist, Jesus, and the apostles and the faithful after them was the message of repentance.

The woman caught in adultery was shown compassion by Jesus, He was gentle with her because she knew her sin. Others however, Jesus was more stern with.

I cringe at those who want to tell the PROUD of how Jesus loves them and how He can make their life better. They are casting pearls before swine and they will always turn and rend you because of this false Jesus they peddle.

One of my favorite portions of scripture is this.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: (24) But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

May God help us ALL to maintain a balance between Gods lovingkindness and His judgement and righteousness.

I trust as you commit this situation to Him in prayer and through the council of the wise, He will show you how to respond.

I will state somewhat of a contrary opinion, but not a strong contrary opinion because I agree with about 95% of what the video says.

This is not the sort of thing you present to a non-believer or even someone who is seeking.

First of all, it is a video and therefore no opportunity for questions or feedback.

Second, it comes on very strong and indeed it may put off some potential believers. I am not saying that there is not a time for strong messages; but I think these are better heard in person than through a video. The imagery of Jesus coming to "slaughter" with a robe dipped in blood seems a tad excessive, even if technically true.

There is no such imagery in the sermons of Peter and Paul.

I truly believe this video is better intended for the church at large, i.e. for people who are already believers or who may think they are believers. So if your fellow admins were concerned more about how nonbelievers would perceive the video, I think I agree with them.

Beloved:

You need not explain or apologize for this video. It is Jesus' gospel. Listen to the Scripture: So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. vs60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement, who can listen to it?" vs66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore".- John 6:53,54,60,66

If more ministers would preach what Jesus actually preached many would not "confess Jesus as Lord of their lives". Nor would they say the "sinner's prayer". Jesus Christ fully disclosed what it meant to be His follower. Anyone wanting to follow Jesus should first consider the cost. For it would be better for them to reject Christ on the basis of the whole gospel, than to accept another Jesus based on a false gospel. We have to stop "packaging" the gospel like a marketing company. We are not salesmen. We are minister and preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. So many people have made a confession on the basis of what God can do for them. Christ says: Lay down your life, pick up your cross, give yourself to service of the fatherless, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner and clothe the naked. This is true religion. Christ went about doing good. He did not command us to have concerts and conferences. We must do away with it. It has gotten us nowhere, fast. Woe unto us, for we have strayed away from the Way.

But He also said:

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

There is a balance to presenting the gospel. There is no compelling reason to use scare tactics. Scare tactics result in a person responding for THEIR OWN sakes, not God's. A conversion for the sole purpose of saving one's own skin is suspect at best.

I have to admit that I was not impressed with this audio file. However I cannot say I disagree with what was said necessarily.

This particular file I don't believe accurately transmits the tome of the speaker. He comes across and angry and disgruntled. The dramatic music in the background is also detrimental to the file. (I'm not against adding dramatic music when it works. I don't think it works here.)

I believe if I were present when this was spoken I may very well have come away with a different conclusion. This is the shortcoming of audio recordings. When God uses a man as His spokesman, He uses the whole person, not just the voice.

Todd:

The yoke of Christ, though easy, is still a yoke. His burden is still a burden. This generation has made following Christ "yokeless" and burden-less. It is easy breezy salvation with no sense of the gravity of the commitment to Christ's cross. Jesus said take up your cross and follow me. That we must die to ourselves, leave everything for Him. Today's gospel puts God on our schedule instead of the reverse. I have personally had to examine myself to see if I am truly following after the Christ of the bible or the Christ being preached in church. I am no novice in The Faith. I have been in ministry and have experienced and seen many things - many doctrines.

Jesus spared no one. He told one man, go and sin no more lest something worst happen to you. He told the women caught in the very act of sin the same thing. You talk about balance. There is such an imbalance of easy cheap grace, that men such as the one we're discussing seem to be extreme or overzealous. There is such a drought of the weighty word that many are converted on the wrong basis. Paul told the Ephesians that he gave them the whole counsel of God. That no blood would be on his hands. Now that's a preacher who understood the gravity of his responsibility to God and to man. And here we are critiquing a man's tome and background music. Yet his words are weighty and true. His gospel is grave and honest; it's forthright just as Christ was. Bear in mind we can't see the person's facial expressions. A person listening to this can decide to abstain from following Christ. Yes, God does not want any to perish. But many will. They will because they don't want to pay the price of crucifying the flesh with its affections and lust. They don't want to partake of His sufferings. The only want the benefits but none of the responsibilities to Christ. It won't be because they were offended. Jesus offended many. Few saw His heart and followed Him. They knew He was giving them life; that His words cut and healed simultaneously. Lastly, one's motivation for following Jesus can vary. If hell fire and not wanted to burn moves one to follow Jesus, so be it. In my case, it was all the pain I caused to so many people. All the wick spirits I allowed into my soul; being set free from them. The reality of being forgiven and being free from that burden was the beginning of my journey. But you bet your bottom dollar I was fearful of hell fire too. That also motivated me.

I did not hear one word in the video about "how" to take up your cross. I think that is the real issue. It is so easy to say such things but the average believer, and even more so unbelievers, have no idea what this means.

Jesus did tell a rich man to sell everything and give to the poor, but he didn't say this to everyone. It appears Peter kept his house and fishing gear.

If the message had some practical advice vs simply saying all the commonly heard hard things I think it would be much more useful.

I am absolutely not advocating any cheap grace message. Like I said in my first post here I agree with 95% of what is said. It is more in how it is said and the lack of any practical instruction that I see as problematic.

We don't persuade people to follow Jesus. We present Him in the form of preaching/teaching. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and righteousness. There is no packaging of the message of the cross that will persuade someone to lay down their lives for Him. We are not that smart. Paul said that his preaching and teaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but a demonstration of God power. Again, it is the Holy Spirit that lights upon the Word of God - Jesus - and then reveals Him to the unregenerated heart. Someone might have asked Steve Lawson how they might be saved after hearing this message. This is what happened to Jesus all the time. He did not teach a formula or method. He taught the Law of God, the Way of Truth. Whomever the Father drew to Him, Jesus delivered them.

vsuarez7, interesting take, why would it then be called the gospel?

Acts 17:2-4 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” ***And some of them were persuaded****; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. (My emphasis)

I am not sure why it would cease to be the gospel. Jesus said no man comes to Me except the Father draws him. There are many who will hear the gospel and reject it, regardless of how it is said, whether intellectually, or philosophically, or roughly. Many of us have heard of D. L. Moody's story, how he didn't pronounce words properly, he didn't know his church history very well, he didn't quote scripture very well, etc. Yet God used him mightily in Europe to win many souls. This understanding is established: God chooses the weak, the unwise, the non-influential, etc. so that He gets the glory, not mankind. It is not about being so savvy and articulent it is about the Spirit of Truth flowing through us. This is the gospel. It is the way God chooses to reach out to mankind. Through weak, unintelligent people that give themselves to His Word and His will.

vsuarez7, I have been reading your posts and have found them very refreshing. Be encouraged and keep telling it like it is!

No one here is disagreeing with the substance of vsuarez's posts- at least not me. I just think he is overstating his case a tad.

It is obvious that God uses weak vessels. But to say there is no place for persuasion when scripture clearly states that Paul's teaching persuaded people is an example of overstatement.

I am 100% in agreement that anointed preaching is how men's hearts are pierced. However, anointed preaching can take many forms.

There is a place for messages like Steve Lawson's. But it follows that his style in that audio clip may not be for all places.

Thank you everyone who has taken the time to respond and reply.

I approached another maturer sister in Christ, a woman I trust - and she felt that the issue with the video is most likely its TONE.

This is perhaps where liberty has been taken with the presentation. The words are from Christ, which are without fault but the music and tone can come across as angry to some listeners.

I myself have found this sermon jam encouraging but I was glad to step into someone else's shoes to see what the issue was.

I feel at peace within my spirit about this topic now.

Thank you all
IN Him alone,

Sherid

Hi vsuarez7

Amen to your post.

Sherid,

You are going to have to set up a standard by which you post videos. What does the Holy Spirit say to YOU? If we take down every video that disturbs someone, we'll never post anything.

If they leave the group, let them leave the group. I had a pastor years ago that said, "If and when they return they'll have a different spirit." (A spirit to hear.)

Welcome to the world of leading a group of different people!! !!! :)

God bless,
Lisa