Letting God do His Job

John 16:8, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;"

One of the things I have been truly blessed with in my life are Godly men that have been raised up to impart wisdom. God has seen fit at every stop in my ministry to surround me with mature Christians who have fought the battle, and made mistakes, who could impart Godly wisdom unto me. It is always good to seek Godly counsel, and if we can learn from another's mistakes, we can avoid a pitfall and advance the kingdom of God far better than when we make a mistake ourselves.

One of the lessons I am most thankful for seems apparent on the surface, but in reality, may be the one of the most difficult to learn. Whether in preaching, or witnessing, something we all must learn, is this: It is not our job to convict people of their sin, that is God's responsibility. And when we assume that responsibility, we stand in God's way.

Any person who has a passion for God will also have a passion to see lost or backslidden people repent and turn to God. It's very obvious to the Christian grounded in the word when someone is not living as the bible instructs, and thus, is living in sin. With the consequences of an unrepentant lifestyle resulting in an eternity in hell(1 Cor 6:9-11, Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:1-7, Rev 21:8), it should burden us all when we see someone in this condition. We cannot however, through our efforts, make that person see the sin in their life and repent. That is a work solely of the Holy Spirit, and in spite of our passion and efforts, we can never convict someone of that sin. That is God's job.

In my own ministry I can look back and see times when I tried to do God's job for Him. It was not intentional, it was not because I lacked passion or zeal, but what I lacked was the wisdom of God. This is why I am so thankful for those people God raised up in my life. They imparted this wisdom, and thankfully, I received it.

In the first church I pastored I was confronted right off the bat with biblical issues that I knew needed to be addressed. My heart was pierced as I saw people serving in our church who were living in open, rebellious sin; sexual immorality. I did not pick and choose to preach scripture to these people, as I am an expositor. But when these issues were revealed I was preaching through books of the bible that dealt specifically with this sort of sin, in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 and Ephesians chapters 4 and 5. In hindsight, I know I was correct to stick to my guns and preach the texts, as I know that is what God would have me do. But I also realized after the fact, that in how I preached some of those messages, I took upon myself to try and convict these people of their sin, and got in God's way.

Now even in my failure here God did produce fruit, as after time one of the couples repented and got right with God. But the other bowed their necks and basically with excusing from many close to them and an unwillingness to hear what the word says, continue in this sin to this day. It still breaks my heart. But I know now that it's not up to me to convict these folks, that is God's job. I can honestly say their is a freedom in this knowledge that allows you to communicate God's word with more love and compassion than if you take upon yourself God's responsibilities.

In the church I currently serve I was once again faced with one of these challenging texts a few weeks ago in 1 Thessalonians 4. On this day it just so happened we had many in our church who also were engaged in sinful behavior the bible clearly identifies. This time however, I came to the text with more wisdom than before. I preached the same message, yet with more compassion and love, and the fruit of allowing God to do His job for Himself was immediate. 1 couple came to me the next week seeking to be married and repent of their sin. Others are still attending, and are opening their hearts to what God has to say. I know full well this has nothing to do with me, but rather, the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. But I rejoice that through me God can bring forth fruit quickly if I just stay out of His way.

This is a difficult thing sometimes. When we see someone we care for, especially a loved one; son, daughter, mother, father, sister, brother, who is in open rebellion against God, it should and does pierce our heart with the desire to see them repent. Friends, even when it's a complete stranger we should feel this burden for conviction of sin and repentance. However, we must let God do His job in their hearts. Whether it's preaching to the masses or engaging someone one-on-one, let us be open to the wisdom of God. He will convict the world of it's sin. When we try to do His job for Him, we hinder His work, we do not help it.