August 11

Aug 11 - Today from Proverbs 11 we look at verse 30
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise."

Here we have an ancient proverb with a modern evangelical term - "soul-winner". Have you ever considered the implications of this term? "We are out there winning souls for Christ." What exactly does that mean, and how does one go about it?
In studying the great narrative of the Bible, a basic truth has become profoundly clear to me. That truth is that God created man with a servant heart. This is fundamental in God's purpose and program for mankind whom He loves so much. Sin corrupted the servant heart and made it a self-serving heart. This is the cause of evil, wickedness and rebellion. The Bible sums it up in one word - pride. Pride has levels of subtlety that are all but impossible to discern without the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit. Paul preached a gospel of grace - no one can successfully argue that point. But when you carefully read the imperatives of Paul's epistles, you will see that in every instance sin is an exposure of a form of pride, and there is a call to repentance from its practice. Our Lord Jesus came to restore mankind to God's original intent and to give us a servant's heart. God Himself has a servant's heart, perfectly exemplified in the life and ministry of His Son Jesus. Now we are called to be sons of God in Christ.
From this observation, I have also discovered that righteousness is servanthood. Many define righteousness as right living. I agree, this is a good definition. And, right living would be living out God's intent - that of being servant. The Jews in Jesus' day thought that righteousness came by keeping the law, yet Jesus accused them of being fruitless. There is no righteousness in legalism. Jesus says the greatest in His Kingdom is the one who serves. It is out of servanthood that is born the fruit of righteousness.
"The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life." The fruit of righteousness is things like clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, giving drink to the thirsty, and comforting the prisoner. Serving. This is when we are living out our restored position as sons of God. God is the giver of life. His grace rains on the unrighteous as well as the righteous. He is constantly serving His creation - His grace and provision flow without end. As sons of God, we are to emulate His attitude. Where we see inequity and injustice, our servitude is to bear fruit in bringing quality of life to those who lack. We become a part of the tree of life.
Winning souls is the supernatural progression of true righteousness. Other religions capture souls through deceit and domination. History clearly reveals that Islam has spread its wide influence through war, violence and subjugation. Allah is not a serving god, but a god who demands strict servitude of his subjects. There is no grace in Islamic 'charity' - anything that appears to be charity is strictly self-serving. True Christianity has spread through the fruit of righteousness. Christian hospitals, Christian shelters, Christian feeding programs, Christian agricultural projects, Christian poly-tech schools - the list goes on and on. All have been started and continue to operate as servant programs and organizations, open to all, not just Christians. It is in these environments of God's love and provision of grace that unbelievers begin to experience the reality of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom of grace and justice headed by a King who revealed that true greatness lies in the righteousness of being a servant. Their souls are won over by the fruit of righteousness. We will not win souls by being nice people. We will not win souls by being a people who don't smoke, drink, dance or cuss. We won't win souls by telling people that God loves them when we are unwilling to love them. We win souls by living out our restored positions as servants of the Most High God, and of our fellow man - then we tell them about our marvelous Savior who died to restore them as well.
Why is winning souls wise? Because every soul won from the world system and the deceitful snare of darkness becomes another branch on the tree of life and expands the ability of producing the fruit of righteousness in a world which so desperately needs it.
Where do YOU think the church should be investing the best of her efforts (time, talents and treasures), today? What’s stopping you?