Evangelism: Follow JesusSample

‘No Compromise To Get A ‘Win’’.

Here’s the excuse: “First let me bury my father.” The notes for The Passion Translation (TPT) are revealing: Apparently, this is a figure of speech for saying, “I can’t follow you, but I will after my father dies.””

And on the last bit about ‘those who are dead bury(ing) their own dead’: 

Jesus requires that following Him supersede any cultural or religious duty. Jewish culture in the time of Jesus gave the family the responsibility of a re-interment of the bones of the deceased into an ossuary one year after death. It is possible that this man’s father had passed away but the year had not yet completed. He was saying, “I’ll follow You after this year is completed.” Jesus is not telling him to dishonor his father by not doing a burial, but that the custom of waiting a year (tradition) must never trump following Him. He is telling the man that the spiritually dead are capable of burying the dead, so nothing should keep anyone from following Him.

What comes across initially as some unreasonable requirement from Jesus, after these explanations seems more like a divine prioritization. Jesus has to come first. Religion, family, tradition – nothing can take His place as first in our lives. 

There is no Biblical resolution in this conversation. It is not clear how the person responded. Did he decide to follow Jesus? Or did he decide to stick with his own prioritizations? The thing for us in evangelism is that Jesus didn’t soft-sell things. He didn’t compromise the Gospel in order to get a ‘win’. He laid it out there clearly. And left it with the person to decide.

The takeaway for us? That’s a clear model for us to follow. Let’s present a loving, clear Gospel, and leave it with the person to decide.