Yesterday’s post spurred some interesting conversation about just what it is we teach people as they are coming to God. Let me state plainly that I believe that people need to hear the good news about Jesus. I prefer to begin a study by going through one of the gospels, just to make sure that the person knows the good news. If the person is not a Christian, there will come a “what shall I do” moment, and then I might use a presentation like that of Acts 2.
People need to be converted to a relationship with God. They need “doctrine,” but doctrine won’t save them. They need to become part of the church, but teaching about the church won’t save them. Salvation is about being in a right relationship with God. People need Jesus Christ.
In Argentina, we once examined the different tracts that we had brought with us from the States. Out of about 15-20 tracts that we had, only one was about Jesus. We realized that those pamphlets didn’t represent what it was we wanted to teach people.
People need the good news about Jesus Christ. That’s what we need to teach them.