Christ's Method Alone

Ellen G. White says, "Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.'" Ministry of Healing, pg 143

"Christ's method alone" is a pretty well known phrase in the Adventist world. I know for sure that when speaking about evangelism, preachers would ask a lead question of what the best method of evangelism would be and several people would say this phrase as the answer.

But what is often missed are the details of Christ's method of just how he managed to get people's attention towards him. This is particularly important because there appear to be several methods today that take precedence to Christ's methods, which causes some of our churches and even individuals less efficient in winning others to Christ.

Let's take a look at just how Jesus won the hearts of the people.

1. He mingled with people. (He opened networks)

Several passages in the Gospels tell us that Jesus took the time to "hang out" with the people regardless of their social and religious status (Matt 9:10; Luke 19:1-10; John 2). In doing so, he opened up networks and established relationships with others. This is important in winning souls because it shows to people that we are interested in their well-being and not just about proliferating our religion. We must first establish relationships in order to let others know that we are willing to meet them where they are, opening the way to our eventual introduction of the Gospel message.

2. He sympathized with people. (He formed attachments)

Jesus shared in the suffering of others. He was moved with compassion when he saw that people were flocking to him like shepherdless sheep. But perhaps one of the biggest instances of his sympathy was when he saw Mary and Martha grieving the loss of their brother Lazarus. Jesus already knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead and in a few minutes everyone will be jumping for joy, but that didn't stop him from having sympathy for those who mourned the loss of their loved one, and so he couldn't help but cry. Showing sympathy to others reveals to them that we truly care for them. Only then will they allow themselves to listen to the Gospel message once we deem it the right time to share it.

3. He ministered to their needs. (This also formed attachments)

Jesus didn't just have sympathy for others but took action to make them better. A sinner needed forgiveness, he forgave. A leper needed physical healing, he healed. People were hungry for the Word, Jesus taught. For us, it isn't enough to say "That's so sad, I will pray for you." We must also take action to help them through their trials. A church member is hungry, we feed them. Someone gets diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, we offer every help we can provide. Someone has been out of a job for a while, we assist them in looking for stable work through our connections. Compassion is love in action and Jesus made sure that he acted on his sympathy. We should also do the same.

4. He won people’s confidence.

Combining all these three steps, Jesus won their confidence. It was through mingling, sympathy, and action that He won people's trust and in return they listened to what he had to say. We as his missionaries must also win others' confidence in order to be able to introduce the message of the Gospel to them. Missing any of the first three will be detrimental to our hopes of winning our friends to Christ.

5. Then He told them, ‘Follow Me’

It was only after he has won their confidence that Jesus asked them to follow him. It was only after the four steps were completed that he asked people to follow him and his teachings. We must make sure that we have done our due diligence in showing our respect, care and love to our friends before we ask them to dedicate their lives to Jesus.

To conclude...

I would like to note that we shouldn't just apply these steps only to manipulate others into accepting baptism. We need to treat people with sympathy and care as we hang out with them no matter if they are recipient to the Gospel message or not. These are not methods of manipulation but they make sure that we reflect the undying love of God to those around us.

This is a huge lesson for us because not too many of us practice these steps. Oftentimes, I too struggle with following Jesus' methods. How many times do we go around social media sounding judgmental without establishing relationships with our social circle? How many times do we comment online about the things we disagree with in the name of truth, thinking we are making a difference when in reality we are just driving people further away from Jesus? We will go nowhere in preaching the truth if the love of Christ is absent in the way we deal with others.

Christ's method ALONE will yield true conversion from the people we are trying to reach. It's about time that we apply it in our daily lives as individuals and as a church.