Lesson Three: REAL Men are Ambassadors for Christ

REAL Young Share Jesus—REAL Men are Ambassadors for Christ

17 Dec 10

REAL Men share Jesus. Their whole life is connected to the passion to see others come to know Jesus. To see others repent from sin, turn to Christ, be baptized, be discipled, and in turn lead others to do the same. To the degree that this is our heart is the degree that we are REAL Men. In other words, because of the Holy Spirit leading our lives, we will be consumed with those things which God is consumed about—God’s purposes, God’s will, His name being glorified, men and women pursuing Jesus above all else.

As we are in the season of Christmas, let’s look at:

1) How the Heavenly Father gave His Son and how Jesus willingly took on our human frailties and weaknesses in order to live a perfect sinless life and become the sacrifice for our sin and to purchase a place for heaven for us.

2) How a REAL man responds to God’s gift of His Son, complete forgiveness, eternal life, and abundant life.

In a sense, our heavenly Father is the ultimate REAL Man because He gave His son for us

So, Review of God’s gift…

Luke 2

Jesus lives a perfect life.

He shows us how to seek God.

He praised those, even women who at that time and in that culture were less than men, who chose to sit at His feet (Mary) and cry at His feet (the woman of sin in Luke 7).

He died for our sin—granting us complete forgiveness and eternal abundant living in Him.

Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
⁴¹ "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
⁴² but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Luke 7:50 (NIV)
⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

What Jesus did for us at the cross…

Colossians 2:14 (NASB)
¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Ephesians 1:1-4 (NASB)
¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love

Okay, how do REAL men respond to this amazing gift…?

Answer: REAL MEN SHARE JESUS! Read first paragraph again.

Have you ever wondered why it seems that so few of us are “compelled” to regularly share our faith, or be actively engaged in making disciples one-on-one or in a group?

I submit to you that new believers are imitating the kind of Christianity which we live. Not the kind of Christianity we think we live, but how we actually live. For Paul, there was no difference between how he thought he lived and how he actually lived. This is why he could say imitate me as I imitate Christ. Let’s look at a couple of modern examples of new believers who came to know Jesus in a culture which was hostile to the gospel.

The first example is a young woman who converted to Christianity from Islam. The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists shared about this true story in the publication Commission Stories Volume 2, no 2,

 “Fatima Al-Mutairi knew the consequences could be harsh. The 26-year-old woman told her family that she had forsaken Islam to follow Christ—brazenly asserting that the way of Jesus was more righteous than that of Muhammad.  Her brother, a member of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, accused her of blasphemy and demanded she recant her belief. When she refused, he brutally murdered her.”

Our second example is a Christ follower in Iran who received the death sentence by hanging because he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. This Christ follower embraced the full gospel. He knew he was saved not just so that he would enjoy eternity with the Father, but so that he must share the gospel with others.

What about you? Are you dissatisfied with the passion level you see around you for the lost? For prayer? For serving people? For actively witnessing? To help increase our passion for these things, I suggest that we start by looking in the mirror, with some help from the Holy Spirit. Let’s ask God, “How am I modeling faith in Christ?” Ask God to show you if your church family were to model your life in every way to include: finances, prayer life, relationships, work habits, speech, hobbies, leisure time, and school then what would your church look like? Would it be more or less passionate for Jesus, His word, prayer, and people?

The Muslim convert above came to Christ in a cultural context which made her conversion costly—she knew that, she embraced that. This persecution was a very real part of her faith. The Iranian evangelist knew the risk for sharing the gospel in his country—he embraced that. Again, this persecution was a part of his faith.

What can sometime happen in cultural contexts where the gospel of Jesus Christ is not persecuted is that the gospel as a free gift is clearly communicated, but the element of faith that Jesus Himself demonstrated which included costly risk taking and sacrifice (not to earn salvation—but as a compelling outgrowth of salvation) is somehow not communicated.

This lack of communication happens primarily because Christ followers do not live it. So here is our question…Is it possible that my life is demonstrating or modeling a partial or watered-down gospel? How about yours?

Paul had it right…

Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
²⁰ "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.