The Power of an Invitation

Kris Kristofferson can be celebrated for his academic accomplishments as a Rhodes Scholar, army helicopter pilot, songwriter, performer, and actor, but perhaps his most impacting (and eternal) accomplishment was the penning of his transparent recording, Why Me. Since releasing the song in 1973, countless people around the world have been touched by the humility, authenticity, and power of his Christian testimony put to song.

What’s even more amazing is how the testimony (and the song) came to be. Country music artist Connie Smith invited him to church where he heard Jimmy Snow preach and Larry Gatlin sing. Kristofferson shared that he found himself raising his hand and going down to the altar where he had a profound and life-changing spiritual experience. Why Me was the result of that encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

We often think supernatural transformation happens because of how the Holy Spirit uses pastors, teachers, prophets, apostles, and evangelists, or some traveling music ministry or revivalist to communicate the gospel to the lost. We should be grateful for the wisdom, anointing, and calling on men and women who share the gospel in power with the unreached and the untold. We should not, however, downplay our role in getting people to hear the message through the simple but effective act of inviting someone to church. Kristofferson wrote that song after his encounter with the Lord, and that experience with the Lord was made possible because Connie Smith cared enough to invite him to church. Think of it. Millions of people have been touched by a song made possible by a single invitation. We should never underestimate the power of an invitation.

We see this same example in Scripture when Andrew invited Peter to Jesus and when Philip brought Nathaniel to the Lord. The Scripture records that a woman, married and divorced five times and currently living with another man, used this simple approach to reach her entire village: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29). It seems we’ve just overcomplicated the whole Church thing in America. We need to just get back to the simplicity and the power of the invitation – an invitation to church!

Supernatural Forgetfulness

Matthew 5 shows us that the real key to murder is not the violence itself, but the underlying reason for the violence—unresolved anger and unforgiveness. The fact is no one will kill if he or she is in the habit of genuinely forgiving the offender.

Because man is a multidimensional being consisting of spirit, soul, and body, it is possible to “murder” an individual without killing the body. For example, we can murder someone’s reputation, character, influence, self-esteem, courage, hopes, and dreams. A person can be emotionally dead and live on for decades in his or her body. It is important to realize that we can commit murder without ever taking someone’s life physically.

Jesus taught that we must actively forgive those that sin against us. Our sin debt remains if we embrace God’s grace and forgiveness but refuse to extend that same grace and forgiveness to others. Consider the story of the unjust servant. He owed his master millions of dollars. Facing imprisonment and the enslavement of his family, the man begged for mercy and the debt was forgiven. This same man went out and found a man who owed him a few dollars and began to demand immediate payment showing him no mercy. Word of his duplicity came to the master and the unjust servant’s debt was reactivated and the man was thrown in jail to be tortured until he repaid the debt.

You might be saying, “Well, I’ve forgiven them, but I can’t forget.” The biblical truth is that if you intentionally remember, you really haven’t forgiven. This practice of remembering and meditating on the offense is proof that we have never really released the person from the offense. God forgives us and his forgiveness includes the forgetting of our sins. Micah 7:19 (NIV) declares, “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” The writer of Hebrews quoting Jeremiah 31:34 wrote, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12, NIV).

The normal reaction here would be to say, “but that’s God.” We can’t be expected to forgive like God does and actually, consciously forget the sin committed against us—or can we? We are called to be imitators of God as dear children (Ephesians 5:1). If God with is omniscience can voluntarily choose not to remember our sins, then we can also choose not to remember what has been done to us (given our lack of omniscience). Like forgiveness and redemption in general, the supernatural power and grace of God through the blood of Jesus is needed to empower us to walk in true forgiveness and forgetfulness with others. In the natural you can’t be forgiven—so how could you possibly forgive and forget in the natural?

Bamboozled!

Jesus made it clear that deception would increase in the end times.  In fact, he warned his disciples that even the very elect would be in danger of deception (Matthew 24:24). Paul also warned believers that deceiving and deception would increase in the last days (2 Timothy 3:13).  Many believers do not realize that they are the targets of deception designed to thwart God’s plan for their lives, and take them off the path He has ordained for them. That’s why Peter challenged believers to be self-controlled and alert because the enemy, as a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour or deceive (1 Peter 5:8). 

Satan is a master at customizing deceptions for believers based on their predispositions, weaknesses, attitudes, maturity level, and current life situation.  Much like a suit tailor will measure a man’s neck, chest, waist, arm length, and leg inseam, the enemy carefully crafts the perfect deception for each individual believer. The closer we get to the end of all things, the more the devil will be active in his attempts to bamboozle or trick, delude, mislead, and fool believers.

The people of God under Moses and then Joshua were told not to enter into any treaty with the people in the land they were to possess (Deuteronomy 7:1-3; Exodus 34:15-16).  The Gibeonites, who lived no more than ten miles from the camp of Israel, heard about the success of Israel.  They developed a preemptive ruse to trick Joshua and the other leaders into believing they had come from a great distance by presenting cracked and mended wineskins, moldy and stale bread, patched sandals, and old rags for clothes.  The Bible says the leaders sampled their provisions, but did not inquire of the Lord.

We can learn much from the negative example of Joshua and the leaders of Israel how to overcome the deception of the enemy, no matter how strategic, custom made, or diabolical.  First, the people had forgotten the instructions of God not to enter into any treaty.  The first step into deception is to willfully minimize, rationalize, or compromise the truth we already know.  The Lord had already made it clear not to make covenant with the people of the land through his Word and through his servant Moses.  Alarm bells should go off in our hearts when we find ourselves suddenly at odds with the Word and spiritual leaders God has placed in our lives.

Second, the Bible says the people sampled the belongings and provisions of the Gibeonites. This is a great example of sense based living where believers rely on their five senses rather than the Word of God and discerning of spirits, the spiritual gift whereby we can know the source of an utterance or manifestation (the human spirit, a demonic spirit, or the Holy Spirit).  Believers are deceived because they begin to give more weight to their experiences than they do to the Word.  A way can seem right to us and yet end in death and destruction (Proverbs 16:25).

Finally, Joshua and the other leaders failed to inquire of the Lord about the encounter with the Gibeonites.  No doubt, the Lord would have reiterated his command and exposed the ruse of the enemy.  Too often we start out in the Spirit, but then revert to our flesh thinking we can handle things on our own.  When we cut ourselves off from the presence of God, we cut ourselves off from his unlimited knowledge base (omniscience) that would prevent our deception.

Any believer can overcome the devil’s targeted deception against them by doing what they already know to do, by walking in the Spirit instead of the flesh or the senses, and by inquiring earnestly of the Lord when they feel confused or uncertain.  When we don’t do these things we become a willing participant in our own deception, and the problem with deception is we don’t fully comprehend we are deceived until the consequences begin to manifest.