The "Soul Winner"

What do you think of when you hear the term “Soul Winner?” Is it a particular person that you have known in the past, or currently know that is a role model for your expression of faith? Is it a picture of someone who is persistent, sometimes to the point of aggravation? Is it that person who knocks on your door on Saturday morning with tracts from their special publisher and an attempt to draw you to their particular faith? Or, is it that person who
I am afraid that when I think of “Soul Winner” all of these seem to pop into my mind. Some of them are cherished and some of them are not. But the truth is Proverbs tells us that “He who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30 NIV) and John tells us that his joy was made complete by the telling of the Gospel story. Why is it that we have so few “Soul Winners” in the church today.
Have we become so industrialized and unionized that we have left it to another group of people? That is what evangelist and preachers are called for. I knew a welder who took two days to weld a two inch bead to support a stair case because he was not allowed to complete the job with a light bulb out in the room and he was not allowed to change the bulb because of “union rules”. He had to wait for a certified electrician to replace the bulb.
Are we worried that we will say the wrong thing. I had a lady tell me one time that she did not remember the “Roman Road”. If you do not know this was an evangelistic tool to lead people “Biblically” to recognition of man’s (their) sinfulness and God’s grace in salvation. If that was truly her concern the Roman Road consist of five or six verses (depending on which version you use) and she could have easily re-memorized the path.
What if we mess the prayer up at the end? Do you remember the EXACT words you prayed? I don’t I was to emotional at that moment. But, I do know that I prayed something like I realized I was a sinner and needed God to come into my life. Truth is I was saved and so were you BEFORE you prayed the prayer! To this day I do not have a formula I use when leading someone in the “Prayer of Salvation”. Maybe we should call it the “Prayer after Salvation”.
When we read the book of Acts we see a group of people who did not have the advantage of the “Roman Road”, “Evangelism Explosion”, “Market Place Evangelism”, ‘F.A.I.T.H.” or any of the other hundreds of methods on the market today. They didn’t even have simple tracts.
How did they then spread the Word so effectively? They were all on fire because of their story, their experience. I still believe to this day this is the absolute best form of evangelism. If you are saved, If you have experienced the grace of a loving God in your attempts to save yourself you have a story! The only one that can keep you from telling it is YOU! Go tell the world! Be a Soul Winner.