In the movie version, based on the WWII story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss who saved 75 men on Hacksaw Ridge, the combat medic, exhausted and abandoned by his infantry company for dead, powerfully cries out, “Just one more, Lord,” as he lowers the wounded one by one down the cliff edge. This should be our attitude towards evangelism, not just one aspect of church life that we’ll get to if we can or have time but the vehicle through which we conduct our Christian walk (1 Corinthians 9:16-27).
I. Do you want to be a soul winner for Jesus every day? Paul describes his preaching of the gospel that “necessity is laid upon me,” that “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel,” and that he has been “entrusted with a stewardship.” Are you similarly compelled? What return are you making on the investment that has been entrusted to you (Matthew 25:14-30)? How often we sing, “I want to be a soul winner for Jesus every day …,” but do we mean it?
I want to be a soul winner for Jesus ev’ry day, He does so much for me; I want to aid the lost sinner to leave his erring way, And be from bondage free.
II. Do you want to be a soul winner and bring the lost to Christ? Paul’s compulsion made it so that everything he did “in word or deed” was done “in the name of the Lord Jesus” Colossians 3:17. Is what Christ has done for us through the gospel also convict us to “become all things to all people that by all means [we] might save some”? Do you view your life as not your own because you were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and so must persuade others (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)?
I want to be a soul winner and bring the lost to Christ, That they His grace may know; I want to live for Christ ever, and do His blessed will, Because He loves me so.
III. Do you want to be a soul winner till Jesus calls for you? It’s evident that Paul understood that his very eternal reward was at stake, and so being a soul winner was the operating system through which he lived his life (Romans 6:4-11) in Christ. He wanted to run his race in such a way as to win the prize and the only choices were to be disciplined or to be disqualified.
I want to be a soul winner till Jesus calls for me, To lay my burdens down; I want to hear Him say, “Servant, you’ve gathered many sheaves, Receive a shining crown.”
Do you truly want to be a soul winner for Jesus?