Compel Them!

Not all attempts to witness are successful.

At least, not immediately. Not all church outreach projects seem to accomplish a great amount of good. One person who understands this is Jesus. He made it clear that when initial attempts are not immediately successful, we are to respond to apparent failure with energy and perseverance. In Luke 14, Jesus told a parable in which a man invited many people to a “great supper.” After invitations had been sent out, a servant was dispatched to let the invitees know that the banquet was ready.

Their presence was requested. Person after person made excuses. “I have recently married,” said one. “I just bought some land,” said another.

A third excused himself on the basis of having recently bought some oxen. The invitation was received but rejected. So the man instructed his servant to “go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” (Luke 14:21). When it was found there was still room for more guests to attend, the master sent his servant out again, this time into the “highways and hedges,” to “compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (verse 23).

While primarily spoken with reference to the Israel of Jesus’ day, this story is also given for God’s people today. Jesus shows us what our attitude should be when invitations to know Him are spurned. If an outreach event isn’t successful, we are to try again like the man in the story. If the evangelistic series seems to yield smaller results than hoped, we forge ahead and “compel them to come in.” We have little time to waste. Discouraging results should not prevent us from letting our light shine.

Rejection did not prevent the apostles from sharing their faith in Jesus in unpromising areas. Instead of dialing back our evangelistic fervor, we must continue to share Christ and make it harder than ever for people to resist His offer of everlasting life.