“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
When Peter told the people the hard truth of their
guilt and need of the gospel, they were cut to the heart and asked, “What are
we to do?” There is humility and honesty in their response and Peter’s reply to
their question is simple… repent and publicly commit your life to Christ.
Sometimes I find myself looking for novel approaches
that will help others understand the gospel. I look for clever ways to open
people’s eyes. I think God approves of
me trying to present the gospel in interesting ways, but the power of God’s word is found in the
clear truth it presents… Clarity far outweighs creativity when it comes to
effectiveness.
Peter realized that fact and simply said, “Repent
and be baptized” and through the Power of the Holy Spirit, 3000 people were
saved. No smoke and lights, no media presentation…. Just the unvarnished
truth. While trying to present the gospel
in ways that people can identify with, I must never forget that scripture being
interpreted by the Spirit of God is where the power resides.
Today, as representatives of Christ in a fallen
world, we must not allow creativity to water down or distract from the truth. God
is not impressed with productions and slick performances… He desires true
worship. 1 Samuel says, “For man sees the outward appearance, but the
LORD sees the heart.” That applies to all of us. How my ministry
looks on the outside is irrelevant if it is doubleminded and stained with ego on the inside.
The people asked, “What should we do?” The answer was clear: repent,
confess, publicly proclaim Christ, and rely
on the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our
message, and we must
not let innovation distort it. Whether the world finds our
ministry entertaining is not our concern; our goal is to lead people to repentance and new
life.
"The church that can't worship must be
entertained. And men who can't lead a church to worship must provide the
entertainment." - A.W. Tozer
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