The Power of One:
Let’s Change the World
By David Outten
Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, and a good friend of Movieguide®, used to discuss the potential of Christians leading at least one person to Christ every year. Were he still alive he would be all the more driven to encourage evangelism.
Look at the magazine rack at almost any grocery store checkout. You’ll see covers about Hollywood affairs and divorces. The nightly local news is full of murders, fraud, graft and crime. The national news is worse.
The need for evangelism is overwhelming, but the task is much smaller than you might think. In the United States, over 60 percent of Americans claim to be Christian. Dr. Bright would point out that if each of these Christians won one person to Jesus in a year, 120% of the United States would be Christian within a year (that means many people just visiting the U.S. would get saved as well).
What does it take to win one person to Jesus?
What does it take to fix dinner? You have to decide, “I’m going to fix dinner.” You choose what to fix, and you take the steps necessary to fix dinner.
If you set a goal to win one person to the Lord this year you look for opportunities. Consider who you know that needs to know Jesus. Pray for them. Consider how best to reach out to them. Invite them to dinner, to church or a Christian movie. Be prepared to share your testimony about how Jesus changed your life. Be a living example they can admire. The easiest way to win someone to the Lord is when they get to know you, and they think, “I want be like that.”
If you listen to hundreds of testimonies of salvation, most will begin with someone reaching out. Dr. Ted Baehr’s testimony involves a woman who gave him a Bible and would repeatedly ask him what he thought of it. When he finally started reading it he gave his life to Christ.
The place to begin is prayer. Find someone you can pray. Some people can lead strangers to the Lord on the spot, but in most instances a person is ministered to by someone who gets to know them. The woman who gave Ted Baehr a Bible was not a stranger. She was someone he’d come to know and respect.
In this age of eMail, Facebook, and YouTube fewer of our personal relationships involve personal visits. It’s less common to invite someone to dinner or to be invited to dinner. Such occasions are often the best opportunities to share the gospel.
One of the ways, Ted and Lili Baehr reach out to Hollywood is through personal hospitality. It’s not uncommon that they invite someone to dinner. They have several parties every year where guests are invited to share in a celebration of God’s goodness. Wonderful testimonies have resulted from these gatherings. As someone who’s been a guest, both to private dinners, and to the Baehr’s parties, I can testify that Lili does an amazing job as a hostess, even on short notice.
You don’t have to prepare a five-course feast to share the Gospel. You can grill hamburgers and hotdogs or even invite someone to a restaurant. Food doesn’t even have to be involved. Compassion does.
We need to grasp that knowing Jesus is far more valuable than astounding wealth. If you invite someone over to share Jesus you’re offering them peace, joy and eternal life. You’re offering them a restored relationship to the Creator of the universe. You’re offering them a relationship where God can show them all the wonderful things He created them to be and do.
If each Christian would win one person to the Lord every year, the nightly news would have fewer murders to report. Grocery store magazines would have fewer affairs and divorces to publicize. The national news would have fewer mass murders and terrorist acts to report. There would be fewer nasty movies and TV shows and many more uplifting ones.
When we get as hungry to win people to Jesus, as we get hungry for dinner, the whole world will change for the better.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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