HE DIDN'T TELL US TO WITNESS?

"I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not;" Jesus assured Peter. What an encouragement those words must've been! "When thou art converted," the words following are pretty much forgotten: "go tell the lost of thy Savior's dying love"? NO! The Master's words were: "STRENGTHEN THY BRETHREN." (Lk.22:32)

Our FIRST responsibility should be towards the others of the flock. Sometimes I think we get things backwards. We're supposed to show such a strong bond in the family that it makes those outside marvel and want to know our God too. We're not supposed to be treating family members like slaves in order to reach the lost! Some Christians think the biggest reason God leaves people alive on this earth after salvation is to witness to the unsaved, so of course, such sacrifice is necessary! Effort and money is spent on fliers and posters for evangelistic meetings, but it seems meaningless to give time  pursuing other spiritual siblings' interests.

God wants to save souls and give us love, joy, and abundant life. Does it occur to those of us in the church that to be too busy evangelizing to give priority to strengthen our brethren is disobedience of Jesus' words--is SIN?

Yes, our Everlasting Father will continue blessing His children no matter what they do, knowing we truly want to please Him deep down. But we may need to take a step back and repent, realize that He is blessing while shaking His head and despite of  our omissions instead of because of pleasure with our actions.

One more thought--Christians do not simply decide to love one another. Individuals must open up their Bibles and see for themselves GOD and fall in love with Him. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee," Job said  (42:5)  When that one Christian goes to a place of gathering and meets another soul who has also fallen in love with the God of the Bible in the same way, there will be an unquestionable knitting of hearts. Of course, this should happen repeatedly with the 3rd individual, the 4th, the 5th, and by the time the entire flock has been "knit together in love", the Church undaunted has a bond so strong, nothing can unravel the cords. Methinks today's church is weak because so much talk of love and unity centers on community of - love between - the faithful humans themselves. While unity of the faith is precious, we center on Christ; community should be just the result, not the aim.