uTurn Others

by Tom Goodman

When uTurn, uTurn others.

Some might ask, “Are uTurns really our job or God’s?” My answer is “yes.”

“I am sending you to open their eyes,” the risen Christ said to Paul (Acts 26:17-18). Opening the eyes of the spiritually blind is God’s work (2 Corinthians 4:6), but Jesus sent Paul to open their eyes.

“I have become all things to all people,” Paul wrote, “that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). He knew that God does the saving (Jeremiah 24:7), and yet Paul said he did whatever it took to “save” people.

“Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering,” James wrote, “will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). Isn’t God the one who brings people back to himself (Jeremiah 31:18; Isaiah 57:18)? Yes, and yet the Bible calls us to bring people back from sin and death.

“He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,” the angel said of John the Baptist” (Luke 1:16-17). Again, though God works to turn hearts to himself (2 Thessalonians 3:5), John was commissioned to turn hearts to God.

“You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God,” Peter wrote, adding, “and this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). So, the same Bible that says the Spirit of God causes new birth, blowing where he wills (John 3:8), also says that the new birth comes from someone preaching the gospel.

So, we are to “open their eyes,” “save some,” “bring back” sinners from their wandering, “turn many” to the Lord, and see people born again through announcing the good news to them. God employs us in his work of changing lives.

This week in our Sunday morning series, uTurn, we’ll see that those who’ve met Jesus want to introduce him to others. Let’s dig deeper into this truth Sunday at 10!

(This article was prompted by a post by John Piper, found here: http://ow.ly/Ko3XA)

Get Anchored! If you’re exploring Christianity, or if you want to better explain it to others, The Anchor Course can help. The “Get Anchored” Dinner will introduce you to this 8-week study through a book I’ve written called The Anchor Course: Exploring Christianity Together. Learn more about the course at Hillcrest.Church/AnchorCourse.