Imagine with me that a single, close friend has been seeing the same woman for almost a year. He decides it’s time to pop the question, to propose marriage. He plans a romantic evening and gets an engagement ring and flowers. He’s all set for the big occasion. When the time rolls around, seated for two in an elegant restaurant, he declares, “Mary, will you marry me?” She rolls her eyes and replies, “Well, if you had asked me to three weeks ago, I would have said ‘yes’ but now I’m not so sure.” How would you counsel your friend? Would you say, “I guess you blew it. You had a window of opportunity but mate, you missed it.”? Or might you say, “If she was prepared to commit her life to being with you three weeks ago, she should be willing to do so today.” Followed by, “If she was prepared to commit to you three weeks ago but she’s not sure now, frankly, you’re better off with her.”

How many times have you heard well meaning people suggest, “The moment was right for an invitation, and you didn’t give it. Now someone might be lost for eternity!” Isn’t it amazing that you and I would not settle for a life partner lacking the clear conviction to commit to a relationship; however, we somehow expect that God would content Himself with a feeble commitment? If you believe that about God, go back and examine the gospels. A man came to Jesus asking the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” In evangelist terms, we’re talking shooting fish in a barrel. However, in the account, after hearing Jesus challenge to a whole-hearted conviction, the man does not commit to following Jesus, instead, he goes away empty handed. Jesus must be one the worse evangelists if he fails to land that guy but Jesus wasn’t interested in a half-hearted response.

Now, some would argue this way. “When the Holy Spirit moves in a person’s life, the opportunity ought to be present for someone to respond.” Right, so the Holy Spirit gets them in the mood to make a commitment, so to speak, but once the time has passed the Holy Spirit moves on as well. It’s like God says, “You had you’re shot and now I’m out of here.”

Is it possible that we can create a church culture that fosters highly emotive decision-making that doesn’t necessarily produce long-term commitments to follow Christ? If someone makes an ill informed decision of faith, how do you think that person will feel two or three days later? If someone makes an emotional response without thinking through the implications of the commitment and then turns their back on what happened, do you think it going to be easier or harder to lead them to a place of proper Christian understanding and maturity?

Sadly, one of the driving forces in our practices can be our obsession with numbers. How many came forward? How many lifted their hands after the service? The bigger question might be how many are going on in their commitment to Christ one year after the initial decision? Let’s remember that God won’t just count numbers but He’ll weigh lives.

In writing all this, I’m suggesting that with regard to all mission endeavours that we clearly thought through a biblical understanding of what we’re doing and why as opposed to following a practice simply because we’ve always done it that way before. What are we producing: Responses or Christ followers?

Graham Johnston