Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. – Matthew 28:19-20
Our pastor just finished a lengthy series of sermons on the Great Commission––29 sermons, to be exact. I personally enjoyed each one of them, as they were a much needed reminder of our purpose on this earth in completing the Great Commission: to reach the world one soul at a time. I was reminded that, instead of thinking we need to reach the entire world, we just need to do our part by reaching one.
I began praying and asking God to let me win just one person. The next week, I was able to lead a young man to Christ. After he accepted Christ, he said his mom would be glad to hear that he got saved. It was so refreshing to know that God used me as a vessel to bring the answer to a mother’s prayer!
My mind took me back to another time when God used a willing vessel in His hand to reach just “one.” This “one” person was my grandpa. As I was growing up, we did not visit my grandpa often. The few times we did visit him, I remember hiding behind my dad because I was afraid of him. My mother would cling tightly to my hand, making sure to keep me in her sight. This was because my grandpa was a “hard case” as many would label him.
My dad grew up in a home filled with drunkenness and abuse on a daily basis. Thankfully, my dad received Christ as a young adult and was saved from that awful lifestyle. My dad then was able to lead most of his family to the Lord. His own father, however, would not listen. For more than 20 years, my dad did everything in his power to try to help Grandpa get saved.
My dad and our pastor visited Grandpa periodically, hoping that he would listen. Every single time, they got the same response: yelling and cursing with the door slammed in their faces. This did not deter my dad’s determination. Whenever a guest preacher or an evangelist visited, my dad asked him to visit my grandpa to share the gospel. The boldest of soulwinners, many “famous” soulwinners, and other pastors visited, but it did not matter. Every single person got the same response. My dad thanked them for trying and apologized for the way they were treated. This same scenario continued throughout most of my childhood.
I was burdened about the salvation of my grandpa. Of course, I did not want him to burn in Hell, but I knew there was little I could do. I was afraid of him. All that I could do was to pray, begging God that one day he would get saved.
Several years passed. One day, when I was home from Bible college for the summer working as a secretary for my dad in my home church, Dad told me that Grandpa was very ill. He did not have long to live. I remember the look on my dad’s face; it was one of knowing that, even though he had done all he could have done for years, his father was going to die and burn in Hell forever.
With everyone gone for lunch and the office quiet, I sat at my desk overwhelmed by grief, picturing my grandpa burning in Hell. I knew little good about my grandpa, but I knew even he did not have to endure that. I rose from my desk, went into my dad’s office, and closed the door. There, I found a gospel tract lying on his desk. I looked up my grandpa’s phone number in the directory and dialed his number. When he answered the phone, I began crying immediately. I told him who I was and that I heard he was very ill. I said that I did not want him to die and go to Hell. His voice trembled as he softly said, “I know. I don’t want to go to Hell either.” I was shocked! With the gospel tract in hand, I proceeded to tell him how he could go to Heaven, and he allowed me to go through the entire plan of salvation. Then, he prayed with me on the phone and asked Jesus into his heart. I was filled with an unexplainable peace, and after the sweet conversation we had, I know in my heart that he meant what he prayed.
I cannot describe what came over me that day, but all I could think of was what the Bible says about boldness in I John 4:17. It says, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:… In a million years, I never thought I could have that kind of boldness. I am an introvert by nature, but with the mental image of my grandpa burning in Hell, I had been overcome by boldness. I thought, “He’s going to burn in Hell anyway, so whether or not he listens to what I have to say, what have I got to lose?”
Grandpa passed away a short time after getting saved. How sweet it was, even at his funeral, to know that he was in Heaven because God used the boldness of a young girl. He was not saved through the lionlike boldness of a preacher, a soulwinner, or an evangelist. Instead, God chose to use the timid compassion of a young girl, or a lamb, who was willing to listen and to let God use her.
Today, whenever I hear a sermon about the Great Commission or about how we need to go soulwinning, I am reminded of how God used my timid obedience. I once again feel that same urge of boldness.
We all must do our part. If we each reach just one person, pass out one gospel tract, or knock on one more door, then we can reach one more soul. We will never know whose loved one––another son or another grandpa––might be on the other side of that door. God will give us the boldness needed if, through our simple obedience, we will take the gospel to one more soul.
by Jennifer Fox