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25 in 25?
by Major
Stephen Court
Time flies.
When I started writing this, it was last year.
And the next thing you know, 2025 has kicked off.
In other words, it's not too early to begin praying
into 2025 and God's plans for you and the great commission.
The social restrictions prompted by the
global pandemic—from lockdowns to distancing to
mask-wearing—overflowed into many spiritual practices,
including evangelism. But that was a few years ago now, and
with pandemic firmly in hindsight and gusts of fresh hope
billowing through and imminently flipping the page of the
calendar to '25, it’s time to dust off our passion for the
Great Commission.
Let’s be intentional. What would happen
if each of us reading this aimed to personally introduce 25
people to Jesus in 2025? It would be a vast number. And behind
each number would be a story of transformation—lives cleaned
up, characters reconstructed, relationships reconciled,
families restored.
Easily said. But how? Our first
encouragement for evangelism is sanctification. That is, get
holy. As the Apostle Paul famously instructed, “Be filled with
the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). While this is basic for every
Christian, you might wonder how it particularly helps
evangelism. It does, in four ways:
1. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to
the disciples: “I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will
prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness
and judgment” (John 16:7-8). Yes, the Holy Spirit does the
convicting. But in some sense, as the Holy Spirit is filling
us, He is convicting people of their guilt concerning sin.
2. Holiness is equated by the apostle
John with “perfect” or “complete” love: “This is how love is
made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the
day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no
fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John
4:17-18). One of the big arguments against evangelizing is
fear. Perfect love—or, enacted holiness—drives out fear. In
this context, holiness equals fearlessness. Impediment gone.
3. We don’t have to guess or rely on
our own skills and abilities. We can more ably and
appropriately partner with the Lord. This is how Jesus
describes it: “‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing
by Himself; He can do only what He sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John
5:19). As the Holy Spirit is filling us, we can more clearly
see what the Father is up to in our daily comings and goings.
And so, as we’re looking to evangelize, we can pray, based on
this verse, “Help us to see what you’re doing and do what
we’re seeing.” This helps turn good intentions into divine
appointments.
4. Holiness removes the concern that we
might be embarrassed or offended. Forensically, the negative
side of holiness is the neutralization of our sinful nature,
our natural inclination to act selfishly (see Romans 6:6).
This is most famously, in Salvation Army circles, celebrated
in an old Sunday school song based on Paul’s testimony: “I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”
(Galatians 2:20). So, if we’re dead to sin and our life is
Jesus living in us—then there is nothing in us to be offended
for being insulted or mistreated or ashamed or embarrassed.
Holiness makes us offence-proof.
Why not stop now and repent of anything
dodgy you’re involved in? Why not renounce anything
questionable that makes you vulnerable to attack? Why not
consecrate every area of your life to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Why not ask the Holy Spirit, right this minute, to invade and
fill your whole life?
Now 25 in ’25 doesn’t seem like as much
of a stretch! Now that we’re relying on the Holy Spirit to
convict people of their sin and need; now that we’re
missionally fearless; now that we’re seeing Jesus better and
following His lead; now that we’re offence-proof; now that
God’s love is saturating and overflowing us to others, it only
seems (super)natural that we will have all kinds of
opportunities to represent the Lord Jesus Christ, with his
love and plan, to all kinds of people over the 365 days that
will compose 2025.
We know one corps that has adopted '25
in '25' as the campaign for the year.
Each person has been invited to build a prayer list of
25 friends, teammates, associates, neighbours, workmates,
classmates, and others who don't follow Jesus.
Evangelism and apologetics training is included.
Salvationists presume everyone we meet
needs to get saved unless and until they demonstrate
otherwise. We presume every social interaction is a divine
appointment. Filled with the Holy Spirit we spread Jesus’ love
everywhere we can and introduce everyone we can into a saving
relationship with Jesus Christ.
It's not too late for you to plunge into the campaign.
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