The Irrefutable Argument

Being winsome is about living a contagious life. That kind of life that makes people want to ask questions about our lives because then we have the perfect opportunity to tell them about Jesus. The irreducible minimum is that people need Jesus. The clear and compelling purpose of our lives is that people know Jesus.

We have to be so careful to not just cycle through different churches and just constantly have Christians moving among Christians. We should be living lives that people want and invite them to come with us to church. How many people in your church came to know Christ there versus coming from another church?

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 is our anchor text where Paul says he becomes all things to all people so that by all means he may win some. Paul lived his life in a way that people wanted to ask that people wanted to ask him about what Jesus had done. The irrefutable argument is that we have an undeniable story about how Jesus has changed our lives. No one can tell you that Jesus hasn't transformed you. It's what's true in you, so then, you become God's agent to speak into the irreducible minimum in other's lives.

If you have grace, you have a story of grace to tell. If you love Jesus, you have a story to tell. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 is Paul telling his story. He was a blasphemer, a violent man, a persecutor of Christ followers, and so far away from hope. But God poured out his mercy and grace on Paul's life. he knew who he was and He knew who Christ had made him to be. Every one of us had something supernatural happen to us in Christ, so every one of us has a supernatural story to tell. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 says we are all new creations and are Christ's ambassadors through reconciliation. The baseline of our story is that God made Jesus, who had no sin, be sin for us so in Christ, by faith, we who had sinned might become the righteousness of God in Christ. That's what is changing our lives. Most people come to the gospel through the story of what God has done in someone's life.

You don't have to know it all to place all you have in what you know. It's ok that you can't explain everything about God. The enemy loves to get us stuck in the lie of you have to know everything. Just because you can't answer all the philosophical questions doesn't change your irrefutable argument. John 9 is the story of Jesus healing the man blind from birth. Obviously, the guy is ecstatic about having sight for the first time in his life. Some thought it was amazing, but others questioned it because it happened on the Sabbath and what authority did Jesus have to heal. People just don't want to see the power of God sometimes. So everyone is asking questions, but the healed man simply says, "All I know is that I was blind, but now I see." Irrefutable argument.

It's ok to say "I don't know" and follow up with "And here's what God has done in my life." We know enough about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus to put all of our hope for our whole life in Him even if we're not ready to explain every inch about the God of the universe.

You have to be in the world to win the world. You have to take your irrefutable argument outside of the walls of the church. The church is meant to equip people to go out into the world. We are not afraid of the world because we have an irrefutable argument. We're not in a war with people, we're just trying to live a contagious life. 1 Timothy 1:15 says specifically that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus knows people need Him and become all things to all people...to the point of death for us.

We are translators of God's story. Jesus wasn't a chameleon, neither was Paul. We don't need chameleons, we need translators. Jesus didn't become every crowd He went to, but He went to every crowd. He hung out with everybody without being influenced by them; He translated God's love to them. A translator has to speak both languages really well. You have to be in sync with the message.

Our confidence us not in the perfection of our story, but in the power of The Story. Our confidence isn't that all hope can be placed on us, but that we can show others how to put all their hope in Christ. We're not going to live out our grace story perfectly, but we can point to the perfect One. Don't fall for the trap that your story has to be perfect to have a story. The weight rests on the gospel, not on us. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe it. The Holy Spirit will keep telling the story you tell. The weight isn't on us, but the world is waiting on us to do the work to bring them the gospel. There's rest, work, and reward. The hope is that we get to see many people in Heaven because of the story of grace.

Our prayer is, "Jesus, change me...because I desperately need it, and the world desperately needs You."