When You See It Like He Saw It…

We went out last Saturday doing street evangelism with a group called RAVEN – “Restoring a Vision & Evangelizing Nations”.  It’s a national organization that was founded out of a group of men and women who began doing street evangelism each year at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Now there are teams across the US (and some outside the US) that go out regularly to do contact evangelism in some of the toughest areas in some of the toughest cities.  Here’s a quote from their national website:

“When you see it like He saw it, then you will do it like He did it” instantly became my motto and the basis by which I would establish any further ministry that I would do. It truly ceased to be okay with me for people to die and go to hell without having the opportunity to accept the life-changing message of the Lord Jesus Christ. I had long been a hearer of the word, but now it was time to be a doer of that word as well.

How did Jesus “see it”, and what did he do?

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. – Matthew 14:14

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, – Luke 19:41

Why?  Because hell is real, the Father’s wrath is real, Jesus knew that one day soon He would suffer the Father’s wrath – and he didn’t want the same for them.  But also heaven is real and God is real, Jesus had spent eternity in perfect fellowship with the Father, loving and enjoying the Father, and he desired such joy for them – eternity in God’s presence.  And so He has compassion, and He weeps, because He SEES the reality of the impending destruction and the enormity of the potential joy.

Paul saw it too:

I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. – Romans 9:2-3

What does he do?  He preaches:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? – Romans 10:13-14

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Romans 10:17

Pray for us.  Pray that we would see the lost and weep and have compassion.  Pray that we would be broken, yet hopeful – seeing spiritual need – seeing it seriously and urgently – and knowing that God is a God who saves His sheep.  Pray that we would proclaim the gospel clearly, that seeds would be planted, and the Holy Spirit would open eyes and save people!

-Ben