THE ROLE OF WELFARISM IN REACHING OUT TO THE LOST SOULS
MARCH 22, 2025
TEXT: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
(Luke 4:18)
There is no doubt about the role we christians are to play in the Great commission of our LORD Jesus Christ. However,many fail to take note of the fact that spiritual needs are not the only problems of people.
Welfarism, in this contest, is the act of looking out for the needs and peculiarities of others before they are preached to. Many are willing to be committed to God, but are simply overwhelmed by the storms ravaging their lives.
Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, was both a preacher and a compassionate leader. Some of His good deeds were: feeding the hungry (Luke 9), caring for the neglected and marginalized in the community, (Mark 2:15-17) and healing the diseased and afflicted (Matthew 4:23-24).
Simply put, welfarism of others is very important and is as good as evangelism itself. This is due to the fact that for us to minister to souls, the souls must be in the right frame of mind, otherwise, the words will not be fruitful and will merely fall on Stony grounds (As we have in the parable of the sower). Apostle John the beloved admonished us not to love by mouth or declaration, but by deed and through action. (1 John 3:18).
When we care about the welfarism of others, we are indirectly showing them that God cares about their entire well-being, and apart from that, when we give to the poor in the process of evangelizing to them, there is a reward for it from the LORD. (Proverbs 19:17).
It is quite saddening that today, an average believer is well equipped for the oral and persuasive aspect of evangelism, but withdraw to their shells when there is a need to attend to the needs of these souls in the course of carrying out their divine assignment. The truth is that if the love of Christ which we want them to accept is not being directly manifested via our own lives, there is no way we can consciously persuade them that our God is a loving God. The light of the father must beam to them through our own lives and we should not just stuff their ears with words and rhetorics, while turning blind eye to their plights, especially when you have been empowered to rescue them from such plight. This will arouse in them more desire to listen to you and come to the light you have set before them.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT FRIDAY
SEARCHLIGHT: Action speaks louder and is more effective than words.
PRAYERS: O LORD, empower me with the grace to be a total evangelist, in the name of Jesus.
BIBLE READING: 2 Samuel 19-21, 2 Corinthians 1
PASTOR MICHAEL OMOLE
