Christians please! answer for me...?

Question

How do you use the person that you were before you got saved, to help the ones who are lost and hurting now?

It seems to me a waste of Grace, that God gave us while we were lost not to go back to the people that we can be empathatic with.

Do you think we should go back to where we started and minister? I see so many that forget that no sin is new and God can use the testimony we now have.

My testimony is from an outlaw biker world, and we minister there frequently. I believe that as a mature Christian, you can go back to the field where you were. I just want to know what others think.

Not going back to the sin life... Going back to the lost. Not even the same people that we know, but to what we came from. I believe that God can use what we came from to show others how to be more than conquerors, through Jesus.

Thanks for those that understand me! I am well seasoned with salt and light. My husband and I are ordained and minister to homeless shelters, missions, bikers, addicts, and prisoners. We work with many veterans and anyone else that God lets us!

I just wanted to know if the body of Christ is working in the world.

For God so loved the world....the unsaved world. We should too.

Answer 1

I used to be a drunkard, drug addict, chronic committer of misdemeanors, a liar, a prideful, arrogant boaster full of bravado, and so forth.

I spread the word of salvation to all sorts who are just like who I used to be. On a daily basis I do it, no less.

It is a waste of grace to hoard the good news for oneself. You are right about that.

And it's something specific that I can offer people who are where I used to be: understanding of where they are from the inside. That is, they come to realize that I know what I'm talking about not just as a theory, but because I've lived it. Which carries with it a certain credibility and makes people, sometimes, more willing to hear.

Answer 2

Yes, you are right. However there are some cases in which a person is better not to go back until strong enough. For instance, if on Monday an alcoholic accepts Christ and stops drinking, I would not recommend he go into a tavern or bar on Tuesday to witness to his former drinking buddies. He would be better to stay away for a while.
On the other hand, too often believers have sought, and have been encouraged to seek, only Christian friendships. That is really sad as they are shut off from sharing their new-found faith in a genuine way. Then some day their church encourages them to join a campaign knocking on doors, and they find that difficult because people do not respond with much appreciation.
They would have been much more effective keeping their former friendships in the measure that was possible, and telling them what Christ had done for them. Also, their former friends will be in a better position to judge whether Christ really made a positive change in their lives. Others they meet will just say "yeah, yeah I'm sure" but will have no way of knowing if it is true.
(By the way I think Friendship's answer is only partly correct. Paul started testifying of his faith in the synagogues immediately. Yes, it took a while before he did it in Jerusalem. His life was in danger.)

Answer 3

You are answering this as a mature Christian and I would say for you it is safe to return there to reach your lost friends.

However, it is dangerous for a new Christian to return to that sinful lifestyle they left because it's too much temptation to return to that life rather than to try to win souls. A new Christian does not have the wisdom or the firmly established & built-up relationship with the Heavenly Father to endure the temptations that Satan will surely throw and him/her in the former environment.

Being born again is very similar to a real birth experience just on a spiritual level. Would you take a newborn baby and place him/her in that same environment? No. You would raise the child in the Word of God and help nourish his/her relationship with the Father and then once that child is firmly established and mature enough THEN send him/her out to be a witness to their lost friends. Someone who is long-term established in the Word and overcome a sinful lifestyle is going to be a much more effective witness to say "I kicked this lifestyle 5 years ago and this is how my life has changed...." more so than the new Christian who tries to return to his/her sinful environment to testify the next day about how Christ has changed his/her life. Even though the salvation experience is very real for the new Christian it may be hard for his/her friends to believe or accept.

Answer 4

You mean use life experiences to relate with another person after you are saved and are sharing the Gospel? It depends to what extent you are talking about. If you mean going back to the same place, to the same place, and to the same friends, and doing the same sins that you were doing before, no. If it means going to a place or putting yourself in a situation where you will be strongly tempted, then no. If it means simply using PAST experiences to relate to one who is going through the same things, then sure! We have our pasts, and we can understand people going through the same thing, and help them remove themselves. But keep this in mind. A huge testimony that you are saved is your life. If you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ through grace, and yet still continue to keep on the same sinful self and acts that you were doing, then what difference would your friends see in that? Sure, you can relate to people, and as long as you are not sinning, then minister to your old buddies! But don't encourage them to sin! If they saw you continually and purposely sinning, then they might wonder what good is salvation if it doesn't change you? God bless!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Romans 6:1-7
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Answer 5

I find that those who I used to have in my life BEFORE becoming a member of my church has always left me frustrated. You should never go back into the darkness. The Lord will place others in your path. Those who were truly your friend from the past will be there for you even after the change. But most are not comfortable.

You can't go back into the darkness because the light wont follow you. Just see what the Lord places in FRONT of you and forget what is behind you.

Answer 6

Here is Paul's testimony from 1 Timothy 1:13-15

"even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life."


With all due respect to Paul, I was a lot worse than he was before I was saved. I believe that it glorifies God when we testify that we did nothing to help ourselves; He cleaned us up by His grace.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Ephesians 2:8-9

Answer 7

You are right, we do need to be ministering to the sin and not the healthy. But a lot of people feel uncomfortable doing that because it reminds us too much of our old ways. I know for me personally, talking about my past is really difficult because so much of it was hard, and...well it's a lot more complicated than in sounds. And really, unless you were a really bad person, sinners aren't generally impressed by the new you.
But like I said before, we should be doing more to reach the lost, and it's a shame many of us don't (myself included).

Answer 8

I love your question because it reveals that God is busy working in you to make you a fruitful Christian!!! I wish I would come across more who desire fruit.

So allow me to offer some encouragement to such a caring child of God. Remember that mean old tax collector Matthew? Jesus said to him, follow me and he did. His pals from his past life were all tax collectors and prostitutes because nobody else would bother with tax collectors. So what did Mattew do now that he was following Jesus? He had a party at his house and invited all of these old pals over. Who else did he invite, Jesus of course and Jesus was happy to meet these misfits who were outcasts of the community. The snobs who thought they were better than others asked Jesus why He would be around such people and Jesus said to them that it was the sick who need a doctor, not those who are healthy.

One mistake new Christians make, they think that just because they stopped living like the devil that they cannot be around their old pals. I would say be very careful not to be entangled in that world again. Go about it wisely but do allow your old freinds who don't know the Lord the same opportunity you were given, and who knows, maybe one of them will get saved d:O) But even if they don't get saved right now, you are planting seeds that
God will surely water and that is all He asks us to do!

Thank you for making my heart smile today, you blessed me more than you will ever know!!!!

wisdom can be found at www.biblesense.com

Answer 9

Sometimes to go back to the people you once knew is to be around the old habits you used to have. Be careful, I know a preacher who said that he tried to go to the bars he once hung out in. He only drank coke, and no liquor but he said that was not a good thing. Remember Lot's wife who looked back to her old life. Better to call them on the phone and try to minister to them, most of all pray for them. After all it is the Holy Spirit which will draw them.

Answer 10

we can only draw upon our own experiences, not others, that is true.

However, using this theory, the people most qualified to be social workers would be those who are abused, neglected and spurned by the rest of society. Your testimony may be powerful, but you are not immune. There is no one worse than a smoker who's quit to nag upon another smoker. There is no worse patient but a doctor. Maybe it will work. Maybe not.