Net~Working: a blog about the philosophy of reaching the lost.

Beginners Mind

March 16, 2023

This will seem to some a strange place to start. Those of you that have taken soulwinning classes in the past will be expecting “cool tips” and the “how to’s” of witnessing, not this warning. Ironically, it is right here, at the very start, that many well-meaning Christians fail. Would you like to know why they fail? It’s simple. Satan has successfully launched a propaganda campaign against the act of being a witness, and the church has bought into his lies. Just in recent weeks we have heard great people of faith make statements like, “Door-knocking doesn’t work anymore”, “People don’t want to be bothered in their homes”,  “Folks just don’t care about the things of God anymore”, “Witnessing isn’t my talent”, “God only cares that I serve, he doesn’t care how I serve”, and “I just don’t have time, Saturday is my only day off”. We will be digging into and discussing each of these myths in the days ahead, but for now let me just point out that even if these things were true (and I have proven through experience that they are not), it would not release any of us from the great commission. I do not mean the great commission as mentioned in the gospels (although this would be enough). I am referring to the direct command and the heartbeat of our God that is laced throughout the entire Word of God, to go and tell all the earth of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. None of us are omitted from this command for any reason. In all my years reading the scripture I have yet to find the loophole that will exempt me from this commission. Not age, not health, not schedule, and not fear, can release us from God’s method of reaching the world. We must go and tell. Therefore, success in this class is vital. We believe it will revolutionize your witnessing, your life and the lives of those around you if you will allow it, it will change you. It has revolutionized ours.  If you are to succeed, you must begin right. You must begin with a beginner’s mind.

To have a beginner’s mind is to be receptive, to be curious and to suspend judgement. It is the act of maintaining an “I don’t know” state of mind. It is the ability to purposely set aside what we think or what we assume about any given subject. It is to disrupt our automatic thinking patterns. It is to admit that we do not know everything about the topic at hand and realize that we can still grow in this area. If you have been on this earth very long, then you know it is a daunting task to find students that can embrace the beginner’s mindset. As human beings, we pride ourselves on our knowledge, on our experiences, and on our successes. We have been teaching this class for years and I promise you we would rather have a terrified student that has no idea how to be a soulwinner than a long time Christian that has had a modicum of success. Often, it will be the terrified newbie to Christianity that will go on to lead thousands to a saving knowledge of Christ while the “mature Christian” that has some idea of what to do will treat the class like a buffet. They will take what they like and what feels good and mix it with what they are already doing that produced a “modicum” of success. That word modicum means a bit. Because they cannot follow another’s leading, they eventually move on and produce…a bit more. Please understand, we are for every bit. We will welcome all and give everything we can if it means one more person is in the Kingdom. But we believe that God has created an opportunity in these last days for us to see more. We can reach our Jerusalem.  We always want to do more for Christ. More always comes when we get out of the way and let God work. For those of you that set aside your egos, your preconceived notions, your “this is what I’ve always done, and it’s worked for me”, your fear, your schedules, and your automatic mindsets, God is waiting to do more. It is our belief that he wants to use you to do it!   With beginners mind we seek renewing transformation as promised in God’s word. Romans 12:2

Without this mindset you will fail at being all you can be as a witness for Jesus. That seems harsh but it is true. Ask any teacher and they will tell you that it is extremely difficult to teach around old information and impossible to teach someone who already knows everything.