Do you remember my post titled “Dying Before One’s Time?” I wrote it way back on June 28th 2006 Chad and James made some comments that I never responded to. Chad brought up a particular passage that made me rethink everything. I spent many many hours thinking and writing about it over the last few months intermittently. Pre-move and post-move life has distracted me from being able to post my thoughts until now.
I finally responded…and respond I did! I had a lot to say, but I would encourage you to revisit the issue by reading my comments here. What I have to say even has a bearing on our old March 2006 discussion about the efficacy of praying for the lost. You might be surprised to read what I have to say about that!
Thinking to Believe 
October 16, 2006 at 11:01 am
Jason,
Great to hear you respond to my posts! I appreciate your hard thinking about it and the texts I pointed to. It will take me some time to get my head back into it. To be honest you really humbled me by taking the texts mentioned (and me) so seriously. And I didn’t mind you taking your time at all. I am currently remodeling a house before I move into it and so I don’t have much time to dialogue and I understand the busyness of life. I will think about it some more and give perhaps respond shortly.
Also, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the nature of blogging itself. Over the past couple of months I’ve watched quite a few blogs and seen a lot of abuse. People respond way too quickly, they become acerbic and sharp, and say things they would not say in person. In fact, they respond often terribly. I have come to love and hate blogdom. I love the dialogue but I can’t stand much of it. People don’t really read posts, they don’t really know the people they’re criticizing, they comment on books they’ve never read, they can’t spell…and the list goes on. Things can get out of hand quickly in the blogosphere!
Anyways, that is not at all true for this blog however! Jason, you think really hard about things and I–and most of us, I think–really respect you for that. But it has made me re-think how I participate in blogs and how much I want to be real, honest, gracious, and true in dialogue. That being said, let me say that if I have ever responded in an ungracious manner I am sorry.
So I will think a bit more about it and re-read much of the dialogue and respond.
In Christ,
Grace and Peace,
Chad
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October 16, 2006 at 12:20 pm
I did not take the time to find the previous entry about Prayer for The Lost. However, I would like to make some comments here.
I think the issue may lay in self-liberty. Paul makes it clear that we are the Body of Christ. The anatomy lesson there is comprehensive; we are His feet, His hands, etc.
Therefore, God uses us to reach the lost in this time. God will not override free-will but uses the bent will of the believer. Our body is no longer our own, therefore we yeild or self-liberties to become ONE with Him. When we pray for the lost we are asking God to use us, in any way, to reach the lost.
Dr. Crownover once said, “Prayer for the salvation of the lost has nothing to do with bending God’s will or motivating Him to some action He had not previously planned. It has nothing to do with forcing the lost one to be saved. It has everything to do with yielding my will, my prerogatives, and my passions to Him on behalf of that lost one.”
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October 16, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Chad,
Wow, I am humbled by your comments. I prize the truth more than anything in life. I would rather discover the truth and have to admit to everyone that something I was a strong advocate of (maybe for years) was mistaken, than I would save face and remain in error. Truth is so much more valuable.
You’re right about the dangers in blogging. I’ve fallen prey to some of those attitudes and behaviors myself at times (I can get a little sharp at times). Your comments remind me of the need to ALWAYS be consciously Christlike…even in the blogosphere (imagine that!).
Take your time on the response. I sure did!
Jason
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October 16, 2006 at 9:06 pm
James,
I’m not sure how it follows that since we are the body of Christ, and His vehicle for reaching the lost, that praying for the lost must be efficacious. It only follows that God uses humans to reach the lost. How they reach the lost (evengelism, prayer, etc.) is a separate question.
The quote from Crownover sounds similar to what I was arguing. Praying for the lost does not affect the sinner or God. He is only adding to it that praying for the lost helps us to better yield ourselves to God so we can better reach the lost. But I question the logic of that (assuming I am understanding him correctly based on your quote). First, most people who pray for the lost think it’s actually doing something for the lost person, not themselves. But more importantly, if you recognize that praying for the lost actually helps you (and you are the one who needs the prayer), not the lost, then why not just skip praying for the lost (who don’t need it) and just pray for yourself (who does need it)? That’s what the apostles seemed to do. We find the apostles praying for boldness, and for signs and wonders. Paul told people to pray for doors of opportunity to be preach the Gospel be opened for him. So it seems to me that if you really believe what Crownover says, it ceases to make any sense to pray for the lost.
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October 16, 2006 at 9:09 pm
By the way, the “praying for the lost” post is at http://theosophical.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-pray-for-lost-to-be-saved.html.
If you plan on responding to my response to you, maybe you could repost your initial comment there, and then follow it up with your reply. I, in turn, will repost my comment there and respond accordingly. I would just like to keep all the comments under the actual topic heading.
And as a reminder, you can always go the upper left-hand corner of the blog and do a search.
Jason
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October 17, 2006 at 8:50 pm
Note to everyone, James has posted another comment to the old thread, and I have responded accordingly.
http://theosophical.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-
pray-for-lost-to-be-saved.html
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