We sing a song – The Gospel is for All. It’s a great song that accurately proclaims that God’s gospel is for everyone. And Jesus commanded us to go preach that gospel to everyone we could find (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-18). If we don’t follow through on that command, that’s on us.
But what if we preach the gospel to people like we’re supposed to and they don’t listen? What do we do then?
To answer that, we can look at a passage out of Matthew 19:
Matthew 19:16-22
16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; 19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
In these verses, a rich ruler comes to Jesus and asks what he can do to obtain eternal life. Jesus says, “Keep God’s commandments.” The ruler says, “Check! Been doing that since I was little. What else?” Jesus responds by saying, “Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, then follow Me.” But the ruler couldn’t do that. He had to give too much, and so he went away grieving.
We may think it silly that this ruler couldn’t give up everything he had to follow Jesus, but every time we preach the gospel to someone and they don’t listen, they’re doing the same thing. It might not be possessions, but they are turning away from Jesus.
So, to answer our question of what do we do then, we look at what Jesus did. And what did He do? Nothing. He let the ruler walk away. He didn’t call out and say, “Well, maybe we can find a compromise.” He didn’t say, “I was just kidding! C’mon over and have a seat.” He let the guy walk away.
It’s always discouraging when we see negative responses to Jesus and the gospel. It’s even more disheartening when it’s loved ones who respond that way. But we learn two things from Jesus here:
1. We must never water down the message. Jesus does not conform to us. We have to conform to him;
2. There is a time when we must let people go. No amount of pleading will make any difference. Once we have clearly and lovingly encouraged obedience, it’s up to them to make the choice to follow or not.