S: Ezekiel 33:8-9 If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.
O: God had called Ezekiel to be a watchman -- to warn the people of Israel. His responsibility is only to warn -- he was not responsible for his hearer's response.
A: We have a responsibility to share God's plan of salvation with others, but we don't convert them. If they respond, they will be saved; we don't force people to become Christians.
That said, we also have to use wisdom and tact. When I was a student at the University of Kansas, occasionally there would be this preacher and his followers who stood in the quad and shouted insults at people, saying that God hated homosexuals and other things that actually pushed people away from Christ. (Incidentally, it's not true that God hates homosexuals -- God Himself said He loves everyone in the world and doesn't want anyone to perish.) They shall know we are Christians by our love.
P: Father, please give me wisdom how to share the Gospel in a winsome way in each situation. I suspect that I tend to err too much on the side of sensitivity; help me to be bolder, but with wisdom so as not to push people away either. In Jesus' name, amen.
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