Milk Jug Evangelism

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" -Acts 1:4-5, ESV

Here we have a scene at the beginning of Acts, where Christ is speaking to His disciples just prior to His ascension back into heaven with the Father. He directly tells them not to go out and tell people of His gospel, but to "wait for the promise of the Father...the Holy Spirit."

He did not want them to tell people the good news without the Holy Spirit being with them. Why would that be? It's actually pretty straight forward. How does one come to faith in Christ? It is by the grace of God, through faith. The Spirit is the Being behind all that grace and faith, working over hearts like Ty Pennington on a messed-up house.

It is by the Spirit's working that we are saved, and it is by the Spirit's power that we are able to share this great gospel with others, and it is by the Spirit that these people may come to faith in said gospel. If I haven't made it clear enough, it is the Spirit that does the work in evangelism; we are merely a vessel for Him to do His work through.

If you had an empty milk jug, how much good would that do for a bowl of dry cereal? Not much; nothing is going to come out of that milk jug, and no change is going to occur to that bowl of Fruit Loops. Yet, if that jug has milk in it, then that milk can pour into the bowl and change everything about the cereal: taste, consistency, protein levels, etc. It is not the jug, but the milk inside that does the changing. Similarly, it is not the Christian, but the Spirit inside that does the work.

Oh, and by the way, we don't have to wait like the early disciples did. If you are a Christ follower, then you have already been baptized by the Spirit and now have the power of God inside of you. Spreading the gospel is now something you can do, because you already have the Spirit! Rely on His power to save lives, not your own! You and I cannot save anyone, but the Spirit inside of us can! Be encouraged, as all you are is a vessel.

As long as a milk jug holds milk and pours it when it is supposed to, it is doing the job it was made for. As long as we hold the Spirit (which we do) and pour it out when we are supposed to (which should be a lot), then we are doing our job. Be a milk jug, and leave the rest to the Spirit. That's part of why we have Him.