I remember hearing someone describe Adrian Rogers, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, as a “weeper.” Dr. Rogers was known for shedding tears over the lost condition and pending judgment of those who, because of their own sin and rebellion, were alienated from God. He went on to say that when it comes to evangelism “weepers are reapers.”
This may seem like strange language. What he was saying is that Adrian Rogers, like many of his generation and many today, had a strong burden for the unsaved — one that led him to weep over people who were dead in their sins and on their way to hell.
Here is our dilemma: we do not all have that kind of heart, yet all of us are called to live out the Great Commission. Add that to the fact that many of us are “feelers” and we need to feel a compulsion, a tug on our heart, that moves us to open our mouth to speak the powerful and life-changing gospel message.
How can I grow my burden for the unsaved? Here are some suggestions:
1. Pray for it. Many Christians pray for BOB each day. Who is Bob, you may ask? BOB is an acrostic for Burden, Opportunity and Boldness. Praying for BOB is simply asking God each day, or several times throughout the day, to give us a burden for lost people — an opportunity to share with some lost person today — and the boldness to share Jesus as an act of compassion for the lost and obedience to Christ.
2. Act on it. Your burden for lost souls is like a muscle — the more you use it the stronger it becomes. Many of us have an atrophied burden for lost people because we never exercise that burden by sharing Jesus with those who are under condemnation.
3. Watch as it grows. Recently while preaching in a revival service in Hopkinsville, Ky., I invited people to come to the front of the church in response to God’s word. One thing I asked them to do was to pray for a greater burden for lost people. I was part of another revival more recently and gave a similar invitation.
Later that same evening I sensed a strong impression in my heart that I believed to be from the Holy Spirit, encouraging me that if I wanted a greater burden for lost people, then I should act on the burden that I already had. In other words, don’t wait for stronger feelings for the unsaved but instead go and share Jesus with the unsaved and your feelings for them will increase.
4. Spend time with lost people. One fact about lost people is that most do not know they are lost. They just know that things are not as they should be in their lives. One thing lost people need is someone who knows they are lost to come and tell them about the One who seeks and saves the lost — Jesus!
The more time we spend with lost people, realizing they are already under condemnation (John 3:16-19) and that if they die in that state they will be condemned forever, the more our love for them will grow and our burden for them will increase.
5. Meditate on hell. Richard Baxter, author of “The Saints’ Everlasting Rest,” is said to have meditated on heaven for at least a half hour each day. The result was that he developed a greater love and longing for his eternal home. If we meditated on hell, is it possible that we might develop a greater love and burden for those for whom it will be their eternal place of suffering and torment?
I certainly do not have all the answers to developing a greater heart for lost people, but I do know that such a burden will aid us in loving them more, sharing Jesus with them more frequently and praying for them more fervently. Let’s join together in acting on the burden we already have and asking God to help us grow even more burdened for those who are lost.
