Perseverance and the Emotional Impact of Invitation
The ebbs and flows of invitation are often imagined through fear but not always tackled. By inviting on a regular basis we can develop some of the fruits of the Spirit like patience. We can develop patience by dealing with the fact that we can invite people to church and they will not show up. We can invite people who will actually come a couple of times to church and not stay the course. We will call people and they will not call you back. It is hard to deal with the fact that people don’t get the Christian faith and rather than just tell you, what they are thinking, they just can’t face you anymore. Paul who was not a stranger to the ebbs and flows of invitational mission said in his letter to the Romans, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Perseverance is patience in action. Perseverance is courageous it does not give in to fear. Perseverance is hopeful it does not let discouragement through the door. So invite today and tomorrow and the day after.
