Every Christian should strive to be a fisher of men. Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). We sometimes sing the song, “I Want to Be A Soul Winner.” The first verse goes like this:

“I want to be a soul winner for Jesus ev’ry day,
He does so much for me;
I want to aid the lost sinner to leave his erring way,
And be from bondage free.”

When we sing that song, do we sing it from the heart? Do we mean it when we say we want to be soul winners for Jesus? Every child of God should have this resolve.

Reasons For Being Soul Winners

1. To Be Like Christ. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Every word He said, every deed He performed, was to this end (Luke 19:10). This is why He suffered, bled, and died. This is why He gave up the riches of heaven and eventually endured the cross of Calvary. He wanted souls to be saved. We are told as Christians to follow His steps (1 Peter 2:21). This is what it means to be a Christian. We must conform to His image (Romans 8:29). Are we Christians in just word or name, or are we Christians in deed? We can answer yes to that question only if we are seeking the lost as Jesus did before us.

2. Because the Great Commission places that responsibility upon us. We are all commanded to preach to the lost. It is not something that can be done by proxy. Paul once said, “For every man shall bear his own burden” (Galatians 6:5). The Greek word for burden in this passage is phortion. It refers to a task or service. There is service to be done by all Christians—service given to us by Jesus Himself. Spreading the gospel of peace is a part of the service God has given us. The encouraging thing is that we can all do it because Jesus would not give us a command too hard for us to keep. In fact, in regard to the burdens given by Christ, Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). The word Christ used for burden is the same one used by Paul. So then, we all have work to do in keeping the Great Commission. Why is this commission so great?

– Because of its scope. The gospel must be preached to all. Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” No one is to be excluded. We must preach to the poor and the rich alike. We must preach to male and female, Jew and Gentile, bond and free, etc. Everyone needs the gospel of Christ.

– Because of its duration. It began on the day of Pentecost, and it is to last until the end of the world. The law of Moses was temporary (Galatians 3:19, 24), but the gospel is permanent (1 Peter 1:23, 24).

– Because of its promise. The promise of the Great Commission is salvation (Mark 16:15, 16). Those who obey the gospel receive the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38). For the first time in history, salvation could be preached as a reality. No sins were actually forgiven, at least not in an absolute sense, until after Jesus tasted death for mankind (Hebrews 9:15; 10:1-4). Now any and all can have their sins forgiven immediately by obeying the gospel of our Lord.

– Because of its threat. Jesus not only said, “. . .he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,” He also said, “…he that believeth not shall be damned.” Our concern for the lost should be all the motivation we need to get busy preaching the gospel.

3. In order to be wise. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). Why is it wise to win souls? Because the soul is worth more than all the world (Matthew 16:25). Nothing in the world is more precious than one’s soul. It is worth more than all of the silver and gold of this world. Furthermore, the soul is eternal. The soul of man never dies. One will spend eternity in heaven or hell, depending on whether he obeys the gospel or not. This is what makes preaching the gospel at every opportunity so important. Souls are at stake.

Excuses For not Winning Souls

Benjamin Franklin said, “The man who is good for excuses is good for nothing else.” We should all be looking for ways to save the lost, not looking for excuses to evade our responsibility. Here are some common excuses for not trying to win souls:

1. “I cannot do personal work.” Some think if they just admit that they can’t do personal work, people will respect them for acknowledging their short-comings and their responsibility is somehow absolved. The fact is, everyone can do personal work. Remember, it is a command of God, and God does not command us to do things beyond our capabilities. Personal work just takes a little courage and effort. If you do not know how to do personal work, learn. We learn to do things we do not know how to do all the time. Why? Because we want to. Don’t you want to win souls?

2. “People aren’t interested in the Bible.” This is true with some, perhaps even the majority. Our job, however, is to find sincere and honest people who are interested in the Bible and share the truth with them.

3. “I am too busy.” This might be so but let me suggest that if we are too busy to do personal work, we must somehow rearrange our schedules. If we are too busy to obey God, we are too busy to go to heaven. God will not tolerate putting earthly affairs before and above His business.

4. “I am too old” or “I am too young.” We never get too old to serve God. Paul was an older man (some say he was around sixty) when he made this statement: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13, 14). Paul refused to quit until he crossed the finish line. As far as the young are concerned, if one is old enough to obey the gospel, he is old enough to tell people about it. The wise man said, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth…” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Let’s do what we know we should. Let’s be a people who are thoroughly convinced about the truth of the gospel and who have an earnest desire to share that truth with others. Let’s truly be an evangelistic church; not to impress men, but to win souls and please God.