How to help people move forward

The past couple of weeks have been quite busy, and I haven't had time to post anything. However, I read something last night that I felt I had to share. One of the books I'm currently reading is Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden. This is a book I first read a couple of years ago and decided it was time to re-read it. The statement I want to share is

Keep in mind there are three ways to get people to take action. The first is to ask them to do it. The second is to force them to do it. And the third is to help them recognize for themselves why it's in their best interest to take a certain course of action.

Which of the three do you think is most effective? Of course, it's the third option. No one ever rejects their own ideas! If you ask someone to do something they may refuse. If you try to force them they may resent it. But, if they recognize for themselves that it is in their best interest they will do everything possible to accomplish the action.

Anyone who serves in ministry or another helping profession has had those persons who remained stuck in unhealthy practices. You can ask them to change, you can even penalize them if they don't change, and you may or may not see change. The key is to help people convince themselves the change will benefit them.

This even applies to the way we do evangelism in the 21st century. In the past we would ask people to invite Jesus Christ into their lives. Sometimes we would try to force them by warning them of eternal punishment if they didn't. Neither approach is very effective today. Perhaps it would be more effective to point out how becoming a Christian is a reasonable decision to make, how it improves one's life now and prepares us for eternity.

Blaise Paschal was a 17th-century mathematician who was also a committed Christian. He argued that if there was even a 50 percent chance that Christianity was true then it was reasonable for one to become a Christian. The reasons for this is that if Christianity is true then you have everything to gain by accepting Christ into your life, and if it is false you will have lost virtually nothing by becoming a Christian. This has become known as Paschal's Wager. I recently preached a message built around the Wager and finished it by telling the congregation that I have bet everything on the fact that Christianity is true and inviting them to do the same.