Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Hey, everybody. Pastor Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast. It's been a great week with you and I know Pastor Bobby will take good care of you next week. But as we finish up the week today, I want us to talk about this passage that I think is really fascinating. I, I. It's one of my favorites in all of scripture because it comes with this wild, awesome, just fantastic promise.
[00:00:37] So It's a. It's one sentence, 11 words, straight out of the book of Proverbs and Proverbs 11, verse 30. It says, the fruit of the godly is a tree of life, and those who win souls are wise. Now think about those. Those words, those who win souls are win wise. Right? Six words. Now, when you hear the phrase soul winner, what comes to mind?
[00:01:02] Because for a lot of us, there's a lot of baggage there. You picture someone in a polyester suit at a bus station handing out maybe gospel tracks, or someone arguing with strangers on the Internet about theology, or that one guy at a family barbecue who corners people and makes everything awkward.
[00:01:21] And here's the thing.
[00:01:22] That's not what this is all about. That's not about the guy walking out of the brave stadium with a bullhorn screaming at people that they're going to hell. That's not what it's ever been about. The Hebrew word behind winning souls is literally meaning to capture or take hold of a soul, but not in a forceful way. It's more like to draw someone in, to attract, to be so full of something real that people want to lean toward you. It is liter loving someone so much with your life and your voice that it's compelling.
[00:01:59] Think about that for a second. It's not about having the best argument. It's not about script or method or a closing technique. It's not a sales tool.
[00:02:09] It's about becoming the kind of person living the kind of life that makes people curious about what you've found.
[00:02:17] The verse starts with this. The fruit of the godly is a tree of life.
[00:02:21] Think about that. A tree of life. Trees don't chase people down. Trees don't argue with you. Trees don't post aggressive things on social media and then wonder why nobody wants to come over. Trees, they just grow. They put down roots, they bear fruit, and people come. You know. You know what makes someone wise? Not knowing the most? Not having the sharpest theological edges.
[00:02:46] Wisdom in the Hebrew sense. It's a skill for living. It's knowing how to be human.
[00:02:53] Well, it's the person in the room who somehow makes everyone feel seen Heard and safe. The co worker who asked the question no one else thought to ask. The neighbor who shows up with food without being asked. The friend who says the true thing gently. That's wisdom. And. And according to Proverbs, that's what winning souls actually looks like. Paul gets at this in Colossians chapter four. He says, let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
[00:03:26] Did you get that? Gracious, attractive. Not combative, not performative. Gracious, attractive. The message version of that verse says to make the most of every opportunity.
[00:03:40] Because here's the truth. You already have them.
[00:03:43] You're already surrounded by people, real people with real questions, loneliness, real searching. And most of them are not looking for a debate. They don't even want one. They're looking for someone who actually has something like peace, joy and groundedness that they don't possess. And you might have it. You might be that person. Jesus put it this way. In Matthew 5, he said, you are the light of the world, like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. He didn't say, try really hard to be a light. He said, you are a light. Present tense already. The question is just whether you know it, whether you're living from that place. Because here's what winning souls looks like on a Tuesday afternoon in 2026. It looks like asking your co worker how she's really doing and then actually waiting for the answer. It looks like being the most non anxious person in the room when everything's falling apart and somebody says, how are you so calm right now? And you get to say something true. It looks like having a life, a marriage, a way of handling failure, a relationship with your own soul that makes people wonder what you're drawing from. It looks like being curious about people instead of trying to convince them. The wise person isn't the one who wins the argument. The wise person is the one who wins the person. And there's a big difference. One of the most famous lines in the history of Christian witness is often attributed to Francis of Assisi. Now, whether he actually said it or not doesn't really matter, but I do think it's. It's pretty true. Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. Your life is already speaking every single day to the people around you. The question Proverbs is asking you this morning is what is it saying?
[00:05:31] Because a wise person is a soul winner, and a soul winner is someone who has become a tree rooted alive, full of fruit that other people actually need. So go be that today because someone in your world is hungrier than you know and you have the ability to feed that hunger. You are the light of the world, so go be wise and win souls. By the way, it's not about whether somebody prays with you to give their life to Christ is the simple fact that you were Christ's gracious, nice, kind tool that he used to be a blessing in someone's life. God bless you friend. Thanks for joining me this week on the weekday podcast.
