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THE DANGER OF PRESSURING PEOPLE "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." (Acts 26:28-29)Please notice that when Agrippa mentioned the possibility of becoming a Christian, Paul did NOT move in for the prize like your typical fundamentalist "soul winner." He didn't feel the need to "press for a decision." Paul gave a clear testimony that included the gospel of Christ, and then his job was finished. Paul's only response to Agrippa's comment was, "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." Why didn't Paul feel the need to "draw the net," as they say, and insure that this man made a profession?Well, for one thing, being there and personally sensing the whole spirit of Agrippa and his comment, Paul might very well have sensed that the comment was uttered in sarcasm, therefore proceeding with any serious conversion attempt would have been useless.Also, Paul knew that this was not the ideal one-on-one situation, especially when dealing with an authority figure in public. He had given the gospel and then discerned that that was enough.But most importantly, Paul knew that pressuring people for a decision was not his job. This is where so many "soul winners" go wrong. I have a particular book in my office on soul winning that runs well over 100 pages, yet not one time is the subject of spiritual discernment even mentioned. The entire book is about GETTING PROFESSIONS, how to say this and do that in order to get a "Yes answer." Getting an HONEST answer doesn't even matter.It did matter to Paul. He knew that pressuring Agrippa would not lead to a genuine Holy Ghost conversion, so he didn't push any further.When a man is truly thirsty and has no way of quenching his own thirst, he will not allow you to walk away with a cold bottle of water. You won't have to open the bottle and pour the water down his throat. If he knows that you have cold water, he will ASK (Mat. 5:6). If he doesn't, he isn't thirsty. Paul understood that. Laodicean "soul winners" do not understand it, and that's why the average "convert" today is as fake as a three dollar bill.