Tactfulness
In the work of soul-winning, great tact and wisdom are needed.
The Saviour never suppressed the truth, but He uttered it always in
love. In His intercourse with others, He exercised the greatest tact,
and He was always kind and thoughtful. He was never rude, never
needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave unnecessary pain to a
sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He fearlessly
denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity, but tears were in His
voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes. He never made truth cruel,
but ever manifested a deep tenderness for humanity. Every soul was
precious in His sight. He bore Himself with divine dignity; yet He
bowed with the tenderest compassion and regard to every member of
the family of God. He saw in all, souls whom it was His mission to
save.
Paul’s Discretion
The minister must not feel that the whole truth is to be spoken
to unbelievers on any and every occasion. He should study carefully
when to speak, what to say, and what to leave unsaid. This is not
practicing deception; it is working as Paul worked. “Though I be free
from all men,” he wrote to the Corinthians, “yet have I made myself
servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I
became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under
the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the
law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without
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law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that
are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the
weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save
some.” [
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
.]
Paul did not approach the Jews in such a way as to arouse their
prejudices. He did not at first tell them that they must believe in Jesus
of Nazareth; but dwelt upon the prophecies that spoke of Christ, His
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