I had to think about that. I know people who are burdened with guilt because they had an opportunity to share Christ with so-and-so and they didn't and they were afraid that so-and-so could end up in Hell because they didn't share. Is that the case? Is God counting on me to share the Gospel with "that" person and if I don't they won't be saved?
The question goes beyond that, then. We are commanded to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). We are told, "You do not have, because you do not ask." (James 4:2). Prayer is important. So ... what if I don't? What if, say, I fail to pray for the salvation of a loved one or for the healing of a brother in Christ or for a particular gift (1 Cor 14:1)? Is God not able to save that person or heal that brother or provide that gift because I failed to pray?
Is that how God works? "Oh, my," He might end up saying, "I would have saved that person if only Bill had done his task of sharing the Gospel with them. He didn't. They aren't." Is He limited by our obedience (or lack thereof)? Is He blocked from acting if we don't pray, especially as He intends? We know Scripture says that Jesus couldn't heal where He wasn't recognized.
Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. (Mark 6:4-6)Doesn't that say that He couldn't heal because they lacked the faith?
You call it as you see it. I don't read that text that way. I understand it to say that it would not have been the best thing to do miracles in that place when they were skeptics. I understand the "could not" to mean "because He always did what was best and that would not have been best." Why? I am convinced that "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" (Psa 135:6). That means that if He intends to save Jill and the believer nearest to her fails to tell her about Jesus, He can still get the job done. That means that if He wants to heal Jim, He can heal Jim even if no one asks for it. That means that if the Spirit wants to give Emily the gift of encouragement, He can do so even if she never asks. I believe I am commanded to share the Gospel and pray and obey and all that and if I fail to do so I am sinning, but I don't believe that it follows that I am blocking God from accomplishing His will by doing so. He will do what He will do. To me, the sheer arrogance required to think that the Master of the Universe is dependent on me to accomplish His grand plans seems completely ludicrous.
If that's the case, why do it? Why witness, pray, or obey? Not because of consequences, for sure. We are saved by grace and forgiven, so I'm not going to Hell for failing to do what I'm told to do. But the question seems silly. Why do those things? If I am a Christ-follower, indwelt by the Spirit, with God at work in me to will and to do His good pleasure, how could I not aim to do those things? If I love God, how could I not pursue that which pleases Him? I mean, there is the trivial "loss of rewards" to consider. And there is the magnificent opportunity to be the tool that God uses at this point in time to accomplish His work. Who wouldn't want that?
There are very good reasons to share the Gospel, to pray, to obey. I do not believe that "If you don't you will obstruct God's work" is one of them. Conversely, believers who have no interest in obeying Christ by sharing the Gospel, making disciples, praying, or the rest might have a bigger problem than preventing God from accomplishing His will. They may have a heart problem -- not much concerned about Christ -- and maybe even a health problem -- dead in sin. I still don't believe that God is in submission to Man.
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