Connecting and Caring
One morning I went to the gym with my husband. Without earphones I tried to understand the show on the tv as I pedaled on the exercise bike. A man was calmly allowing many bugs to crawl over his back. I responded with a shudder and then I commented on my response to the woman on the next bike. ."God knew what He was doing as He created us with a natural dislike for crawling bugs. They could bite or bring bacteria." I sat a little taller as I realized how casually and naturally I had mentioned God.
I remember when I had first become a Christian. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from trouble.", Psalm 107:2 was one of the first verses I memorized. Although the basic truth was easy to understand there were voices giving different ideas as to what that meant. Some seemed to say just invite people to Bible studies or church services and that counts. Others said no, you have to actively seek out those with whom you can share a gospel presentation. There were many variations of these two approaches.
Each of these two approaches saw the Christian as the one primarily responsible for the eternal welfare of the targeted individual. God is the one who chooses and calls His people. We are privileged when God uses us in the process. For many of us the list of those who influenced us for Christ can be a lot longer than one. It may include a Sunday school teacher you had as a child, a Christian neighbor or a radio preacher. When you witness to someone you may be the one to pray with this person or you may continue to pray for this person. You may have no knowledge of all the people God may send to repeat what you have said or to add to it. God may ask you to play a very small role. As a redeemed person part of your responsibility is to give God his proper place in all of his creation. That may mean that God gives you the opportunity to lay out all aspects of the gospel and other times it may be your role to mention Him as. creator.
I think my husband and I have known these things for a long time but we haven't always acted on what we understood. About four years ago Steve was called to be the regional home missionary for this presbytery. The exact words of the call refer to him as a evangelist. The stereotype view of an evangelist is someone who witnesses door to door and is willing to lay out the whole gospel at the drop of a hat. Steve knew the stereotype did not describe him. He began a quest to discover how that term did and could apply to him in the future. As he prayed and read more he began to be more aware of what was already in his life, becoming more conscious of the relationships that surrounded him. From that point, the opportunities to speak of Christ seemed much more apparent. So often we don't pay attention to the neighbor who passes us on the street or the clerk in the store. Steve began to take a closer look at the barber who cut his hair and the teller at the bank. He began to ask himself about every relationship in his life. How could he listen to them better and serve them when the time comes? How could he value them in a way that would reflect God's love? Needless to say that would include at least part of the gospel as God provides the opportunity.
Sharing the gospel is not just pulling a tract out of your back pocket. It is living our lives in a way that reflected the good news and the grace that has been lavished on us through Christ.
I remember when I had first become a Christian. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from trouble.", Psalm 107:2 was one of the first verses I memorized. Although the basic truth was easy to understand there were voices giving different ideas as to what that meant. Some seemed to say just invite people to Bible studies or church services and that counts. Others said no, you have to actively seek out those with whom you can share a gospel presentation. There were many variations of these two approaches.
Each of these two approaches saw the Christian as the one primarily responsible for the eternal welfare of the targeted individual. God is the one who chooses and calls His people. We are privileged when God uses us in the process. For many of us the list of those who influenced us for Christ can be a lot longer than one. It may include a Sunday school teacher you had as a child, a Christian neighbor or a radio preacher. When you witness to someone you may be the one to pray with this person or you may continue to pray for this person. You may have no knowledge of all the people God may send to repeat what you have said or to add to it. God may ask you to play a very small role. As a redeemed person part of your responsibility is to give God his proper place in all of his creation. That may mean that God gives you the opportunity to lay out all aspects of the gospel and other times it may be your role to mention Him as. creator.
I think my husband and I have known these things for a long time but we haven't always acted on what we understood. About four years ago Steve was called to be the regional home missionary for this presbytery. The exact words of the call refer to him as a evangelist. The stereotype view of an evangelist is someone who witnesses door to door and is willing to lay out the whole gospel at the drop of a hat. Steve knew the stereotype did not describe him. He began a quest to discover how that term did and could apply to him in the future. As he prayed and read more he began to be more aware of what was already in his life, becoming more conscious of the relationships that surrounded him. From that point, the opportunities to speak of Christ seemed much more apparent. So often we don't pay attention to the neighbor who passes us on the street or the clerk in the store. Steve began to take a closer look at the barber who cut his hair and the teller at the bank. He began to ask himself about every relationship in his life. How could he listen to them better and serve them when the time comes? How could he value them in a way that would reflect God's love? Needless to say that would include at least part of the gospel as God provides the opportunity.
Sharing the gospel is not just pulling a tract out of your back pocket. It is living our lives in a way that reflected the good news and the grace that has been lavished on us through Christ.
Comments
Post a Comment