Christians: sitting across a table from your co-worker during your lunch in the break room have you ever asked yourself, ‘when will I get a chance to tell her about Jesus?’ Maybe you have never asked yourself that question or maybe not in that way. Maybe another way to say it is have you ever felt like you have stopped to talk to someone with the hope that you can share your faith with them? Even better, that you will so beautifully tell them about the good news of Jesus that they will fall down on their knees, repent of all there sin and give themselves fully to Christ!? If you are a Christian, you most likely can relate to that question.
So this whole discussion was started today after church when a friend told me a story about his trip to Las Vegas for work. He met up with a client of his company who he has had lots of talks with. This client is in a terminally ill marriage and has been separated from his wife for over a year. He lives a pretty crazy life and usually takes advantage of his time in Vegas to indulge in ALL of its many activities. He had a chance to spend some time with his client and talk to him about his woes. He talked to him about his marriage and his exploits when he is away from home. My friend told me that later he felt like he had missed an opportunity to say something or to share something with him about being a Christian or believing in God. As I sat with him and thought about that comment I thought about how many other Christian friends I have heard over the years talk about opportunities and windows to bring up their faith. I thought to myself, when did we join a multi-level marketing business?
The problem with that question is not that what we want to share is bad or that it is completely unexpected. The problem is that when we focus on that question we are turning every person we meet into a commodity. That was never Jesus’ intention. When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment, His answer was simple: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. The second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself [period]. There is no amendment to that command that says ‘…so you can find an opportunity to sell them what you believe.’ Jesus said that all men will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. Does this mean that by loving one another and our neighbors in radical ways, without agenda, will demonstrate who we are and what we believe to the world around us? You bet!
So, when my friend told me that he felt like he had missed an opportunity to share his faith and that he had been feeling bad about it all weekend I reminded him that the only opportunity that we should be looking for, and feel bad that we missed is the opportunity to love.
If we stop looking for the opportunity to share our faith and interject our great arguing points for the faith; and we just look for opportunities to love people we will then start to look and act like disciples of our Teacher…
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My mind is going all over the place with the implications of this.
What about the great commission?
Is it possible to start making disciples before of people before they ‘get saved’?
How much did Jesus’s disciples know about what they were getting into when they started following him?
Preaching is important; Jesus and the apostles did lots of it. Where and when does it come in when with our friends, neighbors and co-workers?
How will they know unless they hear? (Paul’s question)
How much do I actually trust the Holy Spirit to work in other people’s lives?
Amid all these questions is one thing I am certain about: ‘turning every person we meet into a commodity’ is a bad thing that happens too much. I once heard Johnathon Benz (http://jonathanbenz.typepad.com/jonathans_weblog/) challenge a small group with this: Would you make friends with someone and continue to be their friend, even if they never become a Christian?
Thanks so much for this brain food. It has come at a good time for me.
Jeff – I definitely wouldn’t deny the need to tell people about the Gospel of Christ. As you pointed out, Paul did ask, ‘how will they know unless they hear?’ I have found that until I have earned the right to enter a persons life and gain his/her trust I can’t tell them about my faith with any credibility. I know it isn’t a complete formula, but I truly believe its where a Christian starts.
In response to ‘creating disciples before they get ‘saved”, I would say that is a beautiful process and it happens often when Christians follow the command to love their neighbor. I have a friend that has just gotten back from a missional ministry in North Africa. He and his wife are back state-side and are heading for Fort Wayne, Indiana to do inner city ministry from a ‘disciples through love first, create a church second’ approach. I can’t wait to see how it goes there.