Getting Clipped for the Cause of Christ

Suggested Reading: Acts 15:40-16:5

One of the things the apostle Paul was known for was fighting against those Jews who tried to insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised in order to really be saved. Throughout the entirety of the New Testament, Paul argued that God's grace, through a person's faith, is what saves a person.  In Galatians 6:15, Paul writes, "For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters is a new creation" (HCSB). In Galatians 3:28, Paul again wrote, "There is no Jew or Geek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (HCSB).  Very consistently, Paul argued that there is no need for Gentile believers to be circumcised in order to be saved, in some places going so far as to say that if a person got circumcised then grace became useless because the person was trying to earn salvation.  So, Acts 16:3 might get a little confusing because we discover that Paul "wanted Timothy to go with him, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek" (HCSB).

Why would Paul, a man who argued so passionately and so consistently against the need for Gentile believers to be circumcised take a young Gentile believer and have him circumcised? Isn't that hypocritical? Doesn't Paul betray everything that he has been fighting for?

No.

You see, Paul argued against having to be circumcised in order to be saved, but Paul didn't circumcise Timothy so that Timothy could be saved. Paul circumcised Timothy so that other people could be saved. Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him in his missionary work because Timothy was a great asset to Paul. But if you are familiar with Paul's ministry, then you know that Paul's first stop in any new city was the Jewish synagogue where he would share the good news that the long awaited Messiah had finally arrived in the person of Jesus. For Timothy to minister effectively, Timothy had to be circumcised so that Timothy's uncircumcised condition would not be a hindrance to the initial Gospel message to Jewish audiences. If Paul were to bring an uncircumcised man into the synagogue and then allow him to speak to law-abiding Jews, those Jews would immediately stop listening to Paul's message because of the lack of respect Paul and Timothy were showing for Jewish tradition and law.  So, to cut off any problems before they arose, Paul had Timothy circumcised. Paul and Timothy, together, were living out Paul's missionary motto:

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  (1 Corinthians 9:20-22, NIV).

What about us? Sometimes, we avoid witnessing to people because the effort will require too much time. Paul regularly changed his entire way of living in to more effectively communicate the message of the Gospel. Timothy, apparently, did so as well. Meanwhile, we keep our mouths closed because the thought of sharing the Gospel makes us uncomfortable. The efforts we do make are often hampered because we don't want to take the time to translate the Gospel into an understandable format for those who have never heard.

We cannot all become heroic, world-traveling missionaries, but we can make sure that our lives do not hinder the message of the Gospel for those who are watching us. We can make sure that, when we share the Gospel, people don't immediately disqualify the message because of our own lifestyles. We can live in such a way that our lives make the Gospel message attractive rather than remove any motivation to listen.

When people look at your life, does it make the message of the Gospel more attractive, or does it reinforce the idea that the Bible is just a bunch of stories? Does your behavior and attitude give people a reason to want what you have, or do they convince people that Jesus was just some good teacher whose teachings have no real power in the lives of his followers?

Paul and Timothy were willing to do whatever it took so that their lives reinforced the Gospel message rather than distracted from it. Are we willing to do the same?

Getting Electrocuted By Hell

Suggested Reading: Luke 16:19-31

As soon as he was able to understand, we started warning my son to stay away from electrical outlets. Sure, we had the house kid-proofed as much as possible and had all the outlets covered as best we could. But something always slips through the cracks and you want to warn him anyway. We warned him it would hurt if he played with them and told him to stay away from them. But that didn't stop him one day from taking a little metallic play spoon from his toy box and sticking it into an outlet. One moment everything was fine. The next moment we heard a pop, followed by the wailing of a two-year old. My wife and I rushed in to see our toddler holding a blackened metallic spoon and staring at the familiar electrical outlet like he had never seen it before. In spite of our numerous warnings and our attempts to safeguard him, the possible pain of playing with an electrical outlet wasn't real to him; it was just something his parents had told him about. But after that day, we never had another incident of him going anywhere near an electrical socket.

Jesus touched on this dynamic of a warning which doesn't seem real until the experience when he told the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a poor beggar who sat at the rich man's gate day after day until they both died. Lazarus ended up in eternity at Abraham's side while the rich man discovered himself in Hell. After unsuccessfully pleading for Abraham to send Lazarus as an errand boy of relief, he pleaded for Lazarus to be sent to his brothers, insisting that they would repent of their evil ways if a dead man was resurrected and sent to them. Jesus' reply through Abraham's voice was, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31, NIV).  Hell became a motivating factor for the rich man who wanted to warn his brothers, but just as the warning of Hell had not been enough to motivate the rich man in life, Jesus insisted even a supernatural warning about Hell would not be enough for his brothers.  The lesson? Hell should be a motivator for the evangelist, but it isn't necessarily a motivator for the lost.

Sometimes we get it backward, trying to warn people about Hell and hoping that they will change their ways, and then dismissing their refusal with a "Well, I tried. If they want to end up in Hell, more power to them." But if we saw an oncoming car about to run over a stranger in the street would we just say, "Oh well, I guess if they want to get run over it's none of my business"? Hell isn't necessarily going to be a factor for the lost. They don't believe. Hell isn't real to them; it's just something someone has told them about. But Hell should be real to us who believe. It should be a motivating factor for us. And it should drive us to find ways to share the gospel with people that amount to more than, "You'll go to Hell if you don't repent." Hell should motivate us to show the love of Christ as fervently and sincerely as we can. Hell should motivate us to tell people about the offer of reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sins that Jesus' sacrifice made possible for us. Hell should give us an urgency in reaching the lost that we lack far too often. But Hell probably isn't going to motivate unbelievers until they start believing.

Let Hell motivate you. But don't rely on Hell to motivate the people you are trying to reach. Jesus does a much better job of motivating the lost than Hell does.

Celebrating Property Damage

Suggested Reading: Mark 2:1-12

Several years ago, I was part of a church that was considering doing a Vacation Bible School for the first time after a long hiatus. But as I led the church through a discussion about VBS, I discovered a pocket of resistance. The only space in the church that was big enough to host many of the activities was our sanctuary. But while the chairs were easily removable, people began to voice concern about the carpet. More than once I heard concerns that we might mess up the carpet for a whole year for the activities of a few days and that such a thing simply wasn't good stewardship. In the end, sadly, that church did not host a VBS that year.

When Jesus began his ministry and called the first disciples, he seemed to base his ministry out of Simon Peter's house in Capernaum. After a tour ministering in the smaller villages of the area, Jesus returned to Capernaum and picked up his ministry right where it had left off, healing people and casting out demons from Peter's living room. On one occasion, when the house was so crowded that no one could get in or out, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus (Mark 2:3-4, NLT). Jesus forgave the man's sin and then healed him so that he could pick up his mat and walk out under his own power. But what I find odd is that no mention is made of Peter's reaction to having a hole dug in his roof.

Sometimes ministry gets messy. Sometimes it costs us money or means we have a mess to clean up. Sometimes, bringing someone to Jesus means that more work is created for us, that we have someone else who needs to be discipled, someone else who needs instruction and encouragement. Sometimes ministry means we have more mouths to feed or that our worship times are disrupted by people who have never been in church before and don't know how to behave. Sometimes ministry means that people are so excited and enthusiastic that they get carried away and we have to deal with the consequences.

When we find ourselves in the midst of messy ministry, are we willing to look past the mess and rejoice that someone is being brought to Jesus? Are we willing to put up with extra work and repair the property damage because it means someone's life has been changed by a relationship with Christ? Are we willing to be inconvenienced or spend some money we could have personally used elsewhere in order to meet a need in someone's life? Or is the carpet too important? Is the possibility of a stain or that hole in the roof so daunting it overwhelms the possibility of someone coming to Christ? If Peter could deal with a hole in his roof without making a fuss, couldn't we handle a little mess of our own?

White-Water Canoeing Up the Road to Hell

Suggested Reading: Acts 9:10-19

When I was in seventh grade, our church youth group went on a white-water canoeing expedition for Spring Break. We drove up river, paired up in canoes, and then started down the river. Most of us had never done this before, but we all seemed to be doing well. Until the rain started. Within a few hours, the river had risen several feet and the rain was still coming down hard. Most of the group reached the camp where we were supposed to stop for the night, but several were still unaccounted for. As the waters continued to rise, a few of our more experienced canoers got back in their canoes and headed up-river to find our missing people. We all knew that setting out, canoeing up-river with the water rising, was not safe. But teenagers were missing in the storm and someone had to go save them. So, even though the men were scared and we were scared for them, they headed out because someone had to save those teenagers lost on the rising river.

Looking at Acts chapter 9, I was reminded of that Spring Break trip by the reaction of Ananias of Damascus. Saul of Tarsus, the nemesis of the early church had been sent to Damascus to arrest and detain followers of Jesus. Without telling Ananias that Jesus had appeared to Saul on the road into town, Jesus appeared to Ananias, telling him to go find Saul and heal his blindness. Oh, and Saul already knew he was coming.  "But Lord," Ananias exclaimed, "I've heard people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name"(Acts 9:13-14, NLT).  With some pretty good justification, Ananias was scared to death of walking right into Saul's hands.  But going to Saul was an important task. Saul needed someone to open his eyes, both literally and figuratively. And so, even though it scared him to death, Ananias went.

We understand the urgency of saving people who are in danger, of sending rescuers into burning buildings to save children from fires and of searching for teenagers lost on raging rivers when the water is rising. We understand that urgency and we commit ourselves to action because, even though we might be scared, something has to be done. But far too often, we fail to apply that same urgency and commitment to reaching the lost, in spite of the fact that the consequences can be even more significant.

Every day we see people living without hope, never living out the potential with which they were designed to live in Christ. We see people who are either casually strolling or running at full speed down the road to Hell, people in desperate need of forgiveness and purpose. Yes, the idea of sharing the Gospel with them may be a little scary, but we wouldn't let fear stop us if there were children drowning in a river or standing in front of an oncoming car. Why would we allow fear to keep us from sharing the Gospel with people in need of rescue from Hell? Do we hold back simply because the danger doesn't seem as immediate?

Bravery isn't the lack of fear but the ability to do what is necessary in spite of fear. Isn't it about time we put a little bravery back into sharing the Gospel?

Searching for Sheep in Your Bedroom

Suggested Reading: Luke 15:1-10

My son used to have a tendency to lose his backpack. He would lose track of the places he carried it and set it down. He would leave it in the car and swear he didn't. He would toss it into his closet and never see it again. He could lose his backpack when it was in his hand a few seconds before. None of that really bothered me. After all, learning how to be responsible and keep track of things is part of growing up and something that must often be taught. No, the thing that drove me crazy was the way he would look for it. For the longest time he was in that phase where he would walk into a room and if the backpack didn't immediately start yelling, "I'm right here on top of the table!" then he wouldn't see it. He was still learning what it means to search, to go out of your way, focused on finding something, turning over rocks and scouring hiding places, looking intently and not expecting it to jump out at you.

Sometimes, though, I think we drive Jesus crazy with our own inability to search. When Jesus describes why he constantly hung around sinners, he told the parable of a shepherd, saying,  "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety- nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?" (Luke 15:4, NLT). Jesus came into the world to seek and to save those who are lost and we are supposed to be about the same business, whether we believe we have the gift of evangelism or not. We are supposed to be searching for that one lost sheep, even if everybody around us is already found.

Far too often, though, I think we look for lost sheep the same way my son used to look for his backpack. We glance around, nothing immediately jumps out at us (even though it's sitting right in front of us), shrug our shoulders, and move on. But as followers of Christ, that should never be good enough for us. We should be following Christ's example and searching as if there's just one out there, hidden really well, and finding it is a matter of life or death because, well, it is. We can't hope the lost sheep happens to wander into our church or Bible study. We have to go looking to find it. 

Are you searching for the lost sheep around you or are you just hoping they jump out at you?

Lying to Convince People of the Truth

Suggested Reading: Job 13:7-16 (Job is responding to his friends who are saying that God has allowed Job to go through tragedy because he must be a horrible sinner)

When they were very young,  we took our kids to Movie Studio Grill because we thought they would enjoy watching a movie in a theater and eating dinner at the same time. We were right about that. They thought it was great that we watched a movie in a theater at a table while waiters took our orders and then brought us our food. Overall, it was a fun experience. But I found myself not really enjoying the movie. We chose a kid's movie and it was enjoyable on that level, but it was one of those movies that tries make a point and isn't very subtle about it. I didn't even mind that. But in order to make its point, the movie went so far to one extreme and ignored so many of the basics of the discussion in which it tried to participate that it lost all credibility with me.  In some ways, the movie simply lied about the "opposing point of view" in order to achieve what the writers obviously considered a noble goal. That practice has always gotten me a little hot under the collar. If you have a good point and the truth is really on your side, why would you have to lie or misrepresent in order to make your point?

The experience reminded me of a verse from Job that I have been thinking about a lot lately. Job 13:7-10 reads, "Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake? Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? What will happen when he finds out what you are doing?...you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor" (NLT).  A disturbing trend I have seen developing when Christians try to "debate" non-believers is a tendency to exaggerate, to misrepresent non-believers and atheists, to essentially lie in order to defend God.

Far too often, we say things that, if we are honest with ourselves, we know are not true. Things like, "Atheists only want an excuse to live however they want" when we know that many have reasons for not believing that we simply don't agree with. Things like, "Evolution is just an excuse not to believe in God" when we know that many people are dealing with what they consider legitimate scientific data that we want to dismiss in the same way they dismiss what the Bible says. Things like, "You can't really be a decent person if you aren't saved" when we encounter lost people everyday who live relatively decent lives and Christians whom we accept as saved but who live like the devil.

When we use half-truths, misrepresentation, barely veiled lies, and intellectually dishonest arguments to make our point, it severely undercuts the truth to which we are trying to lead people. If we really have the truth on our side, we shouldn't be afraid of that truth, even when it might appear to support the "other side." If what we believe cannot stand up to honest investigation and debate, then it isn't worth believing. But if we really believe the truth, then a thorough, tough investigation will only reinforce what we believe. 

More significant than that, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6, NIV). When we distort the truth, we are messing with the person of Jesus. Does it really support our purpose to distort who Jesus is in order to get people to believe in God? When Job essentially asked, "Will you lie in order to defend God?" he also asked, "Would it turn out well if he examined you?...He would surely rebuke you…"  What do we accomplish in bringing people to Jesus if we base their faith on a lie and earn God's rebuke in the process?

Let's not lie in order to defend God. The truth will set us free. Let's not be afraid of it. 

Fishing in an Empty Pond

Suggested Reading: Matthew 4:18-25

One of the things about Stargate SG-1 that always entertained me was the fact that the show never took itself too seriously. That tone was set by a leading character, Jack O'Neill, who loved to go fishing so much that he had a fishing pond installed on his property behind his rustic log cabin home. But because he enjoyed fishing more than he actually enjoyed catching fish, he never had any fish put into the pond. Jack would simply sit there in his lawn chair, with an ice chest full of cold drinks, watching the water and casting his line out every once in a while. I don't think he even used any bait.

When Jesus called the first disciples, he said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19, NIV). That call extends to all of us who have decided to follow Jesus, but sometimes I think we enjoy fishing for men the way Jack O'Neill enjoyed fishing. We like talking about it. We enjoy feeling like we're fishing. We may even enjoy going through the motions just like Jack enjoyed casting out his line. But at the end of the day, we're more interested in fishing for people than in catching people. You can tell because, like Jack, we don't actually go where the fish are. We stay where we are comfortable, where we can feel like we're fishing, where we might catch something if the fish come to us, but we aren't willing to leave our areas of comfort to get to where the fish actually are. 

Jesus was known as a friend of sinners because he went where the sinners were. Jesus went into the homes of the tax collectors and ate with the prostitutes. He hung out with sinners so much that the religious leaders labeled him a drunkard and a glutton (Mathew 11:19). He wasn't. But Jesus didn't fear being labelled by people who claimed to care about others but only actually pushed them away from the kingdom of God (Mathew 23:13-15). Jesus hung out with sinners because he remembered it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick (Mathew 9:12, NIV).

If we want to get serious about fishing for people, we must be willing to go where the fish are. We must be willing to spend time with sinners and hang out with people who don't act like good Christians. And we must be willing to love them the same way Jesus did, accepting them and caring for them without ever condoning or glossing over their sin.

Are we fishing for people in order to catch something or are we just going through the motions? Instead of sitting by an empty pond, casting out lines in vain, let's go where the fish are. Who knows? We might actually catch someone.

Casting Out a Demonic Half-Shaft

Suggested Reading: Mark 4:19-29

A couple years ago the half-shaft went out on my Pontiac Aztec (a car I, thankfully, no longer own). To replace it, I had to take off the tire, the wheel assembly and then remove the shaft from a specialized joint. I wrestled with that shaft for hours but it wouldn't budge. I googled the problem only to discover that removing the shaft required a special tool I did not own. After googling the tool and discovering that it cost more than I made in a week, I went out and wrestled with the shaft some more. Finally I gave up, reassembled the tire assembly, put the tire back on, and very carefully drove the vehicle to a repair shop, defeated. Normally, I can make due without the specialized tools recommended for repair jobs, but in this particular case there was simply no substitute for the right tool.

Jesus's disciples discovered something very similar when they tried to cast a demon out of a young man whose father had approached them in Jesus's absence. Though they tried, the disciples were simply incapable of casting out the demon that plagued the boy. Jesus, of course, had no problem with the demon when he tried, even though the disciples' failed attempts had threatened to undermine the father's faith. The disciples questioned why they couldn't cast out the demon themselves, and Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29, NLT). In spite of the disciples' years of training at the hands of Jesus and their awareness of how he operated, they had forgotten the most vital tool at their disposal: prayer.  

Sometimes, we forget the power and the necessity of prayer. We begin to think that our Bible studies, training courses, and evangelism seminars are enough. But for many of the tasks we face, the essential, indispensable tool that we need is prayer. Prayer is essential to connect us to the power of God, and no matter how skilled we may be in other areas, no matter how knowledgeable or educated, we will inevitably face many things that simply cannot be overcome except through prayer, inviting God into the situation with the power only God has at his disposal. Without prayer, we will find ourselves pounding our heads against the walls in frustration and failure rather than rejoicing in magnificent displays of God's power.

Whatever your problems and whatever your skills, don't forget the indispensable power of prayer. Prayer is always the right tool for the job.

Insulting Your Dinner Host

Suggested Reading: Ephesians 3

One of the things that drove me crazy when my children were younger was how they had no shame in asking people for things. We'd go to someone's house and my son would ask if he could have the fireplace poker because it would make a good sword or my daughter would ask if she can have an entire bowl of fruit three minutes before our hosts served us dinner. At times, my children had absolutely no shame. And while my wife and I were trying to teach them appropriate manners, we still had the regular cringe-worthy requests that came every time we were a guest in someone's home.

Sometimes, however, I wish we were a whole lot more like my children in our prayers. I can't count the number of times that a group or church has invested a large amount of time and money into an outreach project and then I heard someone pray, "Lord, let us reach just one person because then it will all be worth it." Every time I hear that prayer, it makes me moan in despair, and I think, Who do you think you are talking to? Some bum on the street? You're talking to the Almighty Creator of the universe! Ask for the entire community!

Ephesians 3:20 reminds us that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (NIV). If God really is capable of doing so much, and if God's goal really is that no one should perish, why don't we ask God for more? I think, 1) we are trying to set our expectations so low that we won't be disappointed or 2) we are trying not to be presumptuous towards God. Often, I think we use #2 as an excuse for #1. But doing that is like going into someone's home for dinner and avoiding the dinner table but asking for a stick of gum. Sure, we're not being presumptuous, but we are probably being insulting.

Paul reminds us of how much God is able to do above and beyond our imaginings right after offering a prayer that we will be able to understand how long and high and wide and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:18, NIV). Paul asked for the impossible and then reminded us that God is capable of doing the impossible.

As you seek to follow Jesus and turn the world upside down like the apostles, don't be timid in your requests of God, especially with regard to His kingdom. Don't ask God to help your church reach just one soul, ask him to help you reach thousands. Don't ask God to help you pay your bills, ask him for enough to pay someone else' s bills. Don't ask him to help you see a new facet of him, ask him to help you see all of him! When it comes to making requests of God, sets your sights on God's Kingdom and then have no shame. Don't insult God by asking for so little. Give him a chance to make his glory and power known. God may choose to only give you one soul. Or God may respond with an incredible outpouring of power.

Being a Redheaded Christian

Suggested Reading: John 13:31-38

If you ever see me or my wife in public with our kids it is impossible to not know who our children belong to. Both of the kids have the same bright red hair as my wife and the same facial structure that runs on my side of the family. Even if they wanted to, my children could not deny who they belong to. When we go out to eat with large groups, it is very easy for our waiter or waitress to know exactly who belongs on our check.

In a similar way, the people we interact with should experience the same kind of certainty that we belong to Jesus. But how, exactly, does that work? It's not as if people can look at us, like they look at my children, and notice the physical resemblance. So what is it that people can see that lets them know we belong to Jesus. I'm sure we could come up with lists of things: compassion, caring for the poor, righteous living, honesty, integrity, loving our neighbor as ourselves. All of those things are important, of course, and we should be characterized by those things. But none of them are the thing that causes people to recognize our affiliation with Jesus when they see them.

In John 13, immediately after Jesus' last supper with the disciples before his crucifixion and after Judas had left to betray him, Jesus told the disciples, "I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another" (John 13:34-35, HCSB). According to Jesus' words here, there are two important things necessary for people to recognize that we belong to Jesus. First, they must see us, as believers, loving one another. Of all the things that we can do, Jesus pointed to this one thing as the primary marker that would let everyone know we belong to him. Not being loving in general. Not even loving our neighbors as ourselves. Not being non-judgmental. But loving each other - our fellow believers. Is it any wonder that the world doesn't believe we belong to a resurrected Lord when we are often better known for fighting each other and arguing with each other than for loving each other?

But the second thing Jesus's words require if people are to recognize that we belong to him is that people must see us together. We cannot be seen to love each other if we are not seen with each other. More than that, we cannot be seen to love each other if we are not seen to love being with each other. Do you really believe that people love each other when they never want to be around each other?  Is it even possible to love someone if you are never together? At least in a biblical, unconditional, love-is-a-choice-not-just-a-feeling kind of way?

Do you want to convince the people in your school or office or neighborhood that Jesus is real and that you belong to him? Let them see you with other believers, actively loving each other the way that Jesus loved us. By this all people will know  that we belong to him.

Only Granting Demons' Requests

Suggested Reading: Mark 5:1-20

In Mark chapter 5, something has always seemed a little odd to me. The Legion of demons that Jesus casts out of the Gerasene man makes a request of Jesus and Jesus grants it by allowing them to go into the pigs, but then he turns around and denies the request of the man who has been their victim. In Mark 5:18-20 we find this exchange, 'As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed' (NLT).

This man who had been demon-possessed begs to be with Jesus, as I would think just about any of us would. This man had lived for years as a prisoner in his own body, haunting the local cemetery and mountainside, wailing and moaning at all hours of the night and day and cutting and gashing himself with rocks so that he was probably scarred from head to toe, and Jesus had set him free from that.  Naturally, the man wanted to be with Jesus but Jesus gave him a task instead, urging him to go home to the people who had known his condition and to share with them what God had done in his life.

In that little nugget, I believe, is the secret to sharing our faith with people. I have had enough conversations and witnessing opportunities through the years to know that intellectual conversations about the Bible only amount to anything on rare occasions.  People who don't believe the Bible aren't necessarily going to be convinced of its truth because we can name prophecies that came true or because we can point to some debatable archaeological evidence or because we can rattle off someway to demonstrate that science and the Bible are compatible, even though all of those things may be good. A skeptic is going to be a skeptic regardless of the evidence we present.

But when we tell someone our own story about how God has moved in our lives, when we tell someone about how God saved us from a terrible situation, healed our broken heart, rearranged our priorities, saved our marriage, set us free from addictions, or helped us through a time of crisis, when we tell someone about the difference God has made in our own lives, it is a little harder for them to argue with us. They may ask, "Well, how do you know that was God?" They may question our interpretation of events. But most people will not look you in the eye and say, "That's just a story made up by some ancient person trying to explain their life!" When you share your own story with people, it is your story and rarely will someone tell you, "I don't believe you!"

More than that, sharing our own story stands in the tradition of the very people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to lay out the words of the Bible. What is the Bible if not a collection of people telling their own stories about what God did in their lives and saving those stories for future generations to hear? When you feel the call of God on your life to share the Gospel with someone, God is not just concerned with you spouting facts about the Bible because anyone could do that. When God calls you to witness to someone, God is calling, at least in part, because your story is one they need to hear. God wants people to know that He is moving in your life right now and that God's power is not confined to ancient peoples in far-off lands.

You don't have to be a Bible scholar to witness, you just have to be willing to talk about what God has done for you.

Witnessing With Puppy Love Potions

Suggested Reading: Mark 4:13-29

One of my children's favorite fairytale movies is the recent Snow White movie Mirror, Mirror. In this particular telling of the classic fairy-tale, the Evil Queen decides that she wants to marry the handsome prince and she gives him a love potion in order to bring it about. If you have seen trailers for the movie, you already know that she doesn't just give him a love potion, but accidentally gives him a puppy love potion and he begins barking and scratching and fetching and following her around like a little lost puppy dog. Of course, as in all such fairy-tales, the spell is broken and the prince's true affections for Snow White win out. (I hope I didn't just ruin the movie for anyone, but that is what happens in fairy-tales.)

While the Evil Queen's plan is both funny and sad, her attempt to force the prince to love her is often very similar to how we can approach  witnessing to people. Often we want people to be saved so badly, we are so desperate for someone to give their life to Jesus, that we poke and prod and annoy and interfere and bug people as if we can force them to love Jesus. I once knew a young man who was pondering giving his life to Jesus and we had a number of conversations about what Heaven would be like and what it would mean for Jesus to be Lord in one's life. We had some very positive discussions where he seemed to be moving closer and closer to following Christ. But there was another lady in this young man's life who just kept pushing him and forcing the issue as if she could make him love Jesus by the sheer force of her will. Inevitably, after every conversation that this woman forced on him, he was more resistant to the idea of following Christ.

In Mark 4, Jesus told a very short parable about the kingdom of God. He said, "The kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed on the ground; he sleeps and rises--night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows--he doesn't know how. The soil produces a crop by itself--first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head. But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle because the harvest has come" (Mark 4:26-29, HCSB). At this point, Jesus is in a set of parables where the seed being sown is the Word of God. The seed is sown and, in this case, Jesus points out that it grows all by itself. We can't get down into the soil of someone's life and force the seed to grow, it just does -- all by itself.

We are reminded all throughout scripture about the power of the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (NIV). Isaiah 55:11 reminds us "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (NIV). God's Word is powerful enough on its own to work and poke and prod people from the inside. Our responsibility is to share God's Word with people, to water that seed as it works in them and produces questions and conflicts that God will use to shape and change them. But we must guard against those instincts and tendencies that make us want to force people to love Jesus. We can't ever force someone to believe or to surrender to God's love.  Love and belief simply don't work that way. But the Word of God is living and active and powerful enough to pull the strings of people's hearts and to persuade people's minds of truth all by itself.

God has called us to sow the seed of his word, to water it and to harvest when the time comes. But God's Word grows in a person's heart all by itself. Let's not harm the seed in someone's life by trying to force it to grow.