“Therefore, go and make disciples
of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit.”
–Matthew 28:19
My beautiful mother-in-law has the gift of evangelism. Here
is an example. Quite a few years ago now, she & I were standing in the
checkout line at the grocery store, when she noticed that the clerk seemed to
be… well sad. To my surprise, my mother-in-law looked her right in the face
& asked, “Oh sweetie… are you OK?” The
clerk’s eyes filled with tears & she shook her head. My mother-in-law then
asked if she could pray with her. As I stood in awe & truthfully, fought
back the urge to hide behind the potato chip display, my sweet mother-in-law
reached over the conveyer belt & laid her hand on the clerks arm &
began to pray. Out loud. I reluctantly bowed my head & listened. That woman…
my husband’s mama… I have no words for how beautiful she is.
 |
| My mama-in-love fishing for men? or maybe just fishing... |
I am not an evangelist… people scare the crap out of me. As
an introvert, I struggle to make small talk with acquaintances, let alone pray
with someone I don’t know in the grocery store. For the longest time, I thought
this made me exempt from sharing the gospel of Jesus. I thought instead I could
leave that up to the outgoing people like my husband or his mom or my son Josh
or missionaries to Africa or ___________--fill in the appropriate outgoing,
gregarious person. I thought that I could best influence people for the gospel
by praying for those on the front line or whatever. I mean, I know with my head
& sometimes proclaim with my mouth that we are all missionaries but evangelism?
Really? Why would God ask me to do something that is uncomfortable or scary
right? Yeah. I see this faulty thinking. You see this faulty thinking. But
until recently I’ve not been willing to acknowledge that it is indeed… faulty
thinking.
Part of camping out on the message of Easter (see earlier
blog article), has been life changing in ways I never expected. I’ve begun to
see how God’s message, while powerful & life altering must be proclaimed
before it can accepted. It must be accepted before it can transform. While God
doesn’t need us to draw people to
Himself…. His message is alive & moving… & He longs for us to join with Him in sharing His message of love to the
world.
Yes I know. Sharing with “The Whole Wide World” is a scary
kind of thought… not to mention completely overwhelming & unrealistic. But
what if we looked at it from a different perspective? What if we stopped
thinking about the world as big picture & instead looked at those who are within
arm’s reach. You know the ones… the neighbor who you chat with over the fence,
the coworker in the cubicle next to you, the parent you sit next to on the PTA
or thru hours of sports practices, the stylist who cuts your hair or sometimes,
God forbid, the clerk who checks out your groceries. The Gospel is after all
not just a truth to proclaim with our lips but a Gospel life lived out with
purpose.
As I’ve been mulling all of this over in my brain the past
few weeks, I can’t help but wonder if I’m not alone in this kind of over thinking our calling as believers. So I’m
throwing it out there today… STOP!
Please I beg of you. STOP with the over thinking.
Let us not compare ourselves with those who have been called
to full time ministry, overseas or here stateside. Let us not be worried about
what God has gifted us or not gifted us with. Instead, let us be committed to
share our lives with those around us. Unselfishly & without fear. This is
the Gospel we are called to people. The transforming power of the Gospel.
“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers.
In
reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between
certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident
of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances
might have kept us apart.
But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances.
A secret master of ceremonies has been at work.
But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances.
A secret master of ceremonies has been at work.
Christ, who said to
the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can
truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one
another but I have chosen you for one another."
The friendship is not a
reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out.
It is
the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others."
–C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
