Last night, a quick trip to Walmart for baby formula turned into an attempt to help a lady jump her car. I say “attempt” because it didn’t exactly work. I also had
no clue what I was doing. I embarrassingly had to admit to the lady needing a
jump that I had no idea how to even raise my car hood up (in all fairness, I’ve
never had a car that lifted up like this). Luckily, she knew what she was
doing. After multiple attempts to try and get her car running I realized she had two
children in the car who had to be really cold from sitting there without heat
for so long. I offered for them to
come sit in my car while we tried to get her car started. They eagerly accepted
and instantly began to chat away with me. I asked them questions like, “How old
are you?” “Where do you live?” etc. I proceeded to tell the lady that I could
take them all home if she would like since her car wasn’t starting, but she explained
that her sister-in- law was on her way. This whole time I felt a nudging in my
spirit to ask her if she knew Jesus but I quickly let it go. Instead I took
that nudging to mean I should ask the children if they went to church anywhere,
and to tell them that I go to the church right across from Sonic. Then their
ride showed up. A quick goodbye and they were gone. I got in my car feeling pretty
good about myself for helping them out and thinking I did all I could to help; until
the ride home when I began to realize I really didn’t do all I could to help
them.
You see, I went to
Bible College, I spent four years learning as much as I could about Jesus in
hopes to be in ministry and tell others about Him. I have a Bible degree—I am
trained, prepared, passionate. My
husband and I are in full-time ministry. It’s our calling. It’s our way of
living. Yet, I couldn’t, wouldn’t tell this family about Jesus. Of course I
told those precious little girls that I go to a church across from Sonic, but
that was easy.
I have been going
over this in my head all day.
When did sharing Jesus with others
become so hard? Why is it that I can talk about anything else to people but
Jesus? You ask me to teach a class or speak to others about Him at church and I
can do it. But that’s church. Church is where believers are. Church is where
its “safe” and “not offensive” to talk about Jesus. Church is where it’s
“normal” to talk about Jesus.
As I played this out
in my head I began to recall all the times I have missed out on sharing Jesus
with others. I think about the first apartments we lived in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I never met one single person there and
I lived there a whole year. Or the duplex we lived in. I knew my neighbors and their kids. I said hi... smiled… I brought up where we went to church, but I
never told them about Jesus. I was too afraid. I didn’t want to “offend” them. I
almost felt ashamed to talk about Jesus, as if talking about Him was wrong.
I look at where I am now. I live on a
cul-de-sac with neighbors surrounding me. We moved there a couple months ago. I
have only met one neighbor, and I haven’t seen or talked to him since the first
day we moved in.
How is this normal?
I fear, there are so many others who are
experiencing the same thing. We go about living our lives without ever taking
notice of the people near us. Sure, we may do a good deed, help someone out,
but that’s it. We don’t really talk to them or get to know them. And we definitely
don’t tell them about Jesus. What use is my Bible
Degree, all my training, the ministry I’m currently in if I’m not sharing
Christ with others outside the church?
This month our theme is “Love in Action." I’ve been thinking long and hard about this theme. It’s easy to show people
that you care about them or love them simply by doing kind acts. I’m sure the
lady I helped was grateful her girls were able to stay warm and that I could be
trusted, I know I would have been had I been in her shoes. I’m sure she thought
it was a “nice” gesture and a kind act. But, what benefit did I really do her
and her family letting her leave that night without even trying to tell her
about Jesus?
I have family members that are dear to me who know about Jesus. They’ve heard about Him their whole lives whether they went to church at a young age and quit going or they’ve heard me talk about Jesus. But, they still haven’t accepted Him into their lives for whatever reason. I think about this lady and how it could’ve been one of my family members. I pray every night that God will send someone to my family that knows Him and loves Him and that would share the love of Christ with them.
What if this lady has
someone praying the same thing for her?
What if God wanted me
to be that person for her?
I learned an
important lesson last night. Doing things for people is great. I love it. It’s
so easy for me. It seriously excites me when I can help someone in need. But what
people need far more than being helped is to know the love of Jesus Christ. There is a whole world of people
who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ, and there’s a whole world of Christians who
have failed to share Him with them. I am one of them. We are called to do more than just talk about Jesus at church.
We are even called to do more than invite people to church. Church in itself
won’t save people, only Jesus can.
Now don’t get me wrong, church is essential to your daily walk with Christ, but
if all we are doing is inviting people to church without inviting them to the
One church is about then we are doing it all wrong.
When I think of love
in action I think of the ultimate example: God sending His son to die for our
sins. For you. For me. And it’s so unfair for us to keep that gift, that
precious act of love to ourselves. We don’t deserve it any more than that
person who hasn’t accepted Christ into their lives yet. My heart is heavy
tonight as I write these words. I’m saddened by my own actions, by my lack of
relationship with those around me, by letting one more person walk away without
knowing Christ, or giving them the chance to know Him. I’m so tired of being
silenced by my own fears, insecurities, and the world’s idea of Christianity
being “offensive." Because, the truth is, there’s a whole world of people who
desperately need to know they are loved, that someone paid the price for their
sins, that they are not alone, and that the Creator of the Universe is seeking
after them; longing for His child, His creation to return to Him.
I can do better. I must do better. And, dear one, so must
you.
I am going to be more intentional with my students and their families. We are all new together in this country and I know there are probably so many opportunities if I would just start looking for them.
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