In Unexpected Ways (Part 2)

Today’s post is a continuation of one I began yesterday. If you haven’t already, I invite you to read that one first. It can be found here.

Thankfully, though, God has delivered a message more consistent with my beliefs and my spiritual gifts through this series, and even has gotten my heart a little stirred up and excited by the idea of sharing my faith with people. What we’ve learned through this series is that really, it’s about relationships.

Not diagrams and not steps.

Sharing our faith with others – in word or deed – should be done on a relational foundation. If the whole process of “personal evangelism” is a house, the relationships we have with other people are, essentially, the concrete slab anchoring the whole thing down.

It is important to know that none of us are expected to have a running tally of how many dozens of people we’ve prayed the prayer with and led to Christ. None of us are expected by Christ to have a new convert every day, week, or even year. That’s not what He wants from us. If it happens, terrific. If not, though, it’s not the end of the world. It does not make us an evangelistic failure.

We all have the ability to be a link in the chain that eventually leads someone to the Lord. We have that ability because we have the ability to be in relationship – real, authentic, genuine life-sharing relationship – with other people. What’s more, we have the responsibility and even the privilege of doing so. God saw our need for Him and, instead of sending someone else to take His message to the world, He made Himself in human form and came to do it Himself. He brought His message of love and hope and mercy and grace to us, and now has entrusted that message to us. He has, in a sense, passed the baton, and it’s up to us to continue the work that He began.

Our place in the chain may not be the first or the last. We may fall somewhere in the middle, not having the place of either introducing someone to Jesus for the first time or of witnessing their baptism. We may never see the fruits of our efforts and there may be many dozens of other links on either side of us, but that does not relieve us of the responsibility. We all have the ability and responsibility to carry on.

How will that look? What will we have to do?

That’s hard to say. In different relationships and different places at different times, we will need to do different things. Sometimes a diagram might be necessary. Who knows? Whatever we do, though, and whatever we say, the message should be one that points to Jesus.

To me, that’s not scary. If the focus is on Jesus, I’m doing it right and I can’t fail. That’s exciting. That’s intriguing. That brings a purpose and a mission to even the most ordinary of days and interactions. That gives meaning to life! Whatever I am doing, am I being obedient? Am I sharing Christ with the world? Am I doing what God asks me to do and going where He asks me to go? Am I being who He calls me to be?

To borrow the title from a book I’m reading, it’s an “unexpected adventure.” If we get excited about doing this kind of work in the world, God will use us. If we’re available to Him, He’s going to open opportunities for us to do things we may never have done without His leading.

And honestly, I still struggle with this some. I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I don’t have many friends who aren’t from my church. (Facebook friends don’t count…..do they?) That said, I am simply not around a lot of people and don’t have many opportunities to share my faith with someone. That's what I've thought, anyway. This week, though, I’ve learned that what I think is a restriction on what I can do, God sees as potential. All He really wants is an obedient heart…even when it makes no sense whatsoever to us.

(Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 3.)