Sorry about the late arrival of the Catch today, but you are glad you didn’t get the first version. I was about to send it out when I thought it might be good to run it by Marti. (If ever this seems like a good idea, it’s usually because I have some subliminal doubts I am unwilling to uncover and know she will have no problem digging them up. Sure enough…)
The Catch I began was in reaction to some concerns one of our readers had from yesterday’s Catch about listening to people’s stories: “It seems to me that most people are not concerned about their ‘sins,’ but simply want to do their thing without harming anyone else. So … if that’s true then what will lead them to want to put on the parachute of salvation? They think we use religion as a crutch. They don’t need religion because they are doing good more than those that go to church. How do we witness if we are simply passive? On the other hand I truly believe no one cares what you believe until they know you care. See my conundrum?”
I began by trying to answer each of these issues until I realized I was not solving the problem. The answer does not lie in solving each of these problems, but in finding a completely different perspective that make these issues irrelevant.
When it comes down to it, you really only need to know two things when you are in the marketplace.
You are “them.” (“They” are us.) Connect. Enter in. Climb in the other person’s shoes. This is not a tactic. It is not strategic witnessing. It is not a means to an end. It is the end; the end is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Of course you will need to get out of yourself to do this. Out of yourself, and into the Spirit.
Which is the second thing. Be in the Spirit when you are in the world. Being led of the Spirit answers every question that comes up. The Spirit shows you what to say and when to say it. It sees around corners; it knows what’s under and behind the questions; it interprets the heart. When you are in the Spirit, tactics and strategies fly out the window.
Here’s how you know you are not in the Spirit: you are by yourself, aware of yourself, wondering what to do with yourself. Here’s how you know you are in the Spirit: You are into the other person — enjoying them, laughing or crying with them, feeling their pain, hearing their heartbeat, and not even aware of your own needs, like Jesus was with the Samaritan woman. The disciples had brought him food from town and were urging Him to eat. He was too taken up with what the Father was doing in and through Him at the time to give even a glancing thought to His human hunger. “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32) He said.
Our reader’s most poignant question was, “How do we witness if we are simply passive?” Excellent question. The answer is: We don’t.
“It is not strategic witnessing.” I suppose you are right about that. Could we call it “strategic gospeling”? (I’m smiling – insert emoticon here!)
Liked your answer a lot. If we don’t have love, real, caring love in our hearts, the kind of love that can only come from the Holy Spirit, then we can’t witness. That’s why I have the refrain running through my head, ‘no one cares what you know until they know you care.’. I thank you for the encouragement and reinforcement.
Oh, if ever there is a good woman behind the good man it is Marti !
Yes, I can see your dilemma John and I can see your helpmate in action. Some day we will meet, here there or up in the air. LOL
I was as moved by today’s Catch as I was a few weeks ago when God spoke to my heart in answer to my anguish of being human, in “Welcome Home” Not only is the message excellent but the style and words are poignant. I picture myself squeezing into the other person’s skin and life and walking in his shoes and hearing his heart beating and some times feeling his pain.
Yes, living in the Spirit and being obedient and loving as Christ loves us, is witness enough. I suffered under an oppressive Baptist regime until it almost made me sick. I asked what God would have me do? I shook the dust off my sandals and followed Jesus and I have never looked back.
This reminds me of Pastor Rick Warren speaking this past weekend, relating how two weeks ago on his first day back in the pulpit after a 16 week absence to grieve the loss of his son, his Muslim neighbor offered to drive him to church. Rick resisted but the neighbor was persistent, saying “You are my neighbor. There is no way I’m letting you drive yourself.” Unless I’m mistaken, this neighbor and some of his family were sitting in service right behind us that weekend. Rick has consistently nurtured a relationship with this neighbor for years and who knows how long it will take to break down the barriers of his Muslim faith? That doesn’t matter…..consistent relationship is the “witness” of our Christian lives. Thank you John for always nailing it when it comes to the topic of being in the world, open to every opportunity the Lord places in our path to share our story and listen to others.
I am a little hesitant to say this, but I GET it! Now the reason I hesitate is that whenever I think to myself, “Self, you GOT this!” God laughs. I invariably will have a relapse and find out that I don’t “GOT” it – but I digress… I have a friend who in his even YOUNGER youth, converted to Islam because all his friends were doing so. His Islamic name actually means “Seeker” and that is exactly what he is. At this point, all he knows is that he believes God is real and is guiding him on his journey for truth (which he says, “is too important to screw up by making the wrong decision”). Now I said all that to say this: My young friend and I spend hours chatting about everything – no holds barred. Inevitably, tho, we end up talking about faith. One evening, we were talking about my life before and since Christ, and he shared some stories about HIS life before and after his conversion to Islam – he had some really harrowing experiences on both sides of the street, so to speak. At one point, I commented, “so, it doesn’t sound like your life changed very much after your conversion.” He looked at me as if I had dropped a brick on his head. After a few minutes, he said, “No, Ms. O, I don’t guess it did.” Now, weeks later, my friend mentions to me that he is “really looking into Jesus”, and he said it was because of THAT comment. Bottom line, you never know how or when the Lord is going to move, but it is HE that does the moving. We are just the talking donkeys that happen to be in the road at the time…
This is great! I love this story.
And … I would add that getting to know someone by listening to their story, asking questions, listening some more, helping them with yard work, meeting their needs in practical way, and then going deeper, is a long ways from “How do we witness if we are simply passive?” There is nothing “simply passive” about building a relationship with someone.
Yes. Nothing passive about stepping in.
wanted to add an very big Amen to this, i felt jus brillant point: “Our reader’s most poignant question was, “How do we witness if we are simply passive?” Excellent question. The answer is: We don’t.” A few of my fellow Catch friend’s know or are aware of I had a very nice & kind homeless woman that I put up @ my place 4 a few days – now in looking back on it, (she came back again last weekend and slept, eat and showered here) there are times i sometimes think man I should have said this verse or this verse or that to her – yet the Holy Spirit told my heart many of times since then, something like: Mark you simply didn’t have to say this or that to her, becauz you showed her God’s love by helping her the best you could – i’ll still ask others to plz consider whispering prayers for my lovely friend Kim…
PS I’m un-able to put her up any more, or face breaking the rules where I live, which I think wouldn’t do me or anyone any good if i were get evited… so plz pray 4 Kim. 🙂
Will do, my friend, but I love your heart!
“I spent years starting back with “key 73” passing out tracts and going door to door passing out bibles and telling people God loves them. In many ways that was much easier than having to get to know “the sinners”
God can use many ways to reach the hearts of others and I won’t say the old tactics weren’t useful, but I would never do that again.
My epiphany came when I stopped seeing others as different than me and began investing in relationships with no ulterior motivation. Who want to be considered a project?
Which one of us hasn’t looked lost to someone else at some point in our life? God writes the story and I consider everyone I meet as a fellow traveler. I accepted and believed in Gods grace and called myself a Christian. Gods grace was there all the time I just recognized it.
God doesn’t love me differently now because I have some faith, and he doesn’t love others differently just because they don’t seem to have faith.
It seems to me that the good news is we are forgiven whether we know it or not.
If Jesus is Gods son and he died for all of man’s sins, who am I to say too who that wasn’t good enough for?
My sentiments, exactly.