Speaking of Life
Making Friends
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Have you ever noticed how step-by-step programs for evangelism seem to come and go, much like the latest fads in business and management?
Programs might work for business endeavors, where advertising and manipulation of emotions is crucial to selling a product. But the gospel is not a product; it is a declaration of God’s love, and love doesn’t come by programs.
Love comes in its own way in its own time. It’s something you have to live out, not something you can evaluate on a scale of measurable outcomes. Love isn’t predictable; it’s messy. Sometimes it hurts; sometimes it thrills. But it never sits still long enough to figure it out.
When it comes to evangelism, the main reason most people come to church
and keep coming to church is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago—they
met people who liked them and accepted them and became their friends. In
other words, programs didn’t do it—love did it.
In John 13:34-35, we read that Jesus told his disciples:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Imagine for a moment what it would be like if Christians actually were well known for being the kind of people anybody would enjoy having for a friend. Suppose Christians were not thought of as being pushy and judgmental. Suppose they weren’t known for well-rehearsed spiels designed to press people into a so-called “decision for Christ.”
Suppose Christians didn’t make friends with non-believers as part of an evangelism program, but simply because faithful friendship is what Jesus Christ is all about.
Peter said we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. Paul said we should let our conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone. Neither Peter nor Paul said we should press people for a decision. Instead, we are told to live a life of love. We are to make no secret of our faith. But neither are we asked to push it on others.
It’s the Holy Spirit who moves people to ask. And it’s the Holy Spirit who works in us to give an answer that is “seasoned with salt” and full of “grace.”
As the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…”
I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.