A friend - he really is a friend - posted on Facebook a question (rhetorical) asking why there are no love and hate buttons. Another friend - he really is a friend, too - replied, "Because it wasn't meant to be that serious?" Again, social media can never replace social interaction.
The experience from several years ago…
I posted something about our church using CRBC instead of spelling out the church name. It wasn't long before my friend - he was from my hometown but was several years older than me so I really didn't know him - made a comment asking if this stood for (insert crude comment here). I responded with a "Ha" and told him what it meant. He made another crude comment. I joked with him in a clean way and he shot back with another comment.
I thought about firing back with sarcasm (or worse) but decided against it. By the way, that is always a good decision. Instead, I asked how his mother was doing. I knew she had been sick.
Within a minute the chat bubble popped up; our public sparring went private. He apologized for attacking my church and beliefs and updated me on his mother. About two hours later we wrapped up a conversation that looped in and out of faith in Jesus Christ. He preferred to be agnostic or atheist but if he had to choose he would pick Hinduism.
He was a smart man. He had studied religions; or maybe he had studied how to argue against religions. At any rate, he had heard the gospel during that chat session. He died a year later (to the day). I hope he chose to follow Jesus during that year.
Today I opened my Logos Bible app to read a little. The app opened to Proverbs 16 because that's where our Bible study last night took us for the last passage. I began to read the Proverb. I thought of the story I just shared with you when I came to verse 7.
When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
I wouldn't consider this man an enemy but at the least he was hostile to the gospel. Instead of choosing to lock horns with him in verbal attacks I chose to be kind. I guess that pleased the Lord because my friend's aggressive combativeness turned to peace. I'm glad I didn't have an ugly confrontation with him but more importantly I'm glad I was able to have a peaceful conversation with him that may have helped him see Christianity more clearly.
His problem with Christianity had a little to do with the claims of Christianity. How could Jesus be God? There's no way the resurrection really happened!
But most of his problem with Christianity was Christians. He grew up, as I did, in the buckle of the Bible belt where Christians may not have been…well, let me just say that there is a reason we joke about beating people over the head with the Bible.
I know that this man had to make his own choice whether to follow Christ or not. But I also know that people charged with sharing the gospel and loving him along the way didn't.
Here are some ideas to help Christians do a better job at our job of making disciples:
- Be humble. No believer is any better than a non-believer; without Jesus we would all be lost.
- Realize our task is to share how a sinner can be made right with God; the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sins and draw them to Jesus.
- Remember that each person must chose for themselves whether they will follow Jesus or not.
- Try to live at peace with those who have different beliefs or who reject Christianity. You do that by living in ways that please the Lord.
- Pray that God will send others into their lives so they hear the gospel many times.
What are other tips you would add to this list?
Three words from that chat session stick in my mind. He told me if Christians would talk about these things he and others like him might listen: forgiveness, redemption, and love.
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