Last week as I was driving to work I noticed a man standing on the side of the road. He was in his upper fifties, well dressed, and with a look on his face that said "don't worry, I'm not going to kill you."
Plus he was holding a well-made sign that read AIRPORT. This lead me to believe he had done this before. (Plus anyone who takes the time to print their legible sign out in big block letters gets points in my near-sighted view of the world)
So I pick him up.
Turns out he is a Deacon with the Jerusalem Baptist Church of Israel. He's been doing missionary work in Tel Aviv for the last 30 years of his life and he was also with Billy Graham on his evangelistic crusades in Moscow back in the 70's.
So I'm thinking, "WOW! I've just picked up Mother Teresa! (Or something like it) I wish it wasn't such a short trip to the airport!" We make small talk for a bit about who I am and who he is and then it happens. He shifts the conversation to the main thing for any Christian missionary. I think he is going to ask me if I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. This is a softball question if there ever was one for a guy who loves Jesus, identifies as a Christian AND happens to work at a church where our main thing is to encourage all people to know the love of Christ.
Instead...
I get a flurry of theological questions thrown at me that are so far over my head that I have no idea how to answer any of them. (Thank goodness he never gave me a chance to answer any of them.) We are now at the airport.
I help him unload his bags from my back seat...
The deacon takes this as a cue and proceeds to use the sidewalk as his pulpit for the next 25 minutes! He rants about everything from Dead Sea Scrolls research to Jonah and the whale to the state of Palestine, and a bunch of other topics that I can't even begin to tell you about because I had no idea what he was talking about at this point. I had completely checked out and wished I had never picked the guy up in the first place.
Then I got to thinking...
What if it would have been a non-believer who had picked up this Christian missionary? Think of the horrible impression this deacon would have made on someone like that had he had the same conversation. What an incredible opportunity to simply tell someone about Jesus! In my mind, he blew it.
When it comes to sharing your faith with someone, take my advice. Less is always more. Use simple language. Don't launch into a sermon and start quoting old testament verses from obscure books. (Obadiah comes to mind...oh, you didn't know that was a book of the old testament? Well let me tell you sir...)
Sometimes all you really need to share the gospel is simply living the way Jesus taught us to. Our actions will always speak louder than any sermon ever could.
Disclaimer: I should point out that I DO NOT encourage anyone to EVER PICK UP HITCHHIKERS. It is very dangerous and to put yourself in that situation on purpose would be foolish. (Yes, I know what you are going to say and I've already heard it from my wife.) :)
Markonius L. Richards IV~
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
simply said, he could of just asked about you, thanked you for the ride, and said, a simple.. "Godbless you, you made my day!"
ReplyDeletesimple words can be so kind. Thanks mark