Jesus: A Luxury Car or a Minivan? Have you ever been to a car lot and a sharp-dressed salesman walks up to you, as you are looking at your dream car? You don’t want to buy the car at this point in your life, but you just want to stand there and admire it for awhile. The salesman, without introducing himself, without asking you what your needs are for a new vehicle, and without asking you if you are even in the market for a new car, says, “she’s for sale if you wanna by her!!!” You politely give him a little smile, say “no thanks,” and quietly walk away. This sales person did the right thing in coming out to speak to you, and telling you that the product in which you were looking at was available; however, the salesman failed to first develop a relationship with you. He failed to find out what your needs are for a new vehicle. Were you in need of a sports car; something to get you where you want to go in a fast manner? Perhaps you needed an economy car to get you back and forth during your workday. Maybe your life is full of turmoil, and the ways of this world keep dragging you down; so you might have been in the market for a luxury vehicle so that you could feel like you were somebody special. Or, maybe, just maybe, you were looking for a minivan; something that you could haul all of your family and friends around in. Whichever type of car that you were looking for, the salesman lost a great opportunity to sale you a vehicle because he failed to ask you the most important questions. He didn’t build up your trust in him, and he didn’t want to meet any of your needs. All he simply saw is you looking at a nice vehicle, and asked, “would you like to buy it?” Do we do this a Christians sometimes? When we come across a person in need, do we put our hand on their shoulder, maybe feel a slight bit of compassion for them, and then say, “Do you know Jesus? Just turn your problems over to him.” Now, if we just look at this statement and examine the words in this message, we might think there is nothing wrong with asking this question. However, these words, without first developing a trusting relationship with this individual, and without taking care of this individuals needs, will fall on deaf ears. What good is it to see somebody suffering and offer him or her the gift of Jesus, when they might not even know who He is? This individual is not going to receive (or understand) our message about Jesus, until we first model Jesus to them. Imagine if you hadn’t eaten anything for days, you were literally starving, and someone came up to you and said, “My dear child, all you need is food.” You would probably look at this person, throw your hands up in the air, and say “whatever”!!! The starving person knows that he needs food, but obviously he hasn’t been able to find any to feed himself. This same concept applies to the lost. They know that they need something more in their lives to fulfill them, however, they have only heard about this man named Jesus who fulfills the soul, and have not been introduced to Jesus. We’ve got to show people that Jesus is that sports car that can turn their life in a different direction rapidly! He is a practical economy car that is dependable enough to help them make it through their workday, and at all other times of the day! He’s the luxury vehicle that makes them feel like somebody special when they are living in His word! And, he is the minivan that will take care of all their family and friends through their trials on this earth! When Jesus healed the blind man, He did not start preaching to him first. He simply asked the man, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Upon the man’s faithful, affirmative statement, Jesus healed him. Later on in Matthew chapter 9 Jesus took the same stance when He healed the sick woman, who came up behind Jesus and touched His cloak. Again, Jesus didn’t preach a long sermon to her before He took action. He took action first and then told the woman that her faith had healed her. Jesus does this throughout His ministry. He invites people into His ministry (and to be a part of Him) after He has built up a trusting relationship with them. If we as Christians can show people who Jesus is first, instead of banging them over the head with words, that are foreign to them, I believe that this would make us more successful “fishers of men.” I’ve heard it said before that the best sermon one can ever preach requires no words; just love. It sounds odd to compare our Lord and Savior to a minivan, however, if someone can take this example of disciple making, and use it to save lost souls, then Glory be to God! Jesus is so much more than any dream we can ever dream. He is (continuing with the same theme) a rocket ship! He will take us places that we thought were impossible to reach. We must do our best to convey this to our lost world! Ronald W. Henderson 11/19/13
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 23:26:54 +0000
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