The three months between December and March of this past year was one of the most difficult times in my life to keep my mouth shut. Those who know me, know that I can talk just a little…especially when it is something about which I am really excited. So, not saying anything about Tasha being pregnant for three months was painful. I wanted to tell every person we know as soon as we were sure. I wanted everyone in our lives to share in this incredible joy! When we finally felt it safe to tell people, I’m not sure I stopped smiling or talking about it for weeks. Being filled with joy and excitement about incredible news you feel as if you have waited your entire life to experience is what the disciples must be feeling when Jesus tells them, “The Kingdom of heaven has come near”. Not only is he himself the embodiment of the Kingdom of heaven right there before them, but in his coming Jesus forever lessens the gap between humanity on earth and God, and brings all of us a perfect human example of what our lives can and should be like in Kingdom living. It is indeed joyful and exciting news! So Jesus tells his closest disciples, THE twelve if you will, go out and share this news…go change lives. But it is important to see that Jesus is rather specific in who these disciples are to share this good news with first. He tells them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Some may see in this command unGodly attributes of prejudice or exclusivity. But there is a good lesson on good evangelism for all of us here. You see, evangelism should never be a matter of pointing out the short-comings of others, or giving them a guilt trip about their lack of faith in their lives…but rather it should be a matter of saying with our words and actions, “The Kingdom of heaven has come near, and you and I both have an amazing opportunity to experience the VERY BEST of life; life the way God always meant for it to be because of that!” BUT…and this is a BIG BUT…we must first realize sharing such good news should begin with our own house. Jesus tells the twelve apostles to focus first on the House of Israel not because He doesn’t love and plan to redeem the Gentile and Samaritan people as well, but because the people of Israel are chosen to be a sign for all others. BUT…another big one…they can’t go out to be that sign and affect the lives of others in the world until they themselves have received and had their hearts transformed by the incredibly exciting and joyful news of God coming into the world to save humanity from sin and death. That same idea of us preparing our own house before we attempt to share such incredible news with others is vital. There is a need to be formed ourselves before we can be ready to go out to the world. What would be your response if I or anyone else said to you, “Tell me about your faith”. Could you find the words? Have you thought about what your answer may be? The great mistake of many Christians is that we don’t consider the words, and/or haven’t truly experienced a deep change in our hearts before we begin serving or reaching out. Many people who go to church and become active in ministry have not yet experienced and explored the fullness of their own faith. We would never go to our jobs without being prepared and ready to answer questions and/or perform certain tasks without being prepared to do so. We would never send our children to school unprepared and tell them, “Oh, you’ll figure it out when you get there. If not, just don’t worry about responding to the teacher.” In a similar way, we as followers of Christ shouldn’t go out into the world unless we are prepared and changed by God ourselves. The Church today…like the House of Israel then…is called to be a sign for the world. But no evangelism can or should take place unless we are well grounded in our own faith and prepared to share the love of Christ in a way that invites others in, without judgment or prejudice. We must begin at home…but never consider it sufficient to stop there. So may we all be so transformed in our faith that we become as excited by it as I was about the news of Tasha being pregnant…and because of that, may we find the words and actions to express that incredibly joyful and exciting news with others. Blessings, Robert+
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 14:50:19 +0000
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