Knowing what to say and when to say it is critical to good communication. Recently, a friend told me that she had shared something with a pastor’s wife that backfired. There now is a coldness in their relationship that was not there before. My friend wishes she could rewind that situation and keep her mouth shut.
I typically am not short on words, but sometimes I struggle with not saying enough, and before those of you who know me well laugh, let me explain. I need to say more about Jesus. I want to. I want to be the one who goes into the gas station and ends up baptizing the clerk in the creek behind the store. I want to enter the restaurant and leave with a plan to pick up my waitress for church on Sunday. I want to stop when I see a homeless person and bring her to my house where I lead her to Christ. I want to save people.
I seem to forget that it’s not my job to convince people or convert people or save people. I might not (probably will not) have the perfect words that produce an Aha! moment for my listeners to realize that Jesus is the answer for all their problems. I might share what He has done in my life, but what do I do when they say, “Well, good for you, but it’s not for me”?
Maybe nothing except to continue to love them, invite them, and to recognize that I am not their saver. The one who convinces, converts and saves is the Holy Spirit, not me. What I can do is be prepared. For example, when I meet people who say that they will make it to Heaven because they are good people, I can share a story someone sent me.
If you answered your door and someone on your porch said (s)he wanted to come in, you would tell them that you do not let strangers in your house. If that person said, “Well, I’m a really good person” and proved it by telling you of kind works (s)he had done, it would not make a difference. You have no relationship with that person. The same is true with God. Good works are not the ticket to Heaven. Loving God is.
Or let’s say someone tells me that Jesus isn’t real. My answer to that might be, “If he isn’t real, then why is his name the only name governments ban, cultures mock, demons fear, and persecuted believers cling to with their lives? You don’t silence a name unless it carries power.”
What I can tell non-believers is something posted on social media: God loves you more than you know; please don’t judge Jesus by people who have represented him poorly; you were created for a purpose; your questions don’t scare God; following Jesus may cost you something, but living without him will cost you infinitely more; and I would rather risk making things awkward by telling you about Jesus than stay silent about the One I know gives eternal life.
We Christians probably would agree that those are powerful words to share. The problem is…will we?
Patty A. LaRoche