Being effective

One last illustration before we shut down for Sunday. As Christians we live the “way of Christ” sharing Him with lost people as we go. We can picture ourselves as separate from them, urging and pushing them toward Christ, or we can picture ourselves joined with them in life, and allow them to see Christ in us. When I worked in a large corporation, I once likened effecting change to that of pushing on a large marshmallow. I could push, push, push and my efforts would only dent the marshmallow in a small way. I was separate and doing some heavy pushing, but had little impact. Later, I became very effective in creating change by seeing my separateness as part of the problem and joined with others to bring about needed changes in the company.

One way of presenting this from a Christian perspective is to contrast a city with a home. Ask, “Where are you most effective in making your values clear?” Many people will answer that home is where they feel most influential when sharing their beliefs. Now, the city is large compared to our home, but we can effectively reach lost people living there in the same way.

State that, “We have two choices for sharing Christ in this city.” (Doing nothing is not an option, so logically, there are only two choices). “First, we can invite lost people into our homes, get to know and love them, and allow them to see Christ in us as we are. We trust that eventually God will open an opportunity for us to share Christ verbally. Secondly, we can go out of our homes and into the city, meet lost-people, get to know and love them, and allow them to see Christ in us by as we are. Again, trust that God will eventually open an opportunity for us to share Christ.” Ask for specific examples of how to implement either approach. Key in either case is to meet people, know and love them, and involve yourself in their lives.

My brother-n-law and sister-n-law in Arlington have been very effective for many years exercising the first choice by inviting foreign students attending a local college into their home on a weekly basis. They have shared Christ with multitudes. The Walkers in our Church have been successful exercising the second strategy with homeless people for over a dozen years thru HELP Ministries. Countless lives have been changed as a result. May God bless your teaching this Sunday.