They Earned the Right!
Pastor Jim Kilby • May 22, 2023
I read an article yesterday that quoted some folks who had been accosted by a group of well meaning, but much too pushy evangelists. It was clear that those who had intended to carry Jesus' love to others, had actually driven people away from Him with their seemingly love-less approaches to witnessing. While I was pondering the article, I remembered a couple of times when I was attacked by Christians shoving literature into my hands as I entered a concert, and once when I even found some "you're going to hell" literature laying on my desk at work. I was not compelled in any way! In fact, I was turned-off! All I could see was small-minded people who had found misery and wanted me to join in! I had no intention of doing any such thing. Nearly fifteen years later, however, I wound up in a car-pool with a man and his wife who were Christians, but a different brand all-together. They didn't hide the fact that they were Christians, but they also didn't shove it in my face or make riding in their car conditional on my acceptance of their way of thinking. Instead, they served me in any way they could. They picked me up at my apartment, where they knew I was living with a girl who was not my wife. They never said a word about it, but somehow I was convicted by my own God-given conscience. On several occasions, I asked them probing questions about Christianity. I also found myself intently watching how they interacted with each other and with the world around them. Before long I was inundating them with questions daily, eventually even asking if my girlfriend and I could attend their church. Like Jesus, these folks let their love for me, an openly sinful stranger, surround everything they said or did. Through their love they earned the right to tell me about their Lord. Today, the young woman I was living with is my God-fearing Christian bride... Together, we serve the Lord and our children with everything we have. Through the ministry God has given us, more have found Christ than I can honestly count.
Now... imagine for a minute what would have happened if my young car-pooling friends had shoved literature in my face at our first meeting.
"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." Jesus of Nazareth (John 17:26)
Pastor Jim Kilby
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