My Jesus: Jesus Is For Everyone

Please read Luke 19:1-10

Zaccheus was one of the hated tax collectors.
During the days of Jesus, certain Jewish men worked for the Roman government as tax collectors. With the full strength of The Empire behind them, these men collected Roman taxes from the Jews. These men were also permitted to collect "extra" and keep it for themselves. These tax collectors got rich off the backs of their fellow Jews.
It's easy to see why Jews hated the tax collectors.

Imagine you and I are great friends and neighbors. There's a third neighbor who begins taking advantage of you, legally, and even oppresses you at times. This oppressor then hires me to keep an eye on you, and you know it. What does all of this do to the relationship between you and me? I'll tell you what it does - it destroys the relationship. You see me as a traitor. Even though we are neighbors, you see me as "on the other team" and a part of the oppression.

It wasn't that the Jews were angry at the tax collectors. No. They hated the tax collectors.

And, like every good pyramid scheme, the tax collectors had a supervisor: The Chief Tax Collector. This individual, another Jew, taxed the Jews directly, but also took from the other tax collectors, forcing them to collect more from the Jews. The disciple Matthew, before he was called to follow Jesus, was a rich tax collector. Zaccheus, the subject of our story today, was a chief tax collector. Zaccheus was filthy rich.

In Luke 18, we read that Jesus, just outside the city of Jericho, had healed a blind beggar. This stirred up the people and everyone came running to see Jesus and to know more about what had happened. Zaccheus, like others, was curious. But, Zaccheus had a physical problem. He was short. Historians tell us that the average Roman male was about 5-5, and that Jews were a little shorter than the Gentiles. So, let's say the average Jew of that day was 5-3. Zaccheus was perhaps shorter than even that. So, he couldn't see above everyone in the crowd. Thinking stratetigcally, he ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore tree. The Sycamore was a lot like an Oak, but with branches low to the ground and more vertical for climbing and roosting.

When Jesus approaches the tree, he see Zaccheus and calls him by name, and then says, "Come down, I must be your guest tonight." Scripture says Zaccheus enthusiastically responded.

Do you see subtle messages here? Jesus came for both the blind beggar (Luke 18) and the rich tax collector (Luke 19). He came from everyone. Jesus knew Zaccheus name before they were ever introduced. You and I can never escape the fact that Jesus knows us - He knows our thinking and the motivations behind what we do. And, He is calling us to join Him.

Do you stay in the tree or do you get out of the tree? Many, I'm afraid, stay in the tree.

Imagine the crowd's reaction to Jesus' calling Zaccheus to fellowship. The crowd goes crazy. They aren't just mad; they are angry.

Zaccheus realizes the supernatural Holiness here. How did Jesus know his name? He can't explain what's happening deep within his spirit. What caused him to run and climb the tree? He is overcome and cries out, "Lord, Lord!" as he recognized Jesus as His Lord.

Is Jesus your Lord? We talk about Jesus as our Savior from God's wrath upon sin, but is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Are you a slave to Jesus? Is your purpose for living to serve Jesus? Does everything you do turn back to Jesus? Is every decision you make squared with Jesus' call on your life? Believers claim Jesus as their Savior from sin, and THEN live as if Jesus is their Lord and Master. That's what Zaccheus supernaturally affirms.

Unlike the story of The Rich Young Ruler, who could not claim Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and could not give up the things of Earth, Zaccheus gushes, "I will give half of my possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay them 4 times.” In his response, Zaccheus repented – He turned from what the world called important. He turned from the stumbling block keeping Him for fully engaging Jesus and faith. He walked away from the world's call on his life. He slipped free of the chains of this world – of sin and selfishness.

Jesus says, because of Zaccheus response, “Salvation, today, has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Jesus acknowledges that because of Zaccheus heart-felt turn from self, He is indeed saved from the wrath upon sinfulness.

• Salvation did not come to Zaccheus because He was Jewish and did all the correct religious stuff, like attend temple gatherings (church).
• Salvation did not come to Zaccheus because he did good things. All the good things you do, don’t mean anything. A lot of great community clubs do great things. You and I are called to do these great philanthropic things toward a goal: To build relationship with others for the chance to share Jesus.
• Salvation came because Zaccheus sought Jesus, Jesus called Him, He responded, He repented – He removed from his life what would keep him from following Jesus. He claimed Jesus and not money, prestige, influence as “His Lord.”

We don’t know what became of Zaccheus after this. John The Baptist, baptizing tax collectors, had charged them with collecting only what was required and no more. We can assume that if Zaccheus remained as a tax collector - he was a changed man in that role.

Questions before us:

• Is Jesus your Savior? If I said, "Give me the names of 100 people who know you well." And, then I gathered those 100 people together. I give each of them a piece of paper and say, "Tell me about my friend." How would those 100 describe you? How many would write, "follower of Jesus"? How many would write "follower of Jesus" as the first thing on that paper? I think people would know me as the father of four boys, a good person, or someone who should be in chains. I'm not completely confident how many people would say, "Scott is a follower of Jesus." That's convicting. Our goal should be for someone to hear our name and think, "Jesus" because they see Him reflected in us. They hear us talk about our faith; they hear us say the name of "Jesus." I think it's the true measure of a person's salvation: Not what I say that I am, but what others see in me.
• Who do you know that is climbing the tree to see Jesus? We live in an affluent community. Everyone of us knows someone who wants to climb that tree and see Jesus. Who can I help? Who I can I talk to about Jesus? Who needs me as a friend in faith? Who can I invite to join me at church? 
• Can I seize the moment to introduce someone to Jesus? Can I share my faith story with them, knowing that I don’t know all the answers? Can I walk with them to talk to someone who might fill in the blanks for me?
• What does having Jesus as my Lord do to my life? How will I respond when people shun me, whisper about me, and become angry with me? Am I prepared for the lonely walk with Jesus? Jesus calls me to it as my Lord and Master. Will I follow or I will hang my head and turn from Him?

Chasing Jesus is life-changing

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Followers of Jesus choose to pursue Him. Followers of Jesus can look at today, compare it to the same day last year, and say, “Yes, I am closer to Jesus and I am more like Jesus today than I was on this day last year.” There is an assurance of that.

You see, the word following implies forward movement; it implies a pursuit or chasing after Jesus. And, so it stands to reason that if I am following Jesus, I will be on a forward-moving journey with Him, and in that journey I will become more like Him, and my today will not be the same as my yesterday.

I’ll go so far as to say those who today are no closer to Jesus than last year, well, they aren’t really following Jesus at all. More than likely, these good people are simply church Christians who believe church attendance, church busyness and participation in church stuff is synonymous with following Jesus. Churchyness (my word) can contribute to the spiritual journey of following Jesus, but for many it does not. Churchyness is largely a clinical exercise to meet cultural expectation: I want people to know I am associated with a church so they will believe that I am a good person. If I were Satan, I would love, love, love people to buy into that theology.

Look at what the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 51:1: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” We are called to “pursue” and to “seek” Jesus; we are called to be moving forward in our faith journey. We are called to be followers.

In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul writes, “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” and “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul says we are to be moving forward, following Jesus, “pressing on” and “straining toward.” Am I? Are you? Is your today significantly more close to Jesus than your yesterday? Ask your spouse. Ask your parents. Ask your friends.

It’s all easier said than done, frankly, because we live in a broken and sinful world, and because we are broken and sinful people. But, that does not excuse us from being on the journey. In fact, we are guaranteed the journey will be hard and also that few will actually choose to take this narrow way. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

At this writing, Vicki has me on a diet. To be on that diet requires life changes on my part and a diligent moving forward. I am on a journey. At the end, I will be different than I am today. But, along the way, I will face temptation and may even slip backward. In fact, unless I am diligent and focused, I will choose to fail. And, then I will no longer be able to say that I am on a diet at all. I can “watch what I eat” and lie about being on a diet, but I know that I won’t really be on a diet at all. On the other hand, I might stumble on the diet, regroup and begin the journey again. Even though I have slipped, I can still claim to be on the diet because I am continuing to move forward.

So often, the faith journey - following Jesus - is a two steps forward and one step backward journey, but it is still about making that one step of progress. It's always about moving forward and being more like Jesus.

Life is constantly calling us backward to the easy, to the comfortable, to the “be like everyone else” and if you and I succumb to that, we will never be able to follow Jesus. Nothing about that cross is easy or comfortable or like “everyone else."

In summary:

Following Jesus is about saying:

1. My life is better, more peaceful, more joyful and more hopeful when I set my eyes on Jesus and decide to follow Him.
2. By following Jesus, what I really mean is that I will respect Him as my leader, and pursue Him. He is in front of me, and I will chase Him and pursue Him toward a goal of being more like Him. What does that mean? I will intentionally choose to (a) completely love people – all people – not just in words, but in deeds; (b) extend undeserved forgiveness to people; (c) see beyond the surface attitudes of people to understand the motivations, and then minister to them; and (d) I will build relationships with all people – all people – and help them discover joy, peace and hope that’s only found in Jesus Christ. I will call others to pursue Jesus and pray to see them baptized according to Matthew 28:19.

And, I know that I as I draw close to Jesus, and as I follow Him, it will be very difficult to maintain the pursuit.

1. People won’t understand. They will raise an eyebrow, and I can expect following Jesus to reshuffle the deck of my relationships. I will gain new friends; I will lose old friends. It will be joyful and painful all at the same time. In the end, though, it will be peaceful.
2. I can expect following Jesus to cost me something. It might cost me a job. It might cost me position. It might cost me time and money. Jesus' sacrifice on that cross was costly to Him; following Him and becoming like Him will absolutely cost me. There is no cheap grace; only a costly, expensive grace. That's why it's the narrow way and few really choose it.
3. As the white hot light of the cross burns my sinful nature, the pressure of it all will cause me to retreat into the darkness of my sinful nature. And, I will find myself in a sorrowful place because my retreat will grieve the Holy Spirit within me. And, I can expect Jesus to find me and ask, “Scott, what are you doing? Are you a believer or not? In or out? Let’s get back on the journey.” And, I will decide to follow or not.

What I have learned about following my Jesus:

1. I must be intentional about it. The world is calling me away from Jesus; following Him requires my absolute focus and best effort.
2. I must allow the Holy Spirit to place me around people – even people that make me feel uncomfortable - for encouragement and correction; love and service. 
3. I must look beyond what I want and see what others need. And, then I must respond the best that I can. And, where I can't respond, I will mobilize others to respond.
4. The call on my life is not to be perfect; the call of my life is to simply focus my life on being more Christ-like and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, actions and my attitudes.
5. I must anchor my life in Scripture and prayer.
6. The world will notice, my family will notice, my friends will notice, and following Jesus will tighten some of my relations and loosen others. Following Jesus comes with a cost, but it is a cost worth paying.
7. I only understand a fraction of all this, but I understand all that I need to know. I need Jesus, others need Jesus, and it is my responsibility to follow Jesus – to work to be more like him – each and every day of my life so that others can see and know Jesus because of His reflection on me.
8. If my today is not closer to Jesus that my yesterday, I am not following Jesus at all.

The J Word 8 & Final: See Jesus Clearly

Last week, I read an e-mail containing the blog post of Abraham Piper, son (prodigal son) of renowned pastor John Piper. If you have a prodigal or are ministering to someone with a prodigal, this blog post is worthreading,

Abraham Piper writes this: “Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or porn or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk band. The real problem is that your child doesn’t see Jesus clearly.”

Is Piper writing that in relation to our children or to God in relation to His children (us)? Because I agree. We so often times over-focus on the symptoms of poor decisions and living in valleys that we miss our real problem. We fail to see Jesus clearly.

In John 4, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, and their exchange dances around several issues through which the woman fails to see Jesus for who He is. Then, finally, she wants to chase a rabbit, discussing worship differences between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus answers that, and opens her eyes in verse 26 by saying, “I AM (caps) the Messiah.” I believe He was also letting her know, in a way that got her attention, that He was God (I AM). I believe she saw a clarity of God that cut her to the core. What does she do? She drops everything and runs to the village, telling everyone to come see Jesus. He ends up ministering there for two days, and many more heard his message and believed.

You see, Jesus looked straight through her problems and issues, including adultery, and brought her to see Him clearly.

In sharing Jesus with another person, that’s my ultimate goal: To help people see Jesus, clearly. It’s not to dwell on their inconsistencies and problems, but to say, “Where is Jesus in this?”

In Mark 8, 22-26, Jesus heals a blind man. And, in the healing process we see three stages of sight: (1) The man was blind; (2) The man had a blurry vision (v.24); and then (3) The man had a clear vision of Jesus.

You and I are surrounded by people who have a blind and blurry vision of Jesus, and we believers toggle back and forth between blurry and clear.
Blind people don’t know Jesus. Their lives indicate as much. They believe Jesus was a great man, a prophet, and a magician.

People with a blurred vision perhaps see Jesus as Savior, but have not surrendered to Him as Lord of their lives. Many of these good people are “Sunday morning Christians,” confusing church attendance with salvation; confusing church involvement with following Jesus. They say (we say), “I want Jesus for an eternity, but I don’t want Him complicating my life right now.” Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this – not fully understanding Jesus until after the Resurrection.

And, then there are those of us who have come to a place of seeing Jesus clearly, or at least we get there and hold the position until we slip backwards into a comfortable blurry state for a time. The Holy Spirit then convicts us to wipe away our eyes and see clearly again. What does it mean to see Jesus clearly? How can I help others see Jesus’ clearly? As I minister to the blind and blurry-eyed, what can I tell them that will help them see Jesus clearly?

For me, here’s what I want people to know about my Jesus (no ranking).

1. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it; He came to save it. Throughout His life, Jesus built loving relationships with broken, bruised and hurting people, loved and served them, and encouraged them to follow Him instead of the world. (John 3:17). We can’t condemn others and help them discover Jesus at the same time.
2. Jesus is all God and Jesus is all man. (Isaiah 9:6) We need to remember that Jesus was God – all God – when He came to Earth. People who saw Jesus were in fact seeing Almighty God, Sovereign God. God is in three person – God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit. Jesus was also all man, and so He understands our range of emotions, how we are tempted, how we hurt for those we love, and why we fall down so often. As God is Love, Jesus is completely Love. (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son . . .” He gave Love. What does that Love look like? Think about the precious, precious moments when you love your children or you consider how you have been loved: Empathetic, sympathetic, patient, kind, gentle. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Love expressed and Love in action defines the believer, but not all who love are believers.
3. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In the deepest valleys of my life, I found unbelievable comfort in just closing my eyes and whispering, “Jesus, the Prince of Peace.” I would often ease into sleep repeating those words. Jesus brings peace to the lives of those willing to look in the mirror and cry out because they no longer love what they see – sinful, lonely, hurting, mistake-driven, relationally tortured, financially ruined, sick. Read Matthew 14:29. In a violent storm, Jesus called Peter to walk on water toward Him, and as Peter focused on Jesus the storm calmed. A focus on Jesus calms the storm. It may not go away, but Jesus holds it and brings peace in it.
4. Jesus is Grace in Motion (my words). His grace – forgiveness undeserved – is alive and active. For those who cry out for Him, Jesus sees past all the selfishness and says, “You are Mine.” For those following Him, Jesus forgives everything about our yesterday and even our today. Jesus reminds the woman about to be stoned that He does not condemn her, and He instructs her, “Go and sin  no more.” Oh, what grace.
5.  Jesus is the Only Way to restoration with God. Jesus is our only Savior from God’s wrath. As you talk to people about Jesus, you will be stunned to your core at how Satan has so confused people. Good people, smart people, have been confused and deceived into believing they can financially give their way into fellowship with God; that they can build resumes of church and community service, and secure relationship with God; and even that a ‘cloud of witnesses’ will testify in heaven that they should be allowed into the restoration with God. None of this is true. Following Jesus is the only way to escape God’s wrath on our sinfulness. How do I do that?
1. Publicly, among men and woman and children, confidently confess Jesus as your Savior. Romans 10:9. This marks your life. You do it often.
2. Pour yourself into the matters of faith: Bible Study (devotions, books anchored in Scripture – anything that opens your Bible and puts you in it – look for answers to life’s problems in Scripture).
3. Prayer (communicate with God. You may not know what to say, and that’s okay. Some of my best prayer time is just quietly coming before God, and focusing on Him. It’s not necessary to open your mouth; you will know when it’s time and what to say or cry out).
4.  The Fellowship of Believers (surround yourself with other believers for encouragement and correction).
5. Missional Involvement (in the name of Jesus, loving and serving others by putting feet to prayers).
6. Once You Follow Jesus, Nothing But Jesus Will Ever Do. You will not live a perfect life in a ruined world, but you will find love, peace and grace within it by walking with the Savior. The more you follow Jesus through Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service, the less things of the world will matter, and you will begin seeing more of the world as Jesus sees it and loving more people despite themselves.

The J Word 7: Don't condemn others

Last night, I was reading a story about the life of the actor Bill Bixby, who died of complications from cancer in 1993. Most everyone of the TV Generation remembers Bixby for his role on either My Favorite Martian or The Courtship of Eddie’s Father or The Incredible Hulk.

Bixby’s first marriage was to a beautiful actress by the name of Brenda Benet. The two of them had a son, Christopher, who died at six years old of a rare throat infection. Perhaps despondent over that death, Benet committed suicide less than a year later in 1982. She put a gun in her mouth.


Certainly, I didn’t know Bill Bixby, and for sure I didn’t know Brenda Benet. But, reading or hearing about a suicide – regardless of who it is – always leaves me empty inside. The news of suicide always leaves me hurting. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?
At my first newspaper job, after college, I worked alongside another writer whose name was Jay. Jay was brilliantly awkward. He was so very intellectual, but he was also so very socially awkward. That combination left him alone a lot, and I presume it left him very lonely. We only worked alongside each other for a year and then I moved away. About 10 years later, I learned that Jay had killed himself. I just remember sitting at my desk and crying over that obituary. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?  Why had he not turned to faith? How had the universal congregation of believers failed him? What did his death say of my faith 10 years before when I knew he was lonely but did not act? What did his death say of the believers surrounding him now, seeing his pain and failing to act? Perhaps, Satan  whispered that we were too busy for ministry, or that once we served Jay he would be difficult to get rid of should we tire of him. 


But, let’s look at this a different way.

What if Jay was outside of faith and fellowship because, throughout his life, he had been criticized by other believers, or scolded by the faith community, or made to feel guilty by the community of faith? What if, on the eve of his suicide, in the dark of a lonely apartment, he cried out for someone to love him, but had no faith in the church or its membership to love him right where he stood . . . broken, lost and in pain. What if Jay felt so condemned by the fellowship of believers that he felt he could not turn to it in his darkest hour? What if he had lost hope in God, but also in the humans who pledged to love God and others?

You and I must be very careful. We don’t know how the conversations, attitudes and actions of this day will affect someone tomorrow, in a decade, and in the valleys of their lives. We must be people who talk about salvation, grace and reconciliation. We cannot be people who condemn others and make them feel hopeless.

We like to focus on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the cornerstone of the gospel presentation. But, look at John 3:17, “God send his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus is about salvation from a fate that is already sealed.

And, so that’s our message to others: Salvation; not condemnation.
                 
In our ongoing story of Jesus and the woman at the well (beginning at John 4:15), we go back to last week’s exchange.  Jesus introduces the idea of the “living water” as opposed to the water that comes from the well. The woman appears eager to know more and Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” And, she says, “I don’t have a husband.” And, Jesus says, “You are right! You don’t have a husband – for you have had five husbands and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” The woman says, “Sir, you must be a prophet.” And, a conversation begins that ends with v. 26, when Jesus proclaims himself as the Messiah.” In his conversation with this woman, Jesus acknowledged what she already knew – that she had previous husbands and wasn’t married to the man she lived with now. In that, He did not dwell on condemning her for it. He didn’t beat her up over it. He acknowledged the facts and moved on.

You and I know people who need Jesus. We know people whose lives are in pain and we see them turning to every solution – every solution except faith. Perhaps you have been one of those people – I know that I have. I have lived through painful valleys and turned to every possible solution except Jesus – except faith.
And, in those valleys, I can tell you the last thing I wanted or needed was for someone – especially in the name of Jesus - to come alongside me, kick me while I was down and say, “Why did you do that?” or “What were you thinking?” or “You are an idiot!” or “Here, you need to this (xyz) because this is how decent people live their lives.” No, what I needed was someone to come into that valley with me, and say, “Can I walk with you out of this mess? How can I help you? Where is Jesus in all of this?”


You see we like to condemn people. We like to beat on people.

• If I can beat on someone – then I don’t have to look in the mirror and beat on myself.
• If those around me are beaten down, it makes me stand a little taller.
• I love fixing people, and I can fix you.
• They have always seemed so perfect; it makes me feel good to see them suffer some, too.

But, beating people up never introduces Jesus because Jesus was not about beating people up. He was about loving them, serving them, putting an X on their pain and pointing them forward.

Now, this is not to say that Jesus won’t judge sin. He will. All the sin of the world will one day be judged. And, sinfulness – anything that involves me over the Lord or me over others – is evil, and wrong, and hurtful, and will be judged by God. Non-believers will take the wrath of God for sinfulness; Jesus has stood in the gap and has taken the wrath for those who believe in Him.Jesus didn’t excuse the adulterous life of the woman at the well. No, he acknowledged it, and used it to explain salvation to her.


We must keep in mind, always, that our ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “And God has given us (believers) this task of reconciling the world to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

And, as we do this, reaching down and helping people see Jesus, we need to remember 2 Corinthians 5:16: “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.”
                 
Are you a reconciler in the name of Jesus? Or, are you a condemner?

All around me there is a Brenda and a Jay – people whose pain is extraordinary and who feel unworthy to approach faith. Maybe they just don’t know how to approach faith. What can I do today to help them avoid the darkest of all places – a place of dark, perceived hopelessness.

As we look into the eyes of their pain, and it cries out for a Savior, will we say, “Look at you, you deserve this” or will we ask, “Where is Jesus in all of this? Can I introduce you to Him? Can I help you find him again? Can I help you reach for the hem of His garment? Can I be your friend?”

The J Word 6: Pace Yourself

As a recap, this summer we are studying Personal Evangelism – me (as a believer) telling someone else about my relationship with Jesus as directed by the Holy Spirit. Each and every believer is instructed by Jesus to do this (Matthew 28:19) – “Go, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus is not suggesting we do this. Jesus is telling us to do this because (v. 18) “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth, therefore . . .”

What we’ve learned so far:

1. Be Social – we must be out and among people to tell some about Jesus.
2. Find Common Ground – when the Holy Spirit presents someone to us, we can find conversational common ground around family, hometown, hobbies and interests.
3. Spiritual Arousal – as we develop a conversation, we lean on the Holy Spirit for the opportunity to talk about faith, church, Scripture, prayer and, yes, Jesus. If we converse with people long enough, we’ll hear opportunity to move beyond hometowns and hobbies, and insert faith into the conversation. We don’t have to have the answers, we just have to Be Willing as followers of Jesus.

And, now we look at some Guidelines to Personal Evangelism. The first is this: Don’t Go Too Far, Too Fast.

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belong to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own demons? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord.”

In 1984, I was coaching a baseball team of boys ages 10-12. I was living in Statesboro, GA, serving as associate editor of the daily newspaper there. I had a good team, and I knew it. Jeff Yawn, Sean Sanders, Del Akins, Jonathan Stapleton, Jamie Sapp, and Chris Boyd were a few of the boys – now dads themselves – on that team. We won our division that year and I was able to coach All-Stars. But, the first day of practice, I was joined by two of the dads. While I gathered and completed all the necessary paperwork on the players, these two dads started practice. And, right off the bat, they put players at positions and started working on complicated cut-off plays between the outfielders and infielders. I watched in disbelief. I could tell the boys had no idea what these men were talking about, and the men were getting a little frustrated. So, here I am, 25, and I walk out to these two dads, and said something like, “We’re not doing that. We don’t need to teach them the entire game of baseball, we just need to teach them what they need to know at 10 and 12 to be competitive. Then, at the next level, someone can add to the foundation we’ve advanced.” And, so I called the boys in, apologized, and told them how we were going to it. We had so much fun that year, finished 15-5, and won our division championship. The lesson that I learned was this one: Sometimes, you can go too far, too fast – you have to meet people where they are, love and coach them right there, and nudge them on to the next level.

Each and every one of us is walking up a spiritual mountain. As new believers we are “born again” at the bottom of the mountain. Our climb up the mountain represents our spiritual growth. Spiritual growth occurs as we shed the priorities and wants and desires of this Earth, and replace them with the priorities of God to completely love Him, completely love and serve others, and make disciples. Up, up, up, we are called to climb. But, we can’t forget about those just starting out at the bottom of the mountain *or* those who don’t even know about the mountain! And, we can’t expect someone just starting a spiritual journey to suddenly join us where we might be. That’s like asking a first-grader to know Algebra, or feeding an infant a breakfast of steak, eggs and pancakes. No, we have to meet people where they are, listen and love them toward taking their own steps up the mountain of spiritual growth. One of the best testimonies we can give is to say, “Come on, friend, you can do it. I know what you are thinking and going through because I’ve been in that same place on this mountain.”

Even Jesus understood this. The backdrop of this Personal Evangelism study has been Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, John 4:13-16, he said to her, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this well water. But, the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.” She says, “Please sir, give me some of that water! Then, I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to haul water.” And, Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” She says, “I have no husband.” Jesus says, “Right – you’ve had five of them and you aren’t married to the one you are with now.” You see, Jesus had the opportunity to move from the analogy of the living water to real faith conversations, but Jesus instead steps back and focuses the woman on her life and her life’s decisions. She had to confront her sinful (self-focused) choices, repent from them, and then embrace the living water of Jesus.

It’s easy to say, “I can’t do that” or “that’s not my comfort zone (to talk about faith with others)” but again – you and I, as believers, have no choice. If all authority has been given Jesus and He has instructed us to go and tell others, well, we must do it or we aren’t following Jesus ourselves. (That’s not good). When someone approaches me about faith or I have those common ground conversations, I never *plan* a strategy to talk about faith. I don’t go into those conversations with this calculated, strategic method of talking about Jesus. No, I just listen to the urging of the Holy Spirit as conversations unfold, and then I act on those urgings. My experience is that He will always provide the words and the direction and the answers that I need. And, sometimes the answer is “I don’t know, but let’s find out together.”

A Warning: While we are saying “don’t go too far, too fast” we can’t use that as a stalling tactic until we find the courage to talk to others about Jesus. No, this is not a method to let us off the hook or excuse our inadequacies. Because hovering over each day of our lives is an urgency to help people discover Jesus as Savior. People – men, women, teenagers – who die without confidently confessing Jesus as both Savior and Lord will spend an eternity separated from God. You and I need to bite down on that reality. We are not living a game. I know we are a culture of mercy and grace, and of second and third and fourth chances, but in this there is no second chance after death. All around us there are men, women and teenagers who have never heard a friend or family member talk about Jesus,  and there are people who wrongly believe a church ceremony standing only on its own merit secured their eternity. There are people attending church every Sunday who believe that good works secure their place in heaven. Most sadly, are those who have attend church all their lives, know all the answers, and carry a Bible yet have never confessed Jesus as their Savior. They want to confess Jesus, I know they do, but Satan has convinced them that they will be embarrassed by doing so as adults – especially living in the church as a believer for a long time. You and I must be Christian Soldiers in all of this confusion. We must share the gospel. We must balance the urgency of the hour with meeting people where they are, and helping them along. We must tell the world that we love Jesus, and be ready for Him to send people to us.        

My prayer is this:

1. If you are clinging to the world’s priorities, I want you to let go of that and lay your life down for Jesus. I want you to say, “I can’t do this life by myself, anymore. I’m tired of doing the same old thing all the time.” You and I must get right with Jesus so that we have a story to tell those who don’t know Him.
2. If you are committed to follow Jesus, I want you to get urgent about the people in your life. Do you love others enough to ensure they hear about Jesus. You can’t save them – all you can do is talk to them. Do you love them that much? Do you value you relationship with them more than you value their relationship with the Lord? You can talk to people about Jesus without being condescending or critical or ugly. Do you love them?
3. Can you take the time to meet people where they are in life, and help them take baby-steps toward faith? Can you build a relationship that involves a lot of time, a lot of prayer, a lot of conversations, a lot of your own self-reflection? Can you be patient, be authentic, be genuine, and love others toward a relationship with Jesus – regardless of how long it might take?

The J Word 5: Be Willing

By Chuck Cordovano -- Over the past month, we’ve discussed getting comfortable with Jesus; sharing our stories about Jesus with others, and encouraging others to talk about Jesus.  We should all develop our own concept of personal evangelism – how we share Jesus with others.  We’ve talked about two things we must do:

1.      Be Social – Jesus was social and Jesus called us to make disciples of others. 
In the 40 days after his crucifixion Jesus returned to the Apostles from time to time.  The Apostles kept asking him if the time had come for him to free Israel and restore his kingdom.  In Acts 1:7-8 Jesus says, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” So, we too, are called by Jesus to witness – telling people about Him in our lives.

2.      Find Common Ground – Once we decide to be social, we have to find common ground with the people we are around to allow the Holy Spirit to move within us and find the opportunity to speak about Jesus.  In Acts 17: 16-33 Paul preaches to the Athenians.  It’s a great example of finding common ground with others in order to talk about Jesus.

I would add one more thing we must do to share Jesus with others . . . Be Willing.  We’re around other people, we’re working out, we’re on a business trip, we’re having lunch with a friend; we have to be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and look for every opportunity to share Jesus with others.

Two weeks ago, Scott gave a convicted lesson on the Holy Spirit in each and every one of us.  Do you hear God’s voice inside you?  Do you feel you should do something, say something, help someone, and yet you don’t respond?

I do.  All the time. 

Many of you know I’m an alcoholic.  But, by the grace of God, I have not had a drink in more than 11 years.  Through my experiences and my struggle with alcohol I came to know Jesus.   One of the foundations of our class is the concept of having a faith story.  We have been urged to write our faith story and share it with our family, our friends, those un-churched; whoever the Holy Spirit nudges us to tell.  If you can’t tell someone your faith story and explain how Jesus has worked in your life, you may find it hard to witness to others.  If you need help with your faith story, ask, or go to the web site where we have a link that will help you understand how to tell your faith story.

I was blessed to be asked to share my faith story with the class a few years ago.  Although it was hard to stand up and tell a bunch of Baptists that I was a sinner and an alcoholic, it was the truth and admitting that truth to myself led me to Jesus.  I won’t go into that story with you today but I’m happy to share it with any of you.  Sharing it has given me the opportunity to help others.  I will say this:  Alcoholism is a disease of dishonesty.  Alcoholics are the biggest liars in the world.  Our inability to see what our illness does to those we love and the excuses we make to them result from the lies we tell to them and ourselves.

I have a beautiful wife and daughter who have never seen me drink and that is a blessing.  Unfortunately, I’m still a sinner.  I’ve seen so many people turn away from church because they believe we are hypocrites.  They also have been so beaten down by churches and religion in the past that they just figure they are going to hell anyway so . . .

Although we are sinners, although we are human and fail, we have to try to live and love others as Jesus would have us live and love.  We have to “live it.”  As much as I try to live a life of faith, I constantly fail. 

I do try and share my faith with others.  I look for opportunities.  Mention church on the tennis court and I’ll ask you what church you go to and tell you about mine.  If you don’t have a church home, I’ll invite you to LBC and the V Class.  I attend MOVERS, our men’s group that meets Saturday mornings.  We are always reading and discussing a book that relates to our Christian life.  So, when I travel I usually board a plane with a Christian book.  It opens opportunities to share with others. 

A few years ago, after we spent some time talking about the importance of our faith story, I was in Chicago with a client I had come to like very much.  We were on Michigan Avenue and across the street was Second Presbyterian Church, a beautiful church dedicated in 1874 known for its architecture and stained glass.  The Holy Spirit moved me to ask Rusty about his faith and tell him my faith story.  It turns out Rusty was troubled and had little faith in Jesus.  I urged him to find a church home and a Sunday School class and I told him I loved him.

Last year, another client, Eddie, spent almost two weeks in Lexington so we could work on a project.  Eddie is a wonderful young man in his 30s with a wife and two small children.  Eddie had never been to Waffle House.  So, I took him.  As he ate hash browns, scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced… with EVERYTHING on them I asked him where he went to church.  Although he was Christian, he didn’t go to church, and, being young, was confident he was in control of his life.  As an old alcoholic, I knew Eddie was not in control of anything and told him so.  Again, a chance to share my faith story, urge him to find a church home and Sunday school class, and to let him know I loved him.

A few months later, Eddie learned he had stomach and testicular cancer, and he and his wife had a new baby on the way.  I hope Eddie’s faith helped him get through the cancer.  He is in remission today, has a two month old baby, and a new house.  I hope my sharing with him helped him become closer to Jesus.  I thought of calling him and asking but decided the fact that we could talk about Jesus is enough for me.  The sharing is enough.  Being willing to share, being willing to listen for the Holy Spirit and to ACT is what’s important.

It’s the times I believe I hear the Holy Spirit and don’t act that affect me the most.  But, if I am social and looking for common ground with others and I’m willing to listen for the Holy Spirit’s quiet urging and, I try to live my life that way, I become closer to Jesus and help others do the same.

The J Word 4: Nothing But Jesus

Will anyone see my life today and know that I am a follower of Jesus? And, if they ask me about my Jesus, how will I respond?

In our summer look at Personal Evangelism, we have covered two very important initial steps: (1) Be Social – we have to be out and among people, building relationships in order to share the gospel; and (2) Look For Common Ground – as we meet people we must recognize the common ground we share with them through venues like work, or ballparks or grocery stores. Common ground can also be through shared demographic, through life history, through common venue, anywhere. But, we must be looking for ground on which to build relationship and begin faith discussions.

And, as socialization and common ground yield to conversations, when and how should we turn the conversation to faith? Or, should we? How do we get conversations off hometowns and hobbies, and toward the gospel. Romans 5:8, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 10:13.

First, let me remind you that as a believer, the Holy Spirit resides within me and you. He is real, He is alive, and He never sleeps. He is God within us. (Acts 5:3-4).

Second, the Holy Spirit is part of the trinity with God and Jesus. God in Three Persons. And, the Holy Spirit is burdened for the masses of the unsaved. Creation is groaning and weeping all around us as God is burdened for the restoration of His creation. Look at Luke 19:41 – Jesus is approaching Jerusalem surrounded by His followers who love Him. And, yet He comes to see the city and begins to cry. He is crying because He knows the people – the Jewish leaders – have refused God’s offer of salvation. And, those leaders are leading people to that sad end. They would rather live in pain, live in the world, than know the peace of following Jesus. As Jesus weeps for those who reject Him; the Holy Spirit within each of us weeps for the unsaved, too.

As the Holy Spirit, within each believer, grieves for the unsaved, that sadness will be very real to us. Tears may or may not come to us, but the pain, the longing, the burden will afflict us, too. 

Have you ever said, "The Lord has burdened me for so and so" or "I am burdened for him or her"? Well, the reality is that you are feeling the pain of the Holy Spirit crying out for you to be His vessel, His mouthpiece, His witness. The times I have been in that place, I have gone sleepless, I have been to tears, and I have been restless. What joy to know that God is alive in me when I feel that way about people and especially about the unsaved!

Do you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to others, and especially to the unsaved? I hope so, and here’s why: If the Bible is true, and the gospel is true, all of us will fall into one of three groupings:

1. Those who say, “I feel the Holy Spirit crying out within me for others, and I am responding.”
2. Those who say, “I feel the Holy Spirit crying out within me, but I am not equipped to respond or I lack the courage to respond.” (This is a good response, and one of the reasons it is so valuable to be among other believers in Sunday School or a faith community. It's important to be on a discipleship journey, but the journey must bear fruit. The excuse of not responding won’t hold up for long.)
3. Those who say, “I never feel any of this; I don’t know what you talking about.” Sadly, these are unsaved people. It is impossible, I believe, to have Almighty God living within you and yet never feel a burden for the unsaved. If you are reading this, I pray you hear the calling of Jesus on your life and confess Him as Savior before men.

But, let's look at numbers 1 and 2, above. Listen to Paul’s writing in Romans 9:1-3, “In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter faithfulness – I do not lie – and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people . . . I would be willing to be forever cursed – cut off from Christ! – if that would save them.”

Oh, if I could take my faith that seriously – that I would be willing to give up my own salvation to introduce those I love to Jesus!

Brookwood Baptist Church is the church of my childhood – a little country church on Brookwood Road, where every mailbox for two miles once had the same surname (Vaughan), and every row of the cemetery across the street carries the name  Vaughan.

My Granny used to tell stories of all-day worship, families coming together at the church for morning services, then staying to eat and share picnic lunches, and then congregating again for all-afternoon singings until dusk. And, the theme of the day was not marriage enrichment, or parenting classes, or praying for businesses to survive, or how to manage money – NO! – the theme of the day – every Sunday – was simply Jesus. Those who knew Him worshipped Him, and cried out prayers for those who did not. And, deacons – one to each family – would publicly confront those who may or may not know Jesus as Savior. Children were not excused from it.

There was an urgency to talking about faith; there was an urgency to talk about sinfulness and salvation from it; and, there was a spirit alive to help one another from day-to-day.

We have lost that urgency to talk about Jesus, worried about whose feelings we will hurt. We have lost that urgency to hear the inner-weeping of the Holy Spirit for those we love, and we have lost the courage to talk to them – from our own dark places – about sinfulness and salvation from it. We would rather "go along to get along" than confront those we love. We would rather talk around sin than confront it directly, facing our own shortcomings and helping others find Jesus despite it. Quite frankly, I am willing to risk any Earthly relationship if it will help me introduce someone to Jesus. I believe it is perfectly healthy for a family's Jesus conversations to move that family into Christian-based counseling.

So, how do we insert Jesus conversations into the common ground of our relationships?

First, through our actions.
1. We can arouse spiritual interest by our example. Is there anything in my life – any word or deed – that may cause others to question their faith? Forget all the excuses. We each need to look in the hard mirror and say, “I have a testimony; is it a testimony that honors my Jesus?”
2. We can arouse spiritual interest by showing kindness and compassion to all – everyone without exception. I can harbor absolutely no racial or social prejudices that prevent the Holy Spirit from working through me. Be reminded of the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at The Well in John 4. There were all kinds of social prejudices that might have prevented Jesus from having a faith conversation with the woman. But, those prejudices did not hold up.
3. By our own faith and hope. A worry wart, a depressed person, an angry person, a lonely person, a woe-is-me person will never be able to build relationship, and talk about Jesus because that person can’t get beyond themselves. You and I are not important; we are dead to what this world calls important. Only the living, breathing Holy Spirit within me is important, and my only purpose is to live positively, kindly and encouragingly so others will want to know how I am able to do it. Then, I can talk about my Jesus.  1 Peter 3:1-2, 15. “Your Godly lives will speak to them better any words. They will be won over by watching your pure, godly behavior . . . And, if asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.”

Second, it’s through our words
1. Lean on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
2. Talk about the mess of the world and use that to talk about the Hope for it.
3. As people talk about their pain, tell them about the story of Jesus walking on the water – in the storm – and calling Peter to Him. The storm was calmed when Peter focused on Jesus. Matthew 14:29.
4. Invite people to church, but know that the church has failed many people. Focus less on the church and more on the people that you know. Encourage them to meet you and be their guide through the day. Read Paul's testimony: Acts 13:16-22.

The J Word 3: Find Common Ground

John 4: 1-8: “Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is baptizing and making more disciples than John” (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them – his disciples did). So, he left Judea to return to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually, he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.”

This summer, we are taking a linear, step-by-step look at personal evangelism – me and you telling another person about Jesus, and where Jesus is within our respective lives.

If we had a job description as followers of Jesus, we would see the requirement to love God, love others, and make disciples. So, it’s not an option – followers of Jesus will tell people about Jesus.

Last week, we looked at Step One: Be Social. We have to get out among people in order to have opportunity for talking about Jesus. We have established that Jesus was constantly on the move, and constantly around people. He was social.

Okay, now I’m out and around people. What’s next?

Establish A Common Interest

In John’s account of the woman at the well, above, Jesus didn’t rush to say, “Well, here I am.” No, he first established a common ground with the woman. They were both at the well, and they were both in search of water. But, there’s something else in there, too. Jesus took the initiative to speak first, and get things started. I think that’s very important to personal evangelism – the notion of taking the initiative to seize the opportunity around common ground.

Oh, I’m not suggesting that I’ve always been bold and brave. No, quite the contrary. For 90 percent of my life thus far, I would have approached the well, gave a pleasant nod to the woman at the well, got my own water, and kept on walking.

And, I would have lied about following Jesus in the process. Jesus, as we see, stopped and took initiative to talk about common ground he shared with the woman at the well.

Can’t we do that? What if we approached the grocery store, the golf course, the tennis courts, schools, work, ballparks, gymnasiums, neighborhood pools, neighborhood card games, church buildings, the lake, the hardware store, the restaurants . . . everywhere . . . looking for the common ground on which to begin conversations with other people. Let’s say I’m in the bleachers, watching a ballgame – well, that’s common ground with everyone around me. So, I take the initiative to introduce myself, talk about the game or the sport, and that leads to questions about vocation, home life, and even church. And, on this common ground, a relationship – even a temporary relationship is born – and the Holy Spirit moves the conversation toward Jesus. Can’t we buy into that? What does it say about my faith life if I know I should talk about Jesus, but reject the opportunity to do it? Gulp.

In April, Vicki and I were at a Braves baseball game. Two young couples sat down behind us. We couldn’t help but listen. One couple was from Alabama and the other from Tennessee. They had common ground around the ballgame, around being from the Deep South, and also around their family size. Both couples were newlyweds. Their conversations began about the Braves and baseball, and then they talked about their respective weekends in Atlanta. They talked about what they had done and where they were staying. These conversations led to talking about their hometowns, and that led to conversations about work, and someone dropped a word about “church.” And, that’s all it took. The Alabama couple was very involved in church; the Tennessee couple had not found a church as a young newlywed couple. The Alabama couple, having built several innings of common ground, shared what they had found in churches, and this all led to – yes – the Alabama woman stating how much she loved Jesus. After the game, I listened as the they shared e-mail addresses and the Alabama couple pledged prayer support. They parted as friends – not in an awkward way, but in a way knitted by the Holy Spirit.

Common Ground.

I’m not suggesting any of this is easy. In fact, it’s very difficult.

I will tell you what works for me, and you can pray for the Lord to convict you as He needs you to step into building common ground with others.
Traditions
Take The Initiative to speak first, and let the Holy Spirit take over.

I put myself in public places, and look for opportunities to speak to people. Then, I trust the Holy Spirit to guide the conversation, knowing at any time I could be prompted to talk about Jesus. I am ready. I am willing. I am nervous. But, I am trusting.

I have found it easier, at times, to talk about church and let the Holy Spirit take that discussion on to faith in Jesus. Talking about my church is not threatening, and church often easily leads to faith. Sometimes, I have to jump right in and talk about Jesus. But, I let go of it and just the let the Holy Spirit use me.

Just look for the common ground in your day-to-day journey. On that common ground, begin conversations.

Get on the FAST track to Common Ground faith conversations:

Family

Activities

Shared Experiences / Locations

The J Word 2: Be Social

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus is walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew. They were fishermen by trade, and on this day, they were throwing nets into the water. They were two ordinary men with no predisposition to be pastors, teachers or missionaries. But, Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And, they left their nets and followed him.

Jesus was walking; Jesus was social. Jesus was among people.

In John 4:1-6, Scripture says, “Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them – his disciples did). So, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually, he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon, a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”


Jesus was on the move, baptizing people and making disciples. Jesus stopped to talk with people. Jesus was social.

As we move out of our comfort zones, and begin talking about Jesus, we can anchor our journey in these verses. Jesus was social; His followers must be social, too.

I have not always been comfortable talking and writing about Jesus because, honestly, I wanted everyone to like me. Someone (can't remember their name) once told me, "When you start talking about Jesus, by name, none of your friends and family will ever come around you." Jesus - the very name of Jesus - has always polarized people. His name draws a line in the sand and we must choose – belief or unbelief. In Matthew 8:18, the disciple writes, “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his (followers) to cross to the other side of the lake.” Personally, I believe Matthew gives us a metaphor. Disciples must choose a side and make it known.


Talking and writing about Jesus takes us off the fence, and puts us on one side of the lake. Declaring the Lordship of Jesus in our lives separates us from those who don't believe in Him, and that may well include dear friends and family, neighbors and coworkers. For most of my life, I resisted getting off the fence. In 2007, I made a decision to take a stand – to really move to the other side of the lake, and to help bring others over, introducing others to Jesus.


Go back to the verses above. Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, and says, "Follow me." In circulating among people, Jesus is making disciples. His encounter with the woman at the well leads to an invitation to follow Him. Jesus doesn't model an isolated life. While we are called to take a public, confident and confessional stand for Him, we also dedicate our lives to introducing others to our new side of the lake. But, to do that, we must be social – to be “out there” among people. We must have our eyes wide open to talk about Jesus.

And, there are no excuses worthy of failing to be among those who need Jesus.

The woman at the well was a Samaritan. Simply, Samaritans were race-mixers and Jews typically hated them because of it. Samaritans represented the race-mixing of Jews with pagans. On top of that, the woman at the well was sleeping around. Jesus encounters her and begins an exchange about faith, and He did so without prejudice. Jesus saw people as God saw them; and we should see people as God sees them, too. We must face our prejudices and leave those behind.

Twice, in the early story of the woman at the well, we see that Jesus was tired and weary from his travels. But, it did not stop Him from talking to someone about faith. As someone who is following Jesus’ example for living, well, no excuse – not tiredness, not hunger, not stress – nothing can get in the way of my desire and interest in talking about Jesus.


How far do we go in being social? Being social does not mean compromising morals and values to do so. I do believe our faith journey will take us to uncomfortable places and uncomfortable situations. In calling the disciple Matthew, Jesus faced ridicule to socialize with the hated tax collectors. If you don’t have unsaved people in your life, what good is your life in following Jesus? So, be social, but be careful. I tell my boys, all the time “Protect your witness.” Lean on the Lord as to where you should go and how you should behave.. Listen to His leading. We must be “in the world” to talk about Jesus, but we can’t be “of the world” and expect people to see His reflection in our lives. Pray for discernment – that’s the best and only counsel I can give you. When we are pursuing God with a goal of introducing people to Jesus, He will always provide us just the right place to be and just the right thing to say. Lean on Him.

1. Commit each day to following Jesus and being out among people. We do not worship a God of isolation. This is a calling on the lives of everyone – man and woman, husband and wife, father and mother, son and daughter, sister and brother. 

2. Approach everywhere you go as if God has one person there who needs to hear about Jesus from you. See restaurants, Wal-Mart, the grocery store, the post office, the workplace, the golf course, the tennis courts, and the ballparks – see everywhere as a mission opportunity.
3. See every person as if that person is Jesus to be loved and served.

4. Pray for God to give you clarity in words and actions, and pray for God to bind back Satan’s influence.
5. When presented the opportunity, just tell people why you follow Jesus.

There is one fact.

You will never introduce someone to Jesus if you aren’t out among people.

And, if I’m not among people, talking about Jesus, I’m not really following Jesus myself.

The J Word 1: Light In Darkness

In April 1991, I was unemployed. Every single meaningful relationship in my life was negatively affected by it. And, the swirl was beginning to affect my health. I went to my family doctor, in Atlanta, and said, “I don’t know what a nervous breakdown feels like, but I may be having one.” He stopped short of an official diagnosis, but he did prescribe medicine.

It was a dark, dark place.

A well-respected mentor in my life invited me to meet with him at a McDonald’s in Athens, GA. I drove an hour to get there, and we sat in the midday quiet of that McDonald’s. My agenda was for him to listen, and maybe help me get back on my feet.
He listed and listened, and then said to me, “Scott, where is Jesus in all of this?”

Where was Jesus?

I confessed Jesus as my Savior in 1968, and I knew I was a believer.

But, in 1991, where was Jesus in this current storm? And, how had I misplaced Him? How had I lost fellowship with Almighty God? What had I done to turn my back on my Savior? At what point did I start listening to the attractive, sweet voice of Satan, and buy the lie? (I can now point you to the exact time of my life when that happened).

Jesus sent my friend to meet me at that McDonald’s, and I like to describe it this way: It was like being in a dark room and finding my friend, who had a flashlight. He turned on the light, pointed it forward, and told me to follow it. The light was Jesus.

My life was changed forever. That encounter at McDonald’s led to a series of days through which I fell to my face and surrendered the rest of my life to Jesus.

Oh sure, it’s not been a perfect 20 years; there have been steps forward and steps backward. I’ve slipped and stumbled – we all do it. There is no perfect life journey in step with Jesus because this world prohibits it. But, my life was changed because I was restored with Jesus. And, while the pressure and stress of life’s storm was and is around me, the cross became and is my anchor in it and Jesus has brought unmistakable peace.

I wouldn’t lie to you. Life without Jesus equals chaos, confusion, fear, anger, loneliness, isolation, and suffocation. Life with Jesus doesn’t remove the swirl of this world, but life with Jesus does bring love, peace, hope, faith, courage, patience, wisdom and encouragement.

My life was changed because a friend recognized my pain, and loved me enough to interject the J-word: “Scott, where is Jesus in all of this?”

This summer 2012, we are going to talk a lot about Jesus. We are going to get comfortable with talking about Jesus. And, we are going to learn about our responsibility to be one of those holding the flashlights. We are also going to look in the mirror, and ask, “Where am I with Jesus?”

Four Haunting Things To Remember
1. As a follower of Jesus, I have no choice but to talk about Jesus. If I am ashamed to talk about Jesus, Jesus will be ashamed to talk to God about me. (Mark 8:38). If I’m uncomfortable talking about Jesus, I must do all that I can to get comfortable. That’s what we hope to accomplish this summer. Let’s all assume we are in the first grade. We are all learning together. We don’t jump from first grade to high school graduation – we’ll use the summer to grow together and get comfortable talking about Jesus. Mark 16:15 reminds us that we each have a responsibility to go into all the world and take Jesus to every person. This is the call for every believer – not just preachers, teachers and missionaries.
2. Everyone needs to hear about Jesus. I consider everyone to be unsaved. I’m not pointing a finger at others by saying that; I’m pointing a finger at myself. If I consider everyone to be unsaved, it heightens the urgency for me to talk about Jesus and be ready to talk to everyone. Some will not know Him at all; others will know Him, and, because of life’s pain, will be out of fellowship with Him. Everyone can be boosted by hearing the name of Jesus today. What if God sends a person to me, today, and I don’t seize the opportunity to talk about Jesus, and that person dies? I must be ready to talk about Jesus. I challenge myself this way: God has someone who needs to hear Jesus from me every day. Am I listening? Am I ready? Am I really following Jesus if I live in ignorance or apathy?
3. You and I can’t save anyone. All we are called to do is introduce people to Jesus. You and I can’t save anyone from the wrath of God. Only Jesus can do that. So, we don’t measure success or failure on someone’s reaction to Jesus. I just introduce Jesus, tell what Jesus means to me and my life, answer questions, and offer to pray for people in Jesus’ name. If I don’t know the answers, I find them for people. It’s okay to admit that you don’t know all the answers, but you know where to find them through Scripture and the church. Let the Holy Spirit lead you in your conversations. Sometimes, the Spirit will press you to say, “Would you like Jesus to be your Savior, too?” You will know the moment; don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about the reaction. If it’s “no,” then say, “Well, if you get to that place in your life, please call me.”
4. Satan hates you and everyone you love. I won’t lie to you. When you and I become Christian Soldiers, Satan takes notice. Most of Satan’s attacks aren’t on the scale of 911. Most of Satan’s attacks are creeping up and whispering in our ear. He plants the seeds of self-doubt, self-pity, self-examination, self-love, selfishness, self-awareness, and self-esteem. He gets us looking in the mirror and rationalizing why we shouldn’t or couldn’t talk about Jesus. And, he paralyzes us from mentioning Jesus to the person God is sending today. And, then Satan paralyzes the next day, and then for a week, and then for a month, and then for a year, and then for a decade. And, soon, we are in that place where I was in 1991 – my faith paralyzed; my life overcome with pain. My friends: Talk about Jesus anyway; pray for God to bind back Satan from your day and trust God to do it.

So, here we go. It’s going to be a boot-camp summer.