To Whatever End pt. 4

     This series is about evangelism and ministry, and while I am talking a lot about ministries far away, I don't want to forget and neglect the ministries in our backyard.


    I heard a sermon at a college ministry that was talking about The Great Commission. The pastor told this story, he was in his freshman year of college, and he had a group of friends he spent a lot of his time with. It was during exam week when he was hanging out with one of his friends one-on-one, which hardly ever happened being that they spend a lot of time in a group together. He asked, "Do you know who Jesus is?" The guy responded, "Who?". This shocked him, he had never met someone before who had never heard about Jesus. He shared the gospel with his friend, and the friend asked many questions, leading them into a long conversation about Jesus. Once they had been talking for a while, the friend said, "I'm not sure the Jesus, you just told me about is the Jesus that you believe in." The pastor was astonished, he asked, "What?" The friend replied saying, "Why did it take you so long to tell me about Jesus? If the Jesus, you just told me about is the Jesus that you are following, I think you've got it wrong. If the God, you just told me about it truly that powerful and life changing, I think you've got it wrong. I am going to tell everyone I know, and everyone I see about Jesus because He is that worthy. I am going to call my family when I leave and tell them about Jesus because like me, they have no idea, but it took you almost a year to tell me. So do you truly believe in the power of the God, you just told me about?"

    This hit me so hard. Sometimes it is the hardest to share Jesus to the people we are closest to. If we are in a good friendship, or in a group of people, we are afraid. We might be afraid of being judged, or of that person feeling judgment from us. Instead, we should want people to hear the name of Jesus and experience a relationship with Him, this side of Heaven. We should want to obey The Great Commission and share the gospel and share Jesus. Sometimes we think we have to warm up to someone before we can share the gospel or talk about Jesus, but I think our approach should be the opposite. We should lead every conversation with Jesus because truly the gospel is nothing about us, but everything about the One who created us.

    Never underestimate a person, a place, or the ability in sharing the name of Jesus. Each and every single person on this earth is so valuable in the eyes of our Creator. Every person deserves the chance to know who God says that they are, because God sent His son to die for each and every one of us, not just the ones that grew up knowing who He is. 

    "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." - 1 Peter 3:15

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