Saturday, January 31, 2009

"We'll use mine."

My Grandpa Wilbur was a Christian preacher, both in a church and on a radio station, in Salt Lake City, Utah. A protestant minister living in the Mormon capital of the world. Because of who he was in that place, it was extremely common for his front porch to be visited by Mormon missionaries; young world-changers out to "bag the elephant". They would show up, pictures and books in hand, asking my grandfather if they could come inside and talk with him for a few minutes. His answer was always the same: "Sure, come on in. Just leave your books on the porch. We'll use mine."

But while Grandpa Wilbur had people seeking him out to discuss spiritual matters, others had to take a more active approach. Take my dad's brother Bob, for example. As a teenager, Uncle Bob used to set up folding chairs in the front lawn and invite all the neighborhood kids over. After asking them to have a seat, he would pace back and forth in front of them, brandishing a baseball bat over his shoulder. Beating the bat against his hand to punctuate his arguments, he would extol the virtues of Christian conversion. His subtle message was not lost on them: "Get saved, or else."

Though Uncle Bob's methods were probably less orthodox than Grandpa Wilbur's, he had the right idea. Except in rare cases like Jesus and Grandpa Wilbur, people aren't going to seek you out to ask you to help them grow in their spiritual walks. We've got to go get them.

Right before he returned to Heaven, Jesus said things like "Go into all the world..." and "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." And that's exactly what the apostles did. The book of Acts chronicles their goings. They went and went and went.

Do we have to go far? No. Some people will go to other countries, some will leave the state, but going can be as simple as picking up the phone or sending an email. Just reach out to someone. Call someone up and ask them how you can pray for them. Invite someone over for dinner and tell them what God's been doing in your life. When you've met someone new, ask them who they think Jesus is. Just go.