More Than Just Words!

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read, "I am blind. Please help."  A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins, and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it. He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon, the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills aw well as coins. 

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten the sign, and wanted to know what he had written on it. The publicist responded, "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently. The new sign read, "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

Sometimes it's not WHAT we say, it's HOW we say it! Sometimes we need to change our strategy. This is as true for churches as it is for individuals. The Christian church is in possession of the greatest story ever told, but is understood and interpreted in different ways by different groups of people.

For some, that story is no more important than yesterday's news. They vaguely remember Jesus -- Isn't he the one who was born in a stable and wise men brought gifts and now we have presents in December? -- but have little or no understanding of the power of the risen Christ. For others, like the so-called Christian Nationalist groups, Christianity is a means to enforce their own brand of teaching on society as a whole without allowing for faith differences. For most "mainline" Protestants, the story of Jesus is the inspiration to follow in His footsteps as best we can, trusting in grace to make up for our failures. 

For many years, churches have been growing in Latin America, Africa, even Asia. People have been being saved everywhere except North America and Europe, and so we have to wonder why Christ's story has had such impact there and so little impact here! Of course, people in undeveloped countries tend to live more in the day-to-day, more precariously, less affluently than we do, and therefore might desire the "power to live victoriously" more urgently, but we can't say Christianity is relevant only to the poor! Surely the message of love, forgiveness, and peace within is important in every culture. But in framing our message, we may need another approach. 

The FACT of the blind man's condition was less relevant to his donors when they saw only the physical aspects -- what moved them to get involved was the EMOTIONAL IMPACT of his blindness. This has a powerful message for us as Christians seeking to invite others into grace.

Perhaps we need to better understand how difficult life really is for those who have no sense of lasting importance, no understanding of the abundant life. A life without Jesus means a life without eternal hope, purpose, comfort, or security. Earthly stability vanishes when the economy tanks, cancer strikes, tornadoes touch down, loved ones die. Millions of people will come to a point when what they have built up is taken away, and nothing remains of what they have worked so hard to gain. (Read Luke 12:13-21, the parable of the rich fool.) When we put ourselves in their place, we can find God's compassion, and make the effort to reach out in spite of our fears. 

Of course, you can't "put yourself in their place" without getting to know what "their place" is like! The word "compassion" really means "feeling with," which involves getting to actually know non-believers. The greatest hindrance to evangelism is that many Christians don't regularly spend time with anyone who is not part of their church or faith group. We would be happy to share our faith, if only we knew some people who weren't already either IN church or deliberately NOT IN church! It is all the more important, therefore, to actively learn about people who are not part of our group; by reading about how people of different generations experience the world, by asking our adult children and our grandchildren their opinions, by finding out what people of different ethnic backgrounds think; in short, by GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH NEW PEOPLE. Join a new group, go to the gym at a different time, volunteer somewhere. Always be ready to listen, to empathize, to hold people and their needs in your heart. We can't wait for non-believers to come to us, we must go to them -- as Jesus did -- with more than just words! 
                       Blessings on you as you love, Randa

* NOTE - The most recent reports on Christianity in America seem to indicate a slowing of the decline of the past few decades, which unfortunately may be connected to the Christian Nationalist movement and Project 2025. It remains to be seen if this trend will continue, and if it will produce authentically Jesus-focused, biblically accurate, faith that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control! (Galatians 5:22-23)  Pray God that it is so!