gospel-conversations

Master and Teacher

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“Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. Jesus wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that all we know is that we are His to obey” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

We are all disciples of something or someone. You can tell who is discipling you by your calendar and your checkbook. Where do you spend the most time and who or what gets your money? It’s not a matter of if you’re being discipled, but by whom.

Too many are being discipled by social media and the news. They’re getting fed a worldview that is not of God nor does it promote God or a healthy view of life and morality. Some are discipled by celebrities or influencers. Some by sports or hobbies. Some by their peers.

I’d rather be discipled by Jesus. I’d rather turn off the TV and the social media and spend time in God’s Word. But often, I don’t. Often, I find myself turning to Facebook instead of Scripture. I end up doing what I don’t want to do and not doing what I should.

But a question my pastor asked still haunts me. All who are believers need to have people to disciple them and to have people to disciple. The question is this: Who are you discipling and who is discipling you?

That’s it. That’s the question. Who are you discipling and who is discipling you?

A Billboard of God’s Grace

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“O my Father, give me eyes to see, a heart to respond, and hands and feet to serve you wherever you encounter me! Make me a billboard of your grace, a living advertisement for the riches of your compassion. I long to hear you say to me one day, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ And I pray that today I would be that faithful servant who does well at doing good. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen” (Max Lucado).

That’s what I want to be. A billboard of God’s grace. I want people who see me to want to know God not because I have such a wealth of spiritual knowledge or am super holy and righteous but because I have known and experienced grace. I want people to look at me and say, “God did that.”

That’s how it should work. I heard a pastor say that we need to lead questionable lives. Not in the sense of being immoral or unethical but in the sense of living in a way that causes people to ask questions. Our lives should invite conversations about what they see in us that’s different. Those conversations then become gospel conversations because we tell them, “Not I but Christ in me.”

I still think a lot about the 3-open prayer I learned a while back. It goes something like open an opportunity to share my faith, open the other person’s heart to be receptive, and most importantly, open my mouth. It’s no good unless I speak the words. My lifestyle and actions won’t be enough.

I think so many people see Christians for what they’re against. But that’s not helpful. If my life is falling apart, I need to know what you’re for. I need to know you believe in something that can help me and make my life better. We sometimes forget that we have the greatest “for” in the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that anyone who asks can receive salvation and eternal life.

May we be billboards of grace in a world where people deserve it least but need it most, remembering that we were the very ones at one time who also deserved grace least but needed it the most.

Turning the Wine Back into Water

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“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory).

I’m guilty all the time of looking at people like they’re ordinary. I think that’s the default setting for the human race. We rarely if ever see anyone and see the image of God in him or her. We just don’t take the time to see beyond the surface labels of pretty, plain, fat, skinny, tall, short, etc.

I wonder what would happen if we could see people the way Jesus saw people. He didn’t see a stereotype or a caricature. Every time, He saw a unique individual with a story like no one else’s. He created each person with a one-of-a-kind purpose and plan that no one and nothing else can do.

He looked at you and me and thought we were worth dying for. Even at our worst moment in those times we wish we could take back or do over, Jesus still chose to go to the cross and lay down His life for us. While we were still sinners, the Bible says, Christ died for us.

I’ve been guilty of prejudging people before I’ve even had the chance to get to know them. Sometimes, I see the way they interact with others or maybe the expression on their faces. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m also sure glad that Jesus didn’t judge me like that. He saw the absolute worst version of me and still loved me.

I wonder what would happen if we loved people like that. Maybe we wouldn’t have to hunt high and low for gospel conversations and opportunities to share our faith. Maybe people would seek us out and want to know more about this Jesus they see in us, even if they can’t put a name to what they see.

Not of Us

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“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
“The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely; but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,—a poor depository for such priceless truth.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence; but when God selects, as he always does, earthen vessels, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us” (Charles Spurgeon).

That’s true whether you’re a famous preacher in front of thousands or a simple witness in front of one person. All the power of the gospel comes from God. All the saving comes from God. All the changing of the heart from unbelief to belief and the changing of a soul from dead in sin to alive to God comes from God.

That’s key whenever you have a gospel conversation with anyone. It’s not your job to save anyone. It’s also not your job to be an attorney and prove the existence of God and the Bible and the historical validity of the resurrection and all that. You don’t have to win the person over by a compelling argument. You are simply a witness, telling what you saw, what God did, and how God changed your life.

As I’ve learned, people can argue all day long about theology matters. They can argue about whether God is real or the Bible is true. No one can argue your story. No one can say what happened to you didn’t happen when they see the evidence of a changed and transformed life.

I was reading today about the passage where Jesus sent out the disciples to carry His message. He told them not to worry what to say because when the moment came He would give them the words to say. So often, that’s the case when we are surrendered to God’s will and open to sharing about the hope we have with anyone who asks. We may not know what to say beforehand, but in the moment, the right words come and God is speaking with our voice.

I pray that we all — me included — would diligently seek out in prayer those people with whom we can have gospel conversations. I read something called a 3-open prayer that seems appropriate to be our prayer for those gospel conversations: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

Be Ready

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“If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:13-18).

That’s the key. Be ready. If you live a godly life (or even make the attempt in the Spirit of God to live a godly life) it will draw attention. I heard once that believers should live questionable lives, but not in the sense of believing one way and living another but in such a way that the way we speak and behave will draw questions as to why we’re different (in a good way, hopefully).

I also think we should be praying at every moment for opportunities to have gospel conversations, especially with the family and friends we love and hold dear. I know the famous quote attributed to Saint Francis says to preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary. I think from the Great Commission, words are always necessary. We simply need wisdom and discernment as to the timing of when we’re supposed to speak up and tell our gospel story.

The more the world slips further away from God, the more we will stand out. The more those not of God will hate us and mistreat us and try to trip us up. But also the more people will see something about us that they don’t have — peace under pain , joy in the midst of sorrow, patience under suffering, hope that never fails. Then some will want to know about that hope that we have. Then we should be ready to give an answer.

I found something that every believer should pray called the Three Open Prayer: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

An Evangelistic Prayer

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“DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Lord Jesus, reign in the hearts of our young children, of our husbands, wives, brethren, friends, and families. Lord, rule in the hearts of our neighbors. Lord Jesus, save London! Lord Jesus, look at this United Kingdom [and United States]. Look at all the kingdoms and republics of the earth. May the whole earth know you, exalted one. By the merit of your passion, we beg the Father to glorify you. Father, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. And unto Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever, world without end.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely; but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,—a poor depository for such priceless truth.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence; but when God selects, as he always does, earthen vessels, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us.”

Maybe this coming year of 2025 is when all believers commit to praying earnestly for their lost family, friends, and neighbors. Maybe this is the year that all of us (including me) will pray for opportunities for gospel conversations wherever we live, work, and play. I have a small group of people that I’m praying for that they’d come to know Jesus in a saving way. I’m sure you do, too.

The older I get, the more I am convinced that what we need is spiritual and not political. As much as we want to believe it, another Republican president isn’t going to fix what’s wrong with the country or the world. Only Jesus can do that. And only Jesus can fix the hurt and brokenness in each of us.

So I’m praying more than ever in 2025 for a mighty work of God in those who don’t know God. But first, we need a mighty work of God for those who DO know God so that they can be the earthen vessels to convey the gospel wherever we go whenever we go to the very ends of the earth.

Ministry Mindset

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I think most of us (including me) have the mindset that says, “Whenever I get to a comfortable place in my life with lots of money in the bank account, then maybe I’ll serve. When I get my career sorted out and my kids raised and shipped off, then I can go be a missionary or do ministry within my local church.

First of all, no one is promised tomorrow. Not to be completely morbid, but if you’re waiting until a magical age or after a certain number of years, you may not have that. Today is what we have. Today is the day God has gifted us.

Also, where you are right now is not happenstance. Where you are at this moment is exactly where God has planted you to serve not five years down the road, but right now. Your workplace is your mission field. Your homeschool group is your mission field. If you’re like me and in between jobs, anywhere you go on any given day is your mission field.

I pray we can have the mindset of Isaiah, who prayed, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

The joke is that if you pray for mission opportunities, God will send you to a remote spot in an isolated jungle in some third world country with no luxuries or comforts or even — gasp — no wifi. But more likely, God has set people around you who can be your mission field. You may not have to travel around the world but only across the street or down the block.

Once again, I’m preaching to myself. I need to get back to starting every day praying for chances to have gospel conversations wherever I live, work, or play. Then I need to get back to praying for courage to actually have those conversations when the moment arrives.

God is at work right now. I pray we can have eyes to see and join in. As I heard recently in a sermon, we need God’s love to move from our heads to our hearts to move through our hands to transform our habitat.