“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7
I have a lot of friends who aren’t Christian. Some follow other religions (Hindu or Muslim, for example) but a lot of them aren’t Christian for a whole different set of reasons – they’ve seen Christians and they either don’t like what they see, or we don’t make any sense to them, or they just don’t care.
Their caricature of Christians can be summed up in this passage from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
“The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many a head by-and-by began to nod – and yet it was an argument that dealt with limitless fire and brimstone, and thinned the predestined elect down to a company so small as to be hardly worth the saving.”
Who needs that? I mean, even if we’re right, is that all we have to offer? Prosy sermons and a belief system comprised mostly of dos and don’ts?
As a Christian, I believe that THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is Jesus Christ. If I am a Christian – and I am -Jesus has to be at the center of everything I do, and he is.
I am not a preacher; I’m just a guy who believes it all. Jesus needs preachers, but if the only people listening are the ones who are already interested, then what happens to the ones who aren’t interested, which happens to be most people?
The poor are hungry. They’re not looking for a clear, theologically sound explanation of Christianity; they just want food.
The people I work with are busy. They’re not looking for a clear, theologically sound explanation of Christianity; they just want to do a good job and work with people who want to do a good job.
Atheists and cynics aren’t looking for a clear, theologically sound explanation of Christianity; they just want things to make sense.
Wiccans aren’t looking for a clear, theologically sound explanation of Christianity; they have found other ways of making sense of the universe; they just want peace, balance, and tranquility in that universe.
So what do I – a Christian man – do if I think I have important answers that people aren’t searching for?
I serve them. I like them JUST AS THEY ARE. Not as a “means to an end” but because I actually like them the way they are. Today.
Even if they never believe me.
Do they need to hear the gospel? I believe they do but the hungry just want food. My work colleagues just want a competent, effective teammate who loves his job. Atheists just want things to make sense. Wiccans just want a balanced universe.
So what do I do when it doesn’t matter to them what I believe? What do I do when people don’t care what I believe?
“When people like each other, the rules change.” Jim Henderson
I like them.
It doesn’t matter to most people what I believe. If they are hungry, they want food. If they are my workmates, they want me to do a good job. If they are atheists, they want me to make sense. If they are wiccan, they want me to add peace and tranquility to the universe.
Yet I also believe the opening quote to this post:
“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.“
Acts 6:7
I want that more than anything. But if I’m not going to preach, how does that work? Is it really enough just to like people without preaching to them? Is it really enough just to serve people without preaching to them?
For me, it is. Here’s how it worked back in the early days of Christianity:
“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.’
Acts 6:1-7
They served people. And people joined them. And then someone else did the preaching.
I am not the preacher; I have another ministry – to like people JUST AS THEY ARE.
We need preachers, but the person with the empty belly doesn’t care what the preacher says if his belly remains empty.
What could happen if Christians fed the hungry for no other reason than because they were hungry? What could happen if Christians became friends with people who weren’t, for no other reason than because we liked them?
Acts 6:7 could happen.
We need preachers for the ones who will listen. But we also need people to just like people, regardless of whether or not they’ll listen to a preacher – not as a means to an end; but just to be good to them.
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