Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Actions First, then Words

The truth is like water. If someone doesn't have any and you submerge them in it, they'll end up drowning. If someone doesn't know Christ and you start with telling them they're going to hell and they're living a life of sin and they disgust God and they need Jesus because he's the only way to go to heaven and Jesus died on the cross for them and Jesus is God but God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirt but God there is only one God in three forms and... I think you get the picture.

If that's the way you go about trying to convert people, the very best you'll do is overwhelm them. Odds are you'll just turn them away from Christ. That's like taking someone who's never been swimming and dropping them off in the middle of the Pacific thinking they'll learn how. It doesn't work that way.

No the best way, I believe, to lead people to Christ is to start with little to no actual words about him. Actions speak louder than words. The best testimony is living a Godly life. Someone who has never drank water and who lives in a culture that says water is bad for you will not believe you when you tell them that water is good and you need it to survive and to live a full life if you don't drink it yourself. (Sorry about that messed up sentence) Just imagine it backwards: Someone tells you gasoline is the true way to be the healthiest you can be so you say, "Ok drink some then," and they won't. You'll either think they're the world's biggest idiot or that they think you're a fool and want you dead.

So to someone who doesn't have Christ and thinks that their life is pretty good you can see why they have a hard time buying what we're selling. It might sound a bit odd to them, it might seem pointless or just plain dumb. To them milk or Gatorade or alcohol might seem a heck of a lot better than water. You have to show them that you drink water and you love it and life is just so much better with it. Only after this can you reason with them why they should switch to a water diet. To an atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, whoever it'll be hard to do. But "I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me."

Don't forget that.

No comments:

Post a Comment