While I was working in my yard the other day, a man came walking by carrying his Bible. I’d seen him a few times before on Wednesdays and assumed he was walking to his church.
The man stopped and asked if he could talk to me. He wanted to know if I was saved. I said yes. Do I remember saying the prayer? Yes. Did I say it out loud? Yes. Apparently, he wasn’t convinced so he proceeded to passionately recite the “sinner’s prayer” and then asked me if I said it like he did. Yes.
I told him that I had actually been in ministry for 21 years and told him where. Then I got quoted a verse about not being saved by works. It wasn’t done in a spiteful way; he just assumed that I made my statement because this career path would “get me into heaven”.
He asked if I wanted to go to church with him. I told him I was a member of a local church. He didn’t ask which one, but asked if it met on Wednesday and Sunday nights too. I said it didn’t, but that we attend a midweek small-group Bible study. Apparently, this answer wasn’t good enough either. I was supposed to desire to be in the physical church building as much as possible. Psalm 122:1 was his justification; I should want to “go to the house of the Lord” whenever possible.
I thought about quoting back to him all of the verses that value Christian fellowship. Or asking him what Bible verse states that Wednesday night service should be mandatory. I got the feeling this guy wasn’t looking for a debate or discussion, but for a conversion to a Christian walk of his preference.
He eventually left, praising God out loud, and was probably a few minutes late to his service. But, I imagine I was a worthy reason for his being late, as he got to share the Gospel with someone who didn’t measure up to his standard of living by faith.
I swear that this guy was trying to get me unsaved so I could get saved his way. There’s no doubt in my mind that he loves the Lord and that we are brothers in Christ. I just can’t imagine his method working with the people he approaches. He gave no merit to my answers because they didn’t fit his mold. He didn’t look at me as someone he genuinely wanted to know, but as someone just to get saved and in the right church.
I could tell you what kind of church he attends and what version of the Bible he reads, but that would be counterproductive to my point. And I would be guilty of stereotyping him the way he seemed to be judging me.
This interesting encounter reminded me of Paul’s method for doing relational evangelism. I will let his words in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 make the point for today’s blog. Here is the passage as translated in The Message. You can read it in your preferred translation and it will still make the same point:
Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
