Saturday, February 4, 2012

Following in the Footsteps of Jesus


The letters W.W.J.D. have caused a marketing and product craze within the Christian sub-culture here in America. Most likely you already realize that the letters represent the question, "What would Jesus do?" Even though this is a very thought-provoking question, I think that there is an even more helpful question that we should be asking as Christians. Let's change the letters slightly to be W.D.J.D. – "What DID Jesus Do?" Instead of guessing about what Jesus would do in a situation, it would seem more beneficial for us to look at scripture and clearly realize what Jesus did do and then emulate that.

In John 4:4-26 we have an example of how Jesus witnessed to someone. Here is a situation where Jesus initiates a conversation with a complete stranger and demonstrates the Biblical method of approaching sinners and presenting the Gospel to them. This story should prove that Christians can effectively witness to people that they do not know personally or have taken the time to establish a close intimate relationship with. This instance should also prove that this form of "confrontational evangelism", which is by far the most maligned, criticized and seldom practiced form of evangelism, can and is used of God to bring people to faith in Christ. What did Jesus do? He witnessed to strangers and so should we.

It is significant to take special notice of the exact chronological order of the various components of Jesus' conversation. The order isn't just coincidence, rather it exemplifies the wisdom and divine order of Almighty God. If we want to follow in the footsteps of the Master, we should be careful to follow in the same order in our witnessing opportunities. Let's briefly consider what Jesus did and how we can apply these principles to our own witnessing opportunities.

1. RELATE – John 4:7 "When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?"
Notice that Jesus began his conversation with this woman in the natural realm by speaking about something that she could easily relate to. Jesus was tired and thirty and asked this woman to help him by giving him a drink from the well. He did not begin his conversation with deep theological principles or by asking personal questions. There is a reason for this.

Listen to what Paul says in I Corinthians 2:14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Beginning a conversation with a sinner by using deep spiritual truths, is like waking someone up from a sound sleep by flashing a bright light in their face and shaking them violently. No one likes to get woken up like that, including the unsaved. If we do this it will most likely produce anger, annoyance, frustration and a closed heart.

Learn to take time to relate to people. Be friendly and speak about the weather, a sport, their job, etc. If you are able, use humor and make the experience as enjoyable as possible. Show a genuine interest in the person that you are speaking with. I have found that most people genuinely enjoy talking about themselves. Your goal here is to build a bridge of relationship, rather than a wall of division.

Learn how to genuinely listen to people. The last thing you should want to do is to give the person you are speaking with the impression that you are only waiting to get to your religious sales pitch. Most people can tell if someone is really listening to them or not. Media Management Inc. once listed the ten most annoying mistakes made while listening. Here they are.

  1. Lack of eye contact
  2. Disagreeing with everything said
  3. Holding side conversations
  4. Correcting grammar or word choices
  5. Answering before the question is finished
  6. Not responding
  7. Bad breath or sitting too close
  8. Completing speaker's sentences
  9. Coughing or clearing throat
  10. Interrupting

An effective personal evangelist will learn how to listen to people and build a bridge of relationship with them. Do what Jesus did and begin your conversations with sinners by relating to them in the natural realm.

2. CREATE – John 4:10 "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
Here in this verse Jesus makes a deliberate change in the conversation from talking about natural things to speaking about spiritual things. This wasn't accidental. It was intentional. There needs to be a point in our conversations with people where we intentionally direct the course of the conversation to speaking about spiritual things.

This is the part of your conversation that really takes courage. There are many Christians who can talk at great length with people about the weather, the local sports team, their jobs, etc. But there seems to be very few who have sufficient courage and understanding of how to steer the conversation to the things of God. You need to learn how to make a purposeful transition in your conversation so you can speak about spiritual truths.

Let me give you a little word of advice here. If someone isn't open to talking about the things of God when you make your transition, you should feel free and uncondemned to resume talking about natural things. Most of the time you will be able to tell very easily and quickly if a person is open and willing to speak about spiritual things. If you keep pushing the Gospel on someone who isn't open to it, you are no longer building a bridge of relationship. Instead you are constructing a wall of division and you may never be able to witness to that person again. God has got to be drawing them in order for them to receive what you have to say. Jesus said in John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..."

What we are doing when we make this transition, is we are trying to see if they are open and God is working on their heart. I have spent many hours out on lakes fishing. One of the things that I learned about fishing is that the object is to find fishing that are biting. There have been times when I could see fish near my boat, but they weren't hungry. I could drop almost any kind of bait in the world in front of them, but if they weren't hungry nothing was going to happen. An effective fisherman will fish for a while in one spot and if the fish aren't biting there he moves to another spot. We are called to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Like wise fishermen, we need to keep moving from person to person until we find one that is "biting", i.e. they are open to talking about the things of God.

You can use questions/transition statements and tracts to quickly and effectively create a witnessing opportunity. You might ask someone if they go to church anywhere or if they have a Christian background. You can ask someone what they do for a living and then try to think of someone in your church with the same or a similar occupation and mention them in the conversation, following that up by asking them if they go to church anywhere. You might begin speaking about an interesting speaker that you had at your church recently or about a Christian television program that you watched.

You could give them a tract and ask them to read it and give you their opinion. I use an optical illusion tract, and many others, from Living Waters Publications to quickly swing from the natural to the spiritual. Creative Gospel tracts are very effective for this particular phase of witnessing. If someone is open to talking with you about spiritual things then continue following in the footsteps of Jesus.

3. CONVICT – John 4:16-18 "He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.' 'I have no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Here Jesus uses the essence of the seventh commandment, "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), to convict this woman of her personal sins against God. Once the woman said that she didn't have a husband, notice that Jesus didn't say something like, "Well, nobody is perfect. We've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God." No, Jesus was very direct in pointing out her sins. He made it very clear that this woman had violated the Laws of God and was still in her sins. We need to learn how to do the same to be genuinely effective in evangelism.

This would be a great time in your conversation to ask the person, "Do you see your need for God's forgiveness?" Most people will answer, "No." This is where you would begin to use the Ten Commandments, the Law of God, to bring about a consciousness of sin. This part is crucial because if a person does not clearly understand that they have sinned against God they will sense no need for salvation. In other words, if they think lightly of sin they will think lightly of the Savior (Luke 7:47).

If you do not clearly understand how and why to use the Ten Commandments in evangelism, I strongly encourage you to go online at www.livingwaters.com and listen to the presentation entitled, "Hell's Best Kept Secret". Or you can order a book or cassette by the same title.

When, and only when, this part has been successful, you would move on to the forth thing that Jesus did.

4. REVEAL – John 4:26 "Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he.'"
Once this woman had been convicted of her sin and did not try to justify her disobedience, Jesus revealed Himself to her as the Messiah. Once the woman was convinced that she had the "disease" Jesus revealed Himself as the "cure". This is the point in your conversation where you talk about the cross, mercy and grace of God.

Here is a great rule of thumb to follow in witnessing: GIVE LAW TO THE PROUD AND GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. To do this is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." This is exactly what Jesus did. Contrary to popular Christian belief, Jesus did not treat everyone the same. To the proud and self-righteous religious leaders who prided themselves on observing the Law, Jesus was very direct in showing their violations of the Law. He spoke about their sin hypocrisy and the Judgment of God. His message to them was not, "I love you and have a wonderful plan for your life!" They were arrogant so He gave them the Law.

Now think about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11). She was caught in the act of breaking the 7th commandment. The Law called for her blood. Her sentence under the Law was death by stoning. She was literally between a rock and hard place! What did Jesus do? Did give her Law? No, he gave her grace. The reason is because she was humbled by the Law. Never once did she say anything trying to justify her actions or accuse anyone else of their own sin. Because of the broken and contrite condition of her heart, Jesus gave her grace.

If the person you are witnessing to is convinced of their sin and clearly understands their need of salvation, spend your time by speaking of the love and mercy of God. If that person won't admit that they are a sinner and see their need of Christ, continue to talk about the Law, sin and Judgment of God. You shouldn't feel bad about ending a conversation that way either. Leave people in their conviction if they are not ready yet for grace. The right time will come. If you remove a baby from the womb before the proper time it will die. But when the time is right, the baby comes into the world healthy and strong. This is why we have untold thousands of people making "decisions" for Christ yet they are still dead in their sins.

In Matthew 7:6 Jesus said, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs." Let me try and explain what I believe Jesus is saying here. We should not give something that is valuable to us to someone who cannot appreciate its value. We should never give something to someone who will not treat that thing in the proper way that it should be treated. Please consider the following illustration.

A doting grandmother is babysitting all four of her grandchildren who are all under the age of five. She adores her grandbabies and is thrilled about this opportunity to spend time with them at her home. As the toddlers are racing through the house, they come into the dining room and stop. With wide eyes they stare at the beautiful and expensive china locked away in grandma's china cabinet. They notice the beautiful designs on the dishes as well as the solid gold edges of the cups and plates. After a few moments they call grandma into the room and ask her if they can take the pretty dishes outside to play with them in the sandbox.

What do you think this grandma will do? More than likely she will lovingly tell the grandchildren that there is no way they are going anywhere near grandma's china. As a consolation though, she may offer some banged up pots or plastic dishes that the children could play with.

Why would this grandma do this? Is it because she hates her grandchildren? No, she loves them very much. It is because she knows that the toddlers cannot appreciate the china's value to her and thus they will not treat it in the way it should be treated. But what about if her daughter comes to pick up the children and while talking with her mom the daughter tells her of a formal dinner party she is organizing for her husband. She tells of how she has priced china in the past and is fully aware of how expensive it is to purchase. There is no way she can afford to buy her own china set. She then proceeds to very humbly and delicately to ask her mom if she could borrow the china for her party. She goes to great length to ensure her mom that she will take every precaution imaginable to protect the valuable china.

More than likely the mother will gladly allow her daughter the blessing of using her china because she can fully appreciate its value and will treat it in the way it deserves to be treated. This how we should be in witnessing. Never give the grace of God, what should be the Christian's most valued and cherished possession, to people who are not ready for it.

This is how Jesus witnessed and we should do the same. Let's do what Jesus did!

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