Inadvertent evangelism.
“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity…” (Eph 5:15-16 NLT)
Should you ever find yourself passing my father in the street, and you happen to make eye contact with him, chances are he will smile and give you a cheerful, “Hello.” He can’t really help himself.
One weekend, not so long ago, he was strolling through town in an attempt to meet up with my mother. As he ambled along his eyes happen to meet those of a passing gentleman and my father smiled and offered his usual greeting. Naturally the man smiled back in response.
Now, another characteristic that my father has is a bad memory and so later on when he passed same man the stranger decided to return the greeting. This only proved to confuse my father. Having forgotten the earlier encounter with the same gentleman he was suddenly concerned that this man may actually know him, and my father had no idea who he was. This was very embarrassing.
Since my mum was proving quite troublesome to locate my father was engaged in a serious amount of wandering around and needless to say his path crossed the same gentleman once more. This time dad felt obliged to stop him so that he could admit to not remembering who the man was (since my dad assumed that this man’s earlier greeting suggested that he knew who my father was). So my dad stopped him and explained this to the stranger. As a result the stranger suddenly began thinking too, just in case they did know each other after all and he had forgotten too. They started listing off all the places where they may have met. One suggestion my father suggested was a Horsham Churches Together meeting, and the other guy said that he did not go to church…
In the end they realised that they did not know each other at all, however the stranger left thinking about a man that knew God and had experienced his saving grace. Who knows what effect this may have on him.
“So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get.” (Eph 5:15-16 MSG)
A friend in church once told me of an occasion when an insurance salesman paid him a visit. He was interested in taking out a policy and so it wasn’t intrusive. The salesman launched into his sales patter which my friend tried to interrupt saying that he understood bits of it already since someone he knew in church had recently taken out the same policy. The salesman carried on regardless eventually closing the deal with my friend.
After all the paper work had been signed the salesman asked my friend is he would mind him asking another question.
“Not at all.” My friend responded.
“It is just that earlier you said you went to church.” Said the salesman.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Could you tell me more about this? You see, my father died recently but before he passed away he started going to church and he seemed to have such peace as a result.”
My friend then went on to share the gospel with this salesman.
Sometimes an inadvertent action or word is all that is needed to share something of the gospel. There are times that we have to be prepared to share the gospel, like my friend, but there are other times we could have an unexpected impact on someone’s life. God uses us differently at different times; sometimes he may use us to ‘close a deal’ and at other times it may be as an inadvertent example of salvation. In fact sometimes God will net even let you in on what is happening, just in case we spoil it. All we can do is ensure that people see Christ in us, no matter what we are doing; buying, selling, studying, relaxing… everything.
Should you ever find yourself passing my father in the street, and you happen to make eye contact with him, chances are he will smile and give you a cheerful, “Hello.” He can’t really help himself.One weekend, not so long ago, he was strolling through town in an attempt to meet up with my mother. As he ambled along his eyes happen to meet those of a passing gentleman and my father smiled and offered his usual greeting. Naturally the man smiled back in response.
Now, another characteristic that my father has is a bad memory and so later on when he passed same man the stranger decided to return the greeting. This only proved to confuse my father. Having forgotten the earlier encounter with the same gentleman he was suddenly concerned that this man may actually know him, and my father had no idea who he was. This was very embarrassing.
Since my mum was proving quite troublesome to locate my father was engaged in a serious amount of wandering around and needless to say his path crossed the same gentleman once more. This time dad felt obliged to stop him so that he could admit to not remembering who the man was (since my dad assumed that this man’s earlier greeting suggested that he knew who my father was). So my dad stopped him and explained this to the stranger. As a result the stranger suddenly began thinking too, just in case they did know each other after all and he had forgotten too. They started listing off all the places where they may have met. One suggestion my father suggested was a Horsham Churches Together meeting, and the other guy said that he did not go to church…
In the end they realised that they did not know each other at all, however the stranger left thinking about a man that knew God and had experienced his saving grace. Who knows what effect this may have on him.
“So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get.” (Eph 5:15-16 MSG)
A friend in church once told me of an occasion when an insurance salesman paid him a visit. He was interested in taking out a policy and so it wasn’t intrusive. The salesman launched into his sales patter which my friend tried to interrupt saying that he understood bits of it already since someone he knew in church had recently taken out the same policy. The salesman carried on regardless eventually closing the deal with my friend.
After all the paper work had been signed the salesman asked my friend is he would mind him asking another question.
“Not at all.” My friend responded.
“It is just that earlier you said you went to church.” Said the salesman.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Could you tell me more about this? You see, my father died recently but before he passed away he started going to church and he seemed to have such peace as a result.”
My friend then went on to share the gospel with this salesman.
Sometimes an inadvertent action or word is all that is needed to share something of the gospel. There are times that we have to be prepared to share the gospel, like my friend, but there are other times we could have an unexpected impact on someone’s life. God uses us differently at different times; sometimes he may use us to ‘close a deal’ and at other times it may be as an inadvertent example of salvation. In fact sometimes God will net even let you in on what is happening, just in case we spoil it. All we can do is ensure that people see Christ in us, no matter what we are doing; buying, selling, studying, relaxing… everything.
-Andrew Carey
posted by Andrew at 9:47 am
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