Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
~ Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
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In my Sunday morning Bible study group last weekend, we got on the topic of those in the workplace who hammer their faith on non-believing co-workers. Today's passage didn't come to my mind, but it definitely fits.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
~ Colossians 4:2-6 (NLT)
Why is it that we sometimes feel like we just have to spill out the ABC's of the gospel...or the Roman Road...or whatever evangelistic delivery tool we've learned in training class to someone who doesn't know Jesus? Maybe they're seeking after God...maybe they're not. Maybe they have religious hangups, maybe they don't. Do we even know anything about the people we are evangelizing? Do we even care?
We should care. Deeply. Isn't love and compassion what should motivate us to spread the Good News about Jesus? Funny...some of the tactics used to spread the "good news" end up giving people a "bad news" taste in their mouths.
Gracious and attractive..."seasoned with salt", the NIV says.
When we come on strong and aggressive, is it perhaps because we feel we have to prove our point? To force someone to believe we have the truth? That they're wrong, and we're right? C'mon now...can anyone really do that, anyway? I bet I could count on one hand the number of people rescued from sin by being strong-armed into the Kingdom. Kind of reminds me of the "fire and brimstone" tactics that were part of Southern religious culture for a long time (perhaps still to this day).
1 Peter 3:15-17 (NLT) says...
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
People are human beings who need love, not hunting trophies that need taxidermy! God forgive us when we look at those who come to Christ as part of a pie chart and bar graph, trending the success or failure of the latest evangelical technique, instead of a living, breathing person who has been transformed from death to life by God Himself!
Lord, please season our words with salt. Forgive us when we have been caustic like pepper. Give us love for all people -- help us to listen and care about where they are and what they need, because You are the answer to every person's heart needs. Teach us to use words of love and grace and to live lives that draw men to you, and not push them away. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
Love,
Joelene
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