The Lord has reminded me that I am here in Everett for a purpose. While I could spend my free time watching TV or reading, I am supposed to get out into the community, learn about it, and talk to people. I went to a local church plant on Sunday morning, and afterward I decided to walk around for the duration of the afternoon. I prayed as I went, both for the community and for the Lord to lead me to encounter people as He sees fit. First, I walked around my future neighborhood praying for the people there and that the Lord would speed things so that our family could move in to a house soon.
As I was going along a car pulled up to turn into a driveway. It was a hybrid vehicle, and I heard its motor shut off as it pulled up to wait on me to cross the driveway. I heard a voice behind me that commented loudly with surprise that the car's engine shut off in the middle of the street. I turned around to see a young homeless man who was attempting to strike up a conversation with me. The Lord was moving.
I walked with this young man who I will call "C" for quite a while. I asked him questions about his life. He lives in Everett but admitted to being 23 and homeless. He has 2 felonies on his record and says that he can't get a job. With 2 felony convictions, I can see that would be very difficult. He said that he'd been sleeping in bushes at night to stay out of the wind, and showed me his hands. They were discolored a bit, and he said that he'd only recently regained feeling in them from the cold the night before. It had gotten down to about 12 degrees that night. C was ashamed of his circumstances and admitted that he doesn't tell his friends that he is homeless. He doesn't want to burden them or have them think differently of him.
We parted company but I got to give him a few dollars for a dinner prior to leaving. I know opinions vary on giving money to the homeless, but I personally always come back to James 2 which challenges me every time I read it.
James 2:14-17
Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good- bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
I then got to tell C about Jesus and that He cares for him. C smiled and said that he "used to go to church" with his aunt. He seemed genuinely surprised by the words and the money. Christ was there in that moment.
Tonight I walked to a Subway restaurant down the street to eat and sit. I got into a great conversation with one of the workers. She also is 23 and told me about her life, her boyfriend, and her brother who is getting married soon. It was an opportunity to interact for quite a while. Later one of her boyfriend's friends came in as well and we got to talk some. He later honked and waved as I was leaving.
What's the point of all of this? Jesus instructs us in this way:
Matthew 4:18-20
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.
Jesus modeled this in so many of the passages of the Gospels. Many times you will find him teaching "along the way" or "on the way" to somewhere. He ran into people all of the time and talked with them, only the truth He spoke cut to the center of their hearts. I believe we as Christians are supposed to "fish for men" in the same way. While we can build church buildings in the Northwest and start elaborate programs, no one will show up. What our world is starving for is Jesus. They need to see the Holy Spirit at work in a very real way in the lives of people that they encounter. Our job, therefore, is to form real relationships with them that are founded on love and genuine care for them. Real love can't be faked, and Jesus commented that the second greatest commandment was to "love your neighbor as yourself."
Our intent over time is to build strong bonds with people here in the community and to be Jesus to them. That's it. Through that, I have already seen how spiritual conversations start, and the Gospel can be presented to the person. The goal isn't to simply be nice to people, smile a lot, and act happy. C.S. Lewis referred to this in Mere Christianity by asking whether Christians are merely "nice people or new men." This world is full of nice people, and many of them are not Christians! What should separate us from the pack is that we are new. We should be able to show them our changed lives and share in that with them. The Holy Spirit can and will direct interactions that are based upon that. Peter explained it this way:
1 Peter 3:15-16
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.
The key factor is that we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work. Before going out, I believe it is critical that I pray that He would take over, leading me to the people that He wants me to talk to and even guiding the conversation.
Is there anything described here that YOU can't do each day? If you are a Christian, it's your job. If we're going to change this world for Christ, to bring more people to Him, we have to embody Him and be very intentional about how we interact with those around us. Don't wait around at a church building for nonbelievers to show up. It is unlikely they will come. Instead, go out to them, drop your line in the water, and wait for the Holy Spirit to draw others to Him.
Matthew 9:37-38
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Remember, fishing takes time and patience.
Please pray for C and for me to have future encounters with him. Also, please pray for the young woman I met at Subway, and for future encounters with her.
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