But I Never Tire…

Yesterday I reflected upon some of the things I used to do as a follower of Jesus and how those things have changed.  Whether I am in a season — or a season has passed — I do not know. 

But even with those changes, there is one thing I never tire of: pointing lost people to Jesus.

I know that it is considered uncouthe to refer to people as lost these days.  But to be honest with you, most of the people I know are well aware of their lostness. 

I used to work with a group of people that were largely successful, smart, educated, self-assured, affluent, and even cocky — or at least invest a lot of energy into making it look like they’ve got everything together.  Frankly, for most of these folks life has been pretty good and the future looks bright.  And they know it.  With or without God in their lives, they will achieve what most people would consider success.  Or already have.

Part of the challenge was to help these folks see that they aren’t independent… that they need something that they can’t provide for themselves.  That is a tricky business and take a long time.  It comes through friendship and conversation and long-term investment.  

Now I tend to be surrounded by a different group of folks.  Folks who are broken-hearted, wounded, bedraggled, beat-up and knowingly lost.  

The challenge is different.  It is not helping people see that they are not independent, but rather helping them understand that there is a better day ahead.  

Now I don’t think Jesus loves the knowingly-broken more than the cockily-self-assured.  I don’t love one group more than the other.  Both need Jesus.  Both are loved by God.  Both need healing and redemption.  Both have a lot to offer the church and the kingdom.

But the way forward is different.

The broken-down crowd knows they need a savior, they just don’t know if He cares enough about them.

The self-assured crowd are relatively confident that God loves them (after all, what is not to love?) but get real nervous about things like surrender and Lordship and dependence.

But I never tire of pointing any of these folks to Jesus.

And here is what I am learning about evangelism these days: that’s it.

That is all evangelism is… pointing people to Jesus.  Helping them see what Jesus is already doing in their lives and has already done.  That he is present… he is real… he is there.

You’ve just got to see it!

Why do I point people to Jesus?

The simplest answer is this: LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU SEE THE SAVIOR.

Life is more fun.  Life makes more sense.  Tomorrow has more hope.

That’s it.

We are better with Jesus than without.

I really believe he wants a real relationship with everyone he ever created — and that includes you.

So I don’t need to get into theological gymnastics nor eschatalogical scare tactics to convince me to do evangelism.  Nor do I need those things to convince people to follow Jesus.

No, all I need is the simple truth that LIFE IS ALWAYS BETTER LIVED WITH JESUS.

And that is a truth I would bet my life on.

So I never tire of pointing people to Jesus… and praying that TODAY, YOU WOULD SEE HIM!