05 May 2007

Selling the world some furniture

This was a post I had to do for a class, Ministry Church and Society. I thought it was blogworthy. I will post some about school in the next few days. Things have been so busy, I haven't had time to do anything on here.

“Lord, as You give me opportunity today to speak about You, let me recognize the opportunity and use it for your glory. Whether in the marketplace or in the barbershop, while visiting with relatives or working at the office, on the school campus or lining up at the cafeteria help me to be sensitive to Your leading. Amen. . . . “ (Magalit, 89).

I think this is a great prayer to pray everyday. I don’t agree with the author’s statement in the first line, because I think God can work through our lives with people with whom we never have the opportunity to speak. We underestimate God so often. He’s so much bigger and better able to do something than I could ever dream. I simply have to be willing to let him work though me. I guess it’s just semantics. I simply think the world has to be also willing to hear what we have to say. I have known numerous people in the military who tried to share their faith with everyone and their brother and only come off as judgmental and self-righteous. I never want to be accused of that. I feel certain that God wants us to be willing to accept others just as they are; just like God accepts us just as we are.

The world wants to hear what we have to say, they just have to be in the right frame of mind. They have to be in a personal relationship with us. Why do you want a stranger giving you advice about how to spend your eternity? That’s akin to having a plumber tell you which TV you should buy. You would rather hear it from someone you trust, someone you know is knowledgeable in the subject, someone you have a relationship. I think sometimes Christians come off like furniture salesmen: as soon as the world walks in the door we are all over them trying to sell them the latest, greatest, most comfortable thing we can come up with. Frankly, I try to sneak in the furniture store so I can test out the chair before someone comes and tells me which one I want.

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