I Convert You, You Convert Me

We met at freshmen orientation only to meet again during our second term.  David was a Muslim from central Asia studying at our university.  We quickly struck up a friendship because of our common interest in religion and passion for our own beliefs.

Coffee Stimulates Conversation

Every week we would get together for 2-3 hours over coffee somewhere in town.  We followed a similar format each time.  One of us would make a presentation to the other for about an hour, and then the other one would ask questions for the next hour.  Then we would reverse roles at the next meeting.

These alternating conversations took place for approximately one semester.  We would make presentations about our faith, and sometimes about how our faith answered or struggled to answer contemporary social questions.  We learned so much from one another!

The best conversation we had, and David would agree, was about Jesus dying on the cross.  Since we were comparing notes on our belief systems and our religious texts, the historicity of many matters like this one became crucial.  Sometimes we would find outside verification of facts and bring the evidence back to the table to discuss.

Our Open Conversion Goals

We openly stated our goals to one another.  I was attempting to convert David to Christianity.  David was trying to convert me to Islam.  We both agreed it wouldn’t be quick, but it would be lively; and we were committed to the process with one another.

Actually, this conversion goal was the key to the conversations.  If conversion of the other wasn’t going to be each of our goals, then why bother to talk?!  In fact, why bother to hold religious beliefs of any kind if we are not going after the truth and knowing God truly?!  We both felt the same way.

Our agreement included being serious and honest with one another, to seek to understand, and to stay friends regardless.  We in fun promised one another there would be no violence against one another or our families, as our faith ancestors have been accused of doing. 

I prayed for his conversion, and I am sure he prayed for mine.  I was hoping I would win, or rather that God would graciously open David’s eyes not only to truth, to Holy Scripture, but to the amazing grace of God for salvation from sin in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord God!

An Abrupt Ending

David wanted eternal assurance of forgiveness, which he could not find in the Quran.  Toward the end of the semester he was starting to believe.  We ended up spending more and more of our time in the Bible, in verses like these:

Romans 3:21–25a ESV “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” 

1 John 2:2; 5:11-12 ESV “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. . . . And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

After that semester we never saw one another again.  I don’t know what happened, perhaps he transferred schools, or had to go back home.  I learned a tremendous amount from my friend, about his religion yes, but moreso about friendships.

Friendships, especially cross-cultural and cross-religious ones, are personally challenging.  But they are also gifts of God’s grace to us.  And they can become life transforming if we pursue them with sincerity. 

Be open about inter-faith dialogue.  There is nothing to fear, and so much to gain.  True, I didn’t convert him, and he didn’t convert me.  But, I think about my friend David often, pray for him and his family, and hope that he found peace with God in the grace of Christ.

What Would Help The Most?

“No one has asked us that before,” answered the national partners in Haiti, in response to the question asked by my American pastor friend.  Wouldn’t it be natural to ask, “What would help the most right now?”  He was surprised.

I shared with him a similar experience of mine from this past year.  While in Asia connecting an American church with an Asian church, the Americans asked, “What would be most helpful to you?”

Our Asian friends were surprised.  This almost brought tears to their eyes, tears of joy, for they replied, “You are the only ones who have ever asked us that.”

Questions We Ask Often

Sometimes we think about what has been helpful in other locations and ask if similar programs would be helpful, assuming they would be.  They might very well be, but we can fail to listen to other perspectives.

Other times we come with a particular ministry idea we want to pass along because we are good at it, have spent a lot of time developing it, and it has helped others.  We can be too eager to push our product.  This misses an even larger blessing.

Another common situation is when we have been working with our partners for a long period of time, we assume that what we have done before is what is still needed.  No one says anything because it is still a little bit useful.  But we could be doing so much more and being so much more useful.

The questions we ask so often are related to what we think might help, what we want to do to help, what has helped elsewhere, or what has helped at another time.

These are not necessarily bad questions, but what do our partners really need from us?  Do we know?  Are we sure?

Try A New Question

Go ahead and ask “What would help the most right now?”  There might not be an answer right away.  Leave it open-ended.  Let the question linger.  Be praying that God would open everyone’s minds and hearts, and bless the upcoming conversations.

Perhaps your partners need time to think.  Maybe they are not used to being asked this.  It is also possible they might be hesitant to tell you the truth.  But, keep asking and be open to talk about anything.

By processing together your friendships and partnership will deepen.  Also consider sharing your own needs.  Be transparent yourself and open to receiving from others.  Who knows, you might find the help you need, too!

Eventually the conversations will begin.  Follow the answers and take your time exploring them.  Keep in mind that this a good question to ask not just once, but more often on occasion, because situations and opportunities change over time.

These ongoing discussions will become some of your most rewarding.  They will be filled with many new ministry ideas and exciting possibilities for the advance of the Gospel!

Is God Messing With You? Your Life? Your Ministry?

When we let our work define us, we set ourselves up for great heartache and confusion.  This is because changes will be coming into our lives that will shake us.  Those of us in Christian ministry are some of the most vulnerable and unprepared.  

We tend to get our identity from what we do, such as preaching or teaching, leading worship, counseling, running schools, leading organizations, conducting outreaches, doing evangelism, providing humanitarian services, et cetera.  

On top of this we tend to believe that our current ministry, or ministry location, is our life-long calling or close to it--at least for a very long time.  Rarely is this the case, however.

Three Important Distinctions

It will be helpful to distinguish between our identity, our calling and our assignment.

Identity.  This is who you are as a person, who you are to God separate from what you do and when, where or how.  Even moreso, it is who you are in Christ, because of Christ.  We must rest in Him as His own.  This is permanent, unchangeable and untouchable.

Colossians 3:3–4 ESV “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Calling.  This is what you do because God designed you this way and gave you gifts and passions to match.  This calling travels with you wherever you go.  It is your occupation in His service.  This is semi-permanent, not likely to change wildly, but it will take on new developments throughout your life.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 ESV “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Assignment.  This is where you serve as placed by God.  You work in a specific location for a certain employer, playing a particular role, and probably holding some kind of title.  Likely this will be temporary as God will bring about change through a variety of circumstances, people and opportunities.  So, be ready to move and be ready to stay, simultaneously.  

Luke 9:57–58 ESV “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.””

Keep them clear in your mind:  who you are, what you do and where you serve.  Even if you already knew this you can still get mixed-up and feel lost.  By prayer, ask God to remind you of His truth when you feel overwhelmed.  This is especially important when you feel like He is messing with you, your life and your ministry.

For A Better Present & Future

Differentiation leads to greater confidence in ministry because we have a stronger sense of our identity and a greater trust in God’s sovereign movements.  It also leads to greater success in ministry because we see that it is less about us and more about God.  

And it leads to a better future for everyone when the time comes for change because we know God rearranges things and we are ready to trust His wisdom.  He is deploying and re-redeploying His people so that His Mission moves forward most powerfully.

Smear Campaigns Gone Spiritual

Smear campaigns happen in churches quite often today.  If you have been on the receiving end in a church, whether a leader or not, you know the frustration, heartbreak, and weariness in dealing with the instigators, their lies and your dear friends under their influence.

This wickedness works so well and so often to discourage and destroy churches, to bring disunity and establish distrust, and to turn people from the vision of enjoyable worship and engagement in mission.  

Have you ever been a witness to such a work of the devil and people’s fleshliness in a church?  What can you do?

Little Lies Work Best

Classic accusations against leaders and teachers are that they are out for the money, power, fame, and sex.  They are accused of being deceitful, using flattery, teaching heresy and abusing resources.  Such severe accusations don’t often work well in a more refined society, however, especially when such unproven accusations can invite legal action.  

So, enter the intangible, subtle and potentially even more damaging accusations.  People have developed more sophisticated and spiritually sounding allegations; and have discovered that elusive grievances work even better than the classic approach of big lies.  Little lies work best.

A sampling:  This is not a loving church.  People are unfriendly.  The pastor isn’t really a good shepherd.  They do not understand other perspectives.  I am not being fed.  I was not touched in worship.  They do not lead biblically.  The leaders do not spend wisely.  Ministries are not meeting the most important needs.

Six People Easily Used

Who listens to this stuff?!  Sadly, a lot of people.  And if caught up in it, they will join in the smear campaign.  Here are some types of people to watch out for in a church as easily used by the evil one in his sinister plans against all of Christ’s churches.

• Beware of those who complain, and after being heard are rarely able to come to a peaceful resolution.
• Beware of those who talk a lot about ministries and take positions, but are largely uninvolved.
• Beware of those who discuss other people’s motives thoughtlessly and carelessly, even openly.
• Beware of those who purposefully avoid developing close relationships with others in the church.
• Beware of those who aren’t learning, and yet present themselves as knowledgeable and spiritual, and ever-ready to teach.
• Beware of those who are spiritually discontent and generally unhappy in God.

Answer Directly and with Our Lives

Speak directly to those promoting a smear campaign.  Speak with truth, love, and in the power of Holy Spirit.  Be ready to suffer for glory of God, and yet maintain hope that He will grant them repentance and true faith.

Speak directly to those being affected by it.  Encourage people not to listen to unsubstantiated negative comments, but rather to re-listen and re-observe the lives of the rest of the congregation, especially those of their leaders and teachers, in order to find out the truth.  

The power of God is stronger in the end, and on the whole.  One significant way in which He manifests this power is in the character and behavior of His faithful servants.  Point this out:  counter with genuine Gospel living as the apologetic!

The Apostle Paul used this strategy in dealing with the smear campaign in Thessalonica against himself and his mission team.  So he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:3-12.

“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.  

For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.  

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

This remains the most effective response to smear campaigns gone “spiritual.”  Let us keep ourselves open to review before people, and even appeal to our merciful God.  And by God’s grace we can turn people around and get the church back on track with the vision of glorious worship and Gospel mission!

Giving Away My First $100

Without a real job and any savings to show, God told me to go ahead and give away $100.  That was most of my paycheck back then.  Plus I had never given away that much money before.

The Opportunity

My friend had just received news of his acceptance on a mission project.  He was so thrilled for this special opportunity.  I was excited for him, and for the Gospel being told to more people who would come into the Kingdom of God.

How could I share in his opportunity?  How could I express my own happiness?  After praying and thinking about it God put a strong impression upon my soul about what to do.  I made a special trip to the bank to acquire a new crisp $100 bill.

Little did I realize at the time, being so new in my faith, that I was following the Apostle Paul’s instruction and example in Acts 20:35 ESV “. . . remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’””

The Handover

When should I make the presentation?  Anticipation was building up.  My plan was starting to show on my face.  So when he came down the stairs for dinner at our dorm house I just decided to give it to him.

My friend was shocked.  He didn’t expect such a gift from me, nor at that time, nor in that manner.  He was visibly blessed.  And even more of a surprise to me, so was I.

God exceeded my expectations.  That was the day I learned that giving to the work of the Lord is like taking a reckless joyride.  And this event from early in my Christian life still brings me joy, now 26 years later.

The Grace of Giving is Like That

Pray about it and pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Participating in this way in the Mission of God is one of the highest privileges we enjoy.

There is a story in 2 Corinthians 8-9 about this.  Here is an excerpt:

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 ESV “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” 

2 Corinthians 9:7–8,10–11 ESV “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. . . . He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

For me the joyride began with giving away my first $100.  How does your story begin?

Glad Jesus Died The Way He Did

Why do Christians delight in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ?  

Have you ever thought that this might appear bizarre to people?  To some it might appear sadistic, grotesque, even eerie--surely something to be avoided.  To others it might seem self-serving and selfish--having someone else suffer death for your own salvation.  To yet others it might be considered an odd religion, not very uplifting, and one with a harsh God--requiring death for our sins.

It is the Story We Tell

Why did Jesus have to die such a horrible and shameful death?  Couldn’t he just have died a normal death--perhaps in his old age, or from natural causes?  Why is it important that His death occur the way it did with such violence and disgrace?

It is because God would show His righteousness most openly and gloriously in this manner.  It shows the magnitude or our sin and the excellence of God’s holy wrath against it.  It forever serves to remind us of the heinous nature of our sin, its shame, and the need for justice against it; and so, our true and desperate need of salvation to come from God.  

Justice would be done; and the unjust would be justified by the work of the Just One (Romans 3:21-26).

We are That Bad, Really

Many people wonder, “Are we really that bad?”  Yes, we are.  All of us are sinful at the core of our being, rebellious against heaven.  We do not give God the glory He deserves.  Ask them, “do you worship Him perfectly?”  We do not live in an acceptable righteousness.  Ask them, “do you reflect His holiness perfectly?”

We are supposed to be repulsed and offended by the sufferings and the cross of Christ.  It is impossible to look at this treatment of Jesus (knowing who He is and what He is about, even hoping in Him for salvation) and then think that one’s own goodness is good enough to get to heaven.  Such would be serious self-delusion and self-righteousness, and showing oneself even worse than those who rejected God and crucified His Christ.  

Our nauseated response to the unjust treatment of Jesus should become our disposition about our own sin.  Then, we can find true knowledge and true salvation from Him who would suffer at the hands of men, and yet take our place as the guilty ones before God.

He is That Good, Really

Each Gospel author has his own emphasis when telling the Crucifixion story.  Luke shows Jesus’ innocence and righteousness throughout the whole ordeal.  He ends his Gospel the way he began it, telling us about Jesus’ sinlessness.

• The Innocent One On Trial (22:66-23:12)
• The Innocent One Condemned (23:13-25)
• The Innocent One Crucified (23:26-49)
• The Innocent One Vindicated (23:50-24:12)

Luke would have us cherish our Lord Jesus as the Innocent One.  All who will read his book are offered forgiveness of sins by putting their trust in Him as their Savior.

When we tell the Gospel story, let us boldly open up to people the full purposes of Jesus’ suffering and dying the way He did.  In doing so, we will make the path to salvation much clearer for them.