Whistle

"You need to talk to him NOW and make his stop yelling cat calls and whistling at women out the front door of the church."

Such was the greeting that began my Sunday morning.

I set aside the sermon notes and put the prayers on hold so I could have a talk with him. The talk included the requested directives.

From there we had a talk about why this behavior was bad. The top two reasons were 1.) it had the opposite effect of the women he was interested in; and 2.) it made the church look bad in a scary way.

Since I had a captive audience and knew I wouldn't get to that last review of my sermon notes anyway, he and I spent some time coming up with better plans. We thought of ways he might be able to make himself more attractive to women. These included being kind and respectful to all women, whether he was particularly interested in them or not, and to work on being friends with people rather than simply seeking out physical relationships.

It was a good talk, at least for me. I needed to hear it because of the way I sometimes approach evangelism.

Sometimes the people I'm most interested in as potential members of the church are people who come with lots of skills, lots of energy, and who already have their lives put together pretty well. Leadership potential is especially attractive.

I've come to learn, though, that many of the popular methods used by churches today aren't very effective in reaching them. Even ones that seem kind and loving "on paper" seem manipulative to the person on the receiving end. These methods and strategies often have the opposite of the intended effect and make the church look bad in a scary kind of way.

Jesus showed kindness and respect to all people no matter who they were. He became known as a friend of "sinners" while still being invited to dinner at the home of "respectable" people. He built friendships with and provided ministry to people who would become disciples as well as those who would betray Him.

Some people came to see Jesus just for the show or the healing or the free bread & fish. But some received much more than they expected and then used what they had been given as raw materials for building God's Kingdom.

Evangelism, like human love, has its ups and downs and and twists and turns. It has no guarantees. Perhaps if I became more motivated by Jesus' love than my personal desires for people to join the church, some might respond out of dignity and curiosity rather than being repelled by my bad behavior.

Be they Zealots or tax collectors or fishermen, lifelong disciples or here just for the show or healing or free bread, all are loved by a God who is calling their names. May I help them hear that calling rather than drown it out with my own whistle.

Jesus, help me see as You see, serve as You serve, love as You love.