Just Walk Across the Room – Taking a Genunine Interest (Part 2)
Jesus demonstrates how we can show genuine interest in people as we walk across the room to them in the story of his encounter with the woman at the well in John 4.
BACKGROUND (John 4:7-ff): A woman approaches from the town of Sychar, water jar on her head, implying that she was poor (since she didn’t have a servant to get water for her). Think about it for a minute – two singles – one a divorcee and the other never married. Now this was an very unusual encounter … For one thing, in the Ancient Near East — it was typical for a group of women to come together to a well like this to get water. So, why was this woman alone? Maybe the women of her village have shunned her.
Jesus is physically close to her but they’re separated by several walls: The Samaritans were a group of people who didn’t relate with Jewish people. So it was unusual that this woman would even talk to Jesus – especially since she recognized that he was a Jew. Then, for Jesus to talk to her was also unusual because ancient Jewish tradition tells that men just didn’t speak with women in public.
In a world that tells Jesus to distance himself from this woman – Jesus gives her dignity and respect – and is genuinely interested in her. Now, it doesn’t mean that he approves of her immorality or religion – he just loves her as a fellow human being.
His request of her to give him a drink – penetrates the massive barriers between them – religion and sexual roles.
Just Walk Across the Room – Taking a Genuine Interest in Others
Everyone we meet has a story … sometimes that story is a story of triumph and success … and sometimes that story is a story of hurt and pain and failed dreams — here’s the question for us — are we paying attention to the stories of people that we come across in our everyday lives … are we getting into their life shoes to feel what they’re going through – or are we too pre-occupied to even notice that this encounter may not be a coincidence at all or, do we show that we care by getting up out of comfort zone in life to walk across the room to hear the story of someone who may be hurting and in pain?
Are you noticing the people right around you who may be hurting and struggling – and who need Christ. Are you really seeing them like Pam’s mom saw this young man —
Just a few steps, a friendly hello and a listening ear may be all it takes to change someone’s life—and their eternity! And the good news is, it has more to do with taking a genuine interest in another person and listening to their story than it does with making sure that you say everything just right — especially when it comes to spiritual things.
We can all be walk across the room people – to love people, to share own lives and our own stories with them — and to share the story of Christ’s love for them.
Just Walk Across the Room – Dealing with Barriers (Part 2)
First of all – the only way that we’re going to engage in just walking across the room to connect with people who need Christ is by having some assumptions about people and evangelism:
1. God loves people and he wants us to love them too (Luke 15).
2. Most people are spiritually curious and want to know God (Rom 1:18-19).
3. Most people are looking for meaning and purpose in life.
4. Most people make moral decisions based on what feels good or right to them.
5. Most “non-Christians” claim to be Christians. (Salvation is a bigger issue for us than it is with them).
6. Most people are not looking to the church for spiritual solutions.
7. Most Christians think that they should reach out to others.
8. Most Christians are afraid to do it.
9. Most Christians just don’t do it.
Why do we fear doing it?
I think we run into barriers like the ones that the Rich Young Ruler had — that we can’t deal with …
What are the barriers to the gospel? There are basically three types of barriers to the gospel.
Intellectual – People have the wrong information about God, faith and Christianity. How do we deal with this barrier? Help them discover the right information.
Emotional – People had a bad experience with church or Christians. How do we deal with this barrier? Rebuild trust over time by being a safe person for them.
Volitional – No matter what we do or say, some people simply choose not to believe or accept Christ. How do we deal with this barrier? The best thing to do is to pray for them – pray for God to give you an opening to connect with them about Jesus.
As we walk across the room to just connect with people more intentionally — it’s helpful to discern what barrier they may have so you’ll know how to connect with them.
Just Walk Across the Room – is all about that … connecting with people who needs Christ — in simple basic ways … it’s all about making evangelism more doable and more user friendly …
A LIVING CHRIST IN A LIVING PERSON IS A LIVING SERMON.
Just Walk Across the Room – What happens when we encounter people’s barriers?
Sometimes we run into people that have barriers to accepting the gospel and they don’t even know it. For instance, Jesus encountered some barriers with the the rich young ruler in Luke 18.
The ruler was a wealthy man, and a young man. His eyes were set on religious matters – on teachers, eternal life, good deeds. He had the look of a seeker: he seemed willing to listen and eager to learn. He seemed a disciple-in-the-making.
But his story has a dark end. It was he that inspired Jesus famous words “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.” Luke was there to watch the unfolding of this man’s confrontation with Christ. He had some barriers to the gospel … how many of us actually walk across the room – but then we experience barriers that discourages us from ever sharing our faith again … What kind of barriers did he have?
The 1st barrier: He didn’t understand that Jesus was God in the flesh.
You can see this when Jesus responded to the ruler – Why do you call me good? (as in good teacher)
He didn’t realize who he was talking to. The ruler viewed Jesus as a moral man, a man of insight and depth, but he didn’t see that Jesus was God. As C.S. Lewis taught – Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. He cannot be only another teacher.
The 2nd barrier: He didn’t see his own faults
Jesus was trying to get him to see his inner heart of pride when he asked to go and sell all that he had and follow Him. But, sadly, his pride gripped his heart.
The 3rd barrier: He misunderstood God’s plan of salvation
“What good thing must I do to have eternal life?” There is no good thing. Only to believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. As wealthy as he must have been, he was spiritually bankrupt, and didn’t understand that there was nothing that he could do to earn salvation. He needed to let Jesus take the reigns of his life.
The 4th barrier: He left
Instead of learning something new and fresh from Jesus about spiritual things, he chose to leave. Many people today are closed to learning new things – especially when it comes to spiritual things. Therefore, they often miss out on what God is trying to show them – often right there in front of them.
Do you have any of these barriers to the gospel yourself? If you meet someone with one of more of these barriers, what should you do when you walk across the room to them? (SEE NEXT BLOG)
Just Walk Across the Room – The Gospel Unpacked
THE GOSPEL
~ GOD’S HAS DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE FOR ALL PEOPLE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
• God loves everyone and He sent his only, unique Son, Jesus Christ, here to show us that. God wants everyone to experience life the way He intended.
For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
~ BUT SIN CUTS US OFF FROM BEIGNNING A LIFE WITH GOD.
• Even though God loves us, we need to realize that we are all spiritually disconnected from God because of something called sin. We’re all lost — our of place from where we were meant to be because of our sin.
What is sin? Sin could be described as simply living life our own way and not God’s way. Since we’re actually born into this world disconnected from God because of sin being passed down from generation to generation, we can’t know God or understand God on our own. So life doesn’t seem to make sense when it comes to spiritual things.
Isaiah 59 [2] It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
We all have sinned and fall short of God’s ideal. Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
~ CHRIST’S DEATH RESOLVES THE PROBLEM OF SIN.
• We can’t solve the problem of being spiritually disconnected from God on our own. We need to God to intervene and help us.
God wants our lives to make sense. He wants us to live life to its fullest with Him. So God intervened to help us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to show us God’s love and become the perfect sacrifice for us by dying on the cross to take our sin on Himself. Jesus became our sin-bearer. He bridged the gap between humankind and God.
But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. Romans 5:8
~ AS WE ASK FORGIVENESS FOR OUR SIN AND CHOOSE TO FOLLOW CHRIST AS THE SAVIOR AND LEADER OF OUR LIVES, WE’RE BORN-AGAIN AND NOW ENTER INTO A NEW LIFE WITH GOD FOREVER.
• Because of what God did for us through Jesus Christ, we can now experience life the way God intended by inviting Jesus Christ alone to be the Savior and Leader of our lives.
Only Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death for us some 2,000 years ago can bridge that gap between us and God. The Bible says that Jesus is drawing everyone to Himself.
Jesus said, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ John 12:32
But it’s up to us to respond to that drawing by trusting Jesus Christ alone to save us, and give us a new life and purpose. That kind of trust means turning from whatever we are hoping in to bring us peace, happiness and spiritual contentment to trusting in Jesus Christ alone to be the Savior and Leader of our lives. In other words, you’re choosing to follow Jesus forever.
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:12-13
In summary, God wants us to fully grasp how our own sin has disconnected us from him. He wants us to understand that only Jesus Christ and what he did for us through his sacrificial death can reconnect us to God. As we transfer our trust to Jesus Christ alone as our Savior and Leader of our lives, and follow him, the result is spiritual transformation.
When we invite Christ into our lives, or choose to follow Him, that means that we enter into a personal, eternal relationship with God that starts now – not just in heaven one day. That means that we can live life to the fullest – right now. It doesn’t mean that things will be perfect. It doesn’t mean that you won’t experience suffering. It means that, through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, we can now experience life the way God intended us to experience it in the first place (i.e., having joy, inner peace, contentment and an intimate connection with God – regardless of our circumstances).
And, as a new child of God now, a great place to start is to understand the promise of God that you are eternally secure. You are a child of God forever now and nothing can take that away.
1 John 5 [11] And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. [13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
This is the gospel – the good news – of Jesus Christ … this is the core of authentic Christianity.
Has it really hit you? As you think about the idea of walking across the room to connect with people who need Christ – is your heart truly broken for those who don’t have that connection wit God yet? Will you ask God to give you his heart for people today?
