Ransomed Hearts

Philipp, our Swiss friend, asked an amazing question last night…

“Why does humanity always desire more?”

After explaining we realized that what he meant was that humans are not okay with just existing, we are constantly looking for purpose, significance, or life after death.  For someone who is not keen on religion or Christianity, yet is willing to admit he doesn’t know life’s purpose, Philipp is very much inclined towards hope, purpose, and significance.   I always admire those who challenge life questions, but I pray that his search for the meaning of life, or even life after death, leads him to Jesus.  

We’ve spoken some about religion, but he has expressed his dislike for the judgment involved and admits he usually stops listening when people mention the Bible.  I have had many experiences like this in the last few years, finding a balance between telling people about the gospel and forcing conversation can be difficult.  For there are so many people, like Philipp, who want to be heard and respected when they hold different beliefs… the last thing they want is another Bible verse.  When someone responds, “I don’t care what the Bible says.”  What then do we do?

A close friend and mentor once told me, “Jesus pursued everyone, but chased no one…”  Sometimes it can be hard to “let go”, but is it wrong of me to think that at times this could be the best witness?

I have been reading through a short book by J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.  Though it is short in length, it may be one of the most challenging books I have ever read.  But Packer said something that I think is often overlooked, something he backed with plenty of scripture.  

"Love made Paul warm-hearted and affectionate in his evangelism.  'We were gentle among you,' he reminded the Thessalonians; 'being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own selves, because you had become very dear to us" (I Thess 2:7-8).  Love also made Paul considerate and adaptable in his evangelism; though he peremptorily refused to change his message to please men (Gal 1:10, 2 Cor 2:17, I Thess 2:4), he would go to any lengths in his presentation of it to avoid giving offense and putting needless difficulties in the way of men's accepting and responding to it. 'Though I am free from all," he wrote the Corinthians, "'I have made myself a slave to all, that i might win the more.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law ... that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law as one outside the law . . . that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Cor 9:19-22).  Paul sought to save men; and because he sought to save them, he was not content merely to throw truth at them; but he went out of his way to get alongside them, and to start thinking with them from where they were, and to speak to them in terms they could understand, and above all, to avoid everything that would prejudice them against the gospel and put stumbling blocks in their path..."

I don’t know.  I wish I could say for certain I know the answer to this question.  I think too often our forcefulness drives people further away from life in Christ.  Partially because they don’t realize our urgency and persistence stems from love.  I may believe that our desire for “more” is derived from our creator, who created us in His image.  But in that moment, can telling a hardened heart that they are a beloved child of God push them further away from truth?  Unfortunately, I think yes… and I think this happens far too often.  

Maybe then the answer is consistency and presence.  Though Jesus chased no one, he turned no one away when they came to him.  Though Jesus was fully God and fully man, he pursued everyone, chased no one, and was readily available when ransomed hearts returned to him.  Is it here that we preach not using words, but by living the love of Christ through deed and truth (I John 3:18), trusting that through our consistency and through our presence, the ransomed hearts of the Lord will return?  I believe so.  

So in our witness, may we pray for discernment as we pursue everyone while remaining consistent and always present in the lives of those closest to us. 

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return…
Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10