29/09/2020
So inspiring and transforming. You need to read this!
Let me share a story from Dr. Bob Moffitt's book "Evangelism Without Discipleship: The Danger of Neglecting the Commands of Jesus Christ" that impacted my understanding of how we can be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, living a life that attracts people to Jesus Christ.
Why would a young man, we’ll call him Maro, from a high-class family, who had spent months partying with friends around the world, be attracted to Jesus? Answer: he met Jesus. Here is how.
After months of high living on his family’s money, Maro was in the Philippines. It was there that he ran out of funds and couldn’t even pay his hotel bill. The hotel held him hostage until he would pay. He had no way to pay his bills or to contact his family. He had no ticket home. He was stuck, embarrassed, depressed, and contemplating su***de. Somehow, he managed to get the phone number of a stranger—we’ll call him Sunil—who was from his home country and living in the same city. Sunil was married with two small children and studying for final exams at a local seminary.
Sunil listened to Maro’s story. Even though he needed study time, Sunil went to the hotel, managed to get Maro released, and took him to his tiny apartment.
Sunil moved his two children from their bedroom to the living and dining room and cleared the vacated room for Maro. They talked long into the night, watched the Jesus film together, and went to sleep. At that time Sunil was going through emotional sorrow because his father had died of cancer and he couldn’t go home for the funeral. Even so, Sunil and his family hosted and ministered to Maro. During those days Sunil and Maro talked a lot about life, and the future. Maro was deeply impacted by this family that sacrificially hosted him, showed him love and eventually led him to faith in Jesus.
Maro joined the church and small group that Sunil attended. The believers in the church and small group helped Maro grow in Christ. He stayed in the Philippines for one year, got some training and became involved in ministry. He eventually started sharing Jesus with others of his native countrymen who were in the Philippines. With Sunil’s guidance, he began to disciple them. Two years later Maro returned to his home where he was rejected by his family for his faith. He now works in his home country where he demonstrates Jesus’ love to needy people and earns the right to share the good news of Jesus whenever the context allows. Seeing the positive changes in Maro’s life, his family now accepts him.
What did Maro see in Sunil and his family? It was Jesus. Sunil and his family are followers of Jesus. As such, they allowed themselves to be the hands, the feet, the eyes, the ears and the tongue of Jesus. What Maro saw was Jesus incarnate in the lives of Sunil and his family. And what he saw attracted him to his now Savior and Lord.
We too are called to live a life that attracts others to Jesus Christ. This can only happen when we become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our families, communities and churches.
