A – Associate

‘A’ is “Associate with non-Christians’.

The problem is that a lot of us live in a Christian bubble.  When i lived in California our Christian organization that had an office in a retreat center.  I ran a youth group on Friday nights and went to church on Sunday. Where was I going to meet non-Christians in the normal flow of my week?

So one Saturday afternoon a friend and I decided to walk around our church.  We saw a refrigerator in a front yard with a big ‘For Sale’ sign, so we asked the obvious question: “How much are you selling the refrigerator for?”  That led to a two hour conversation where we shared the Gospel with each member of the family. The middle child, Kristen, became my wife’s most faithful disciple.

Sometimes walkup evangelism like this can be very effective.  But I am seeing the advantage of focusing on opportunities where you can see people regularly.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still talk about Jesus with people at the birthday and house warming parties that I go to.  But I am finding it far more fruitful to go someplace where I can regularly meet the same people in a way that does not seem weird to them.

Right now my wife and I help prepare and serve dinner to 100 international students at a local university twice a month.  Suan Lee regularly participates in  a class at the fitness centre.  Paul drinks his coffee in the same cafe at the same time each week.

What is an activity that you could enjoy  where you could meet the same group of non-Christians at least every other week?  How about giving it a go for the next six months and seeing what God does?  Or maybe you are already involved in an activity like this and you just need to move on to the next step of the ABC process.

Before I go let’s pray:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for the many people you bring across our path.  Show us how to spend our time this week.  Open our eyes to see the non-Christians in our community and to look for ways to spend time with them.  We love you and thank you for the way you are transforming us and our community.  Amen”

Next week we move on to the letter “B”.   Many people have found this letter is a game changer.

Have a great week.