B- Befriend

I am an amatuer magician.  Nothing really fancy, just  simple tricks that are great for children’s birthday parties.

I’ve discovered that one of  the most important skills is getting the audience on your side.  Otherwise you have someone in the audience who tries to show how smart they are by by proudly telling everyone ‘how the trick is done’.

My tactic: make a hero out of one of the audience. Let them appear to do the trick while i appear to just stand by and aplaud their action.

It is a game changer.

When it comes to connecting people to Jesus the game changer is “Befriend”.

It seldom works to skip from A to D (Associating to Declaring).  Yes, it can be done, and some people can do it well.

But I find it a lot better to take time to let the person know you are interested in them, and that you want what is best for them.

Andrew was driving down the freeway when he was rear-ended by Nick.  Nick was so embarrased.  He knew it was hit fault for not paying closer attention. Nick was afraid of what the other driver would say, so he was most surprized when Andrew’s major concern was for Nick’s well being.  Then he was overwhelmed when Andrew called later in the day to see how he was going.  The relationship deepened and after several months Nick and his brother were baptized.

Tina and Richard were new to Sydney.  My wife met Tina at a women’s craft morning.  They hit it off well, and so Chris asked if she and Richard would like to join us watching a baseball game.  There was lots of time during the game to talk and get to know each other.  The next time we got together was for a seafood feast where I focused on ‘C’.

My friend Alan used to play tennis at his university.  His labeled his first game with a person as an A Game.  His goal was to simply show up and Associate with the person.  His second game as a “B” game, where he would start to befriend is opponent by inviting him to get a bit to eat or something to drink after the game.  Sometimes the conversation drifted to “C”, but that is a story for next week.

What ways can you Befriend the non-Christians in your community, work or sports club?

• Think of the things you enjoy doing and invite people to join you.
• Find a club where people are already doing what you enjoy
• Take up a new hobby
• Invite someone out for a cup of coffee or something else you would both enjoy drinking

My friend Tim bakes over 500 Christmas cookies each year and gives them to 100 families in his neighbourhood.  It takes a lot of time to knock on that many doors, but it opens so many opportunties to talk about Jesus throughout the year.

What do you want to do this week to befriend people?

Before I go, let’s pray:

“Lord Jesus, I know that you love the people in our community.  You want to welcome them into heaven.  Let us welcome them into our hearts and take time to befriend them.  Lord, show me how to listen — not only to what they are saying, but also to what they are not saying.  Help me to draw them out, like Jesus drew out the Woman at the Well.  Amen”.

Next week we focus on C.

C you then.