“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Mark 1:17)
By Jim Ingram
Recently, the subject of “Cultural Christianity” has piqued my interest. I understand the concept enough to recognize I’ve seen it many times when I’ve shared conversations with others who say they are Christians.
I have concluded that they are “admirers” of Christianity vs. “followers.” I also believe that the people the Lord puts in front of me are not a “cold call.” Rather, they are there so that I can model Jesus’ teachings and share my calling to live as Christ. The Lord is opening them to hearing and seeing what I have to share.
For example, when my wife and I visited our son and his wife, we met their next-door neighbor—a man of about 60. He’s an independent trucker and, as I got to know him, I found out there is a lot of sorrow in his life due to brokenness in his family, mainly divorce and abandonment. We had many conversations about the Lord as I answered his questions about life.
He also took me on a trip with him, which was quite an experience. I saw a side of commerce I hadn’t seen as we delivered 80,000 pounds of food to a distant grocery store. The Lord also led me to work with him on his semi-truck. Since I have transferable mechanical skills, I helped him figure out how to repair a part.
We invited him over for Thanksgiving and it was great! His young son, with a couple of friends, joined us too. What was notable was how happy he was to be with us.
I may not have the formal education of others, but I’m capable of sharing with others the basics of Christianity and my life’s experiences. Over the years I’ve found that it’s worthwhile to combine my words with actions and then leave the results up to the Lord.
Pray
Lord, help me to share my experiences with you through my words and actions so that others may come to know you.
Reflect
How can we discover when someone is open to hearing what we can share with them about Christianity and the impact it has had in our lives?
Discuss
When have you been led to get to know someone else better so that you can share your experiences with the Lord with them?
Jim Ingram lives in Burnsville, Minnesota, with his wife Brenda. In addition to WorkLight, Jim leads students on service projects in Minneapolis and goes wherever someone needs help. He can be reached at ingram7@msn.com.