I remember as a young zealous guy an occasion when two Jehovah’s witnesses came to the door, now I sincerely believe that the followers of William Russell are wrong, I believe it is a dangerous cult to be involved in however most JW’s I have met have been sincere in their beliefs. These two young guys were no exception; I delighted in locking swards with them. Most of the guys who come out on the doors are extremely confident and knowledgeable concerning their beliefs, they are trained in how to answer people of other faiths, I saw this as a challenge, I knew my stuff and they left defeated after nearly losing their cool with me. I closed the door feeling pretty pleased with myself, I had gone toe to toe and had won, I was the kiddie, I was the man, who the man ? I the man.
Then
I realised
I had won the battle and lost the war
D’oh
They left more or less the same way they had come; they were no closer to Jesus.
A few years later I had the chance at work top befriend a guy who happened to be a JW, this time I was a little more mature and considerably wiser, I treated him with respect while not compromising my witness. We played squash together, we had some great talks. I heard from him the other day on Facebook, I don’t think he is a JW anymore but I don’t think he is a Christian either. I hope one day he will be, I hope the Holy Spirit works on him and some of the stuff or witness that I gave comes back to his remembrance.
Sometimes we forget that we are just signposts, we point the way to Jesus, it is the work of God that convicts and works on the heart of man, sometimes we try to do God’s work for him and we mess it up and get in the way.
Sometimes we forget that we are to love people and we get it wrong, we end up burning books or turning a blind eye to wrong or getting all judgemental.
I know that sometimes Jesus got angry and overturned things but more often than not his anger and hard words were directed not to the lost but the hypocritical, judgmental religious types.
We are called to be salt and light; we are called to use the resources we are given for good. In Matthew 25 we hear the story of the guy who plays safe with the resource he was given, he buries it, it stays safe but makes no return, it does not affect anyone else’s story positively.
So there it is, the end of an experiment in blogging and for the conclusion of the conclusion, well I guess everyone is expecting me to finish with that statement, you know the one, I am not, you have probably heard it enough already. As for me what these two days taught me is that I am still very much a work in progress looking to navigate and serve!
Now anyone up for some pie and mash, luvverly
That is spot on. Jesus wins the battle and we are ambassadors for him. Well written. Today we read to boast in Jesus. (It great tb connected with you from across the pond)
Very interesting series of blogs. I really enjoyed reading them.
Very inspiring also.
In the hustle and bustle of life, I think we sometimes forget that we’re here to simply love and serve and there’s no greater thing we can do for Him. He loved and served and if we follow His example we won’t go far wrong.