Planting Seeds to Beat The Pitchfork Guy

 

For as the rain cometh down,

and the snow from heaven,

and returneth not thither,

but watereth the earth,

and maketh it bring forth and bud,

that it may give seed to the sower,

and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

                                    -- Isaiah 55:10-11

           

 

I've just gotten to know the most gifted, creative, deliciously different person I've met in a long time. We bonded immediately. This is the start of something big - one of those precious, lifelong friendships that are so delightful and enriching.

 

 Oddly enough, it came out in conversation that her favorite holidays are the Mexican Day of the Dead, and Halloween. Those are all about death and scary stuff. It seemed so incongruous, compared to the joy and color in the rest of her life. And then I found out about her childhood.

 

She had been adopted, and was dealing with the inescapable rejection that most, if not all, adoptees feel. On top of that, her dad was Mr. Universe in the control freak department. A good man, and very intelligent, he nonetheless had rigid ideas. He didn't seem to want to relate to his children more than to boss them around. He was fairly insensitive and detached, rather than the warm, caring, tuned-in dad all of us want to have.

 

He made his five children go to a lot, lot, lot of church activities, and obey a lot, lot, lot of rules. Then, practically overnight, he suddenly moved them to a faraway state - a BORING faraway state - OK, it was Nebraska.

 

She was at the fragile age of 13. She had to leave all her friends, and her horse, and in reaction, she rebelled. Bigtime. Apparently, she even ran away from home.

 

But she was found, and punished. And then she was sent to a mega-strict girls' Christian home in the South, where they beat you with a board if you broke a rule. It made tears come into my eyes just hearing about it.

 

Fortunately, it didn't break her spirit. Instead, these painful experiences probably made her into the amazing and giving person she is today, because she resolved NEVER to be like the people who hurt her.

 

But unfortunately, those experiences also soured her on religion in general and Christianity in particular.

 

I gathered that she doesn't go to church, doesn't pray and doesn't read the Bible . . . because of all the past hurt that she associates with Christianity.

 

Her father has passed away. She said she didn't shed a tear, which again made me sad. I could see how the Christian lifestyle might be hard for someone like her: how can you have a relationship with a heavenly Father who the Bible says loves you passionately and is good ALL the time, when your earthly father wasn't so much like that?

 

She said she had no use for organized religion, and that was that.

 

Gulp. I knew I had to respond. I could picture The Pitchfork Guy throwing down a gauntlet right in front of me, and sneering.

 

OK. Here goes.

 

I mumbled something awkwardly about how all the rules and mumbo-jumbo that often characterize religion aren't what it's all about, not at all.

 

But too many Christian parents and educators don't get that.

 

Instead, they try to micromanage children with a long list of religious do's and don'ts, which have no place in the Christian faith. It's not negative - it's positive! It's really about grace, not rules, and simple faith.

 

So by focusing on anything except the incredibly fun and loving Person of Jesus Christ, they turn kids off to Christianity before they can ever get started.

 

I told her that the only thing that matters is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, plain and simple.

 

That it's the most important thing in my life.

 

That my love for Him and faith in Him have sustained me through all my rough patches, time and time again.

 

And that, while I still make mistakes and have problems and unwanted facial hair and can't figure out the DVD player, I still have peace and hope, down deep, 24/7, because of Jesus, and that's what matters.

 

The whole speech took maybe 30 seconds, and it was as easy as pie. I hope, hope, hope those seeds "took" in her heart. Hope you'll join me in praying for her, too.

 

Now, of course, I can think of 14,000 BETTER things I SHOULD have said. Dang! I'm still pretty much on the JV team when it comes to evangelizing.

 

But the bottom line is that we don't have to be professionals at sharing the Gospel. We should just be ourselves, and let the Holy Spirit do the finessing. If we just get the ball rolling, it's amazing how Team God can take it straight in to the person's heart, and score.

 

Funny thing: my Beloved and I attended not one but two Christian fund-raising banquets this week. One was for a jail and prison ministry, and the other was for a ministry that holds after-school and summertime Bible clubs for unchurched kids. Both of those "people groups" are ripe for the picking when it comes to introducing them to Jesus.

 

Prisoners often have come to the end of their ropes, and want the positive change that the faith life brings. If they don't develop it during their incarceration time, they often go back to crime and all the pain it brings them and their families.

 

As for children, they say that the window of opportunity for connecting them to Jesus is from ages 4 to 14. After that, not so many people come to faith, for a lot of reasons.

 

So at both events, the message was one of urgency. There are a lot of people out there who have never heard The Greatest Story Ever Told, and need to hear it STAT.

 

Others, for any number of reasons, once knew it, but have been driven away and disaffected - alienated by hurts, temptations, toxic relationships, and "stuff."

 

They need to hear someone tell them a few words of life to nudge them back, and there's no time like the present.

 

That's what this "spiritual warfare" stuff is all about. It's going on, all around us, in the hearts of everybody you'll ever meet. Sometimes, these days - uff da! -- it does seem like the other side is winning.

 

But go back up there and read today's Bible message.

 

Team God cannot be beat. And all it takes to win are words. Just a few words, free of charge, nothing fancy . . . but hugely powerful, because they express the truth that comes straight from Him.

 

Do you know how we defeat The Pitchfork Guy?

 

Easy. We listen to people, and love them, and talk with them . . .

 

. . . and never stop planting the seeds of faith. †