Jesus, Friend of Sinners

      Evangelism, as it is often thought of, is very hard to do. The way I have often seen it exercised is by going door to door and sharing the good news. And while this is not a bad thing, it is hard for me to do because it doesn’t involve an ongoing relationship. In addition, I can be shy when I am first introduced to a new situation. Door to door evangelism, or things of that sort, do not mix well with my personally. But if we’re talking about evangelism as in sharing Christ with others in a more casual, ongoing process, That is something that I do more often and I am more comfortable with. Nee’s writing encouraged me in this. He said that Christ comes to people as a friend before he becomes their savior. This is great because it exemplified how a person has to first be introduced to Christ as a person before they will really accept him into their life. Often we approach people, through evangelism, by presenting Jesus as a savior, without first letting them person meet Jesus as a person. Go and tell evangelism is important, as Francis of Assisi wrote about. It is important to tell the good news to the multitudes of dying people. But relationship evangelism also has it’s place, where people can learn to know Jesus as you are learning to know them. I personally need to be willing to reach out of my normal comfort zone of being quiet when I first meet people, in order to share Christ with them. Then I need to not just talk about Jesus as a savior, but also as a person who wants to be a friend of sinners.