get out more

There is common knowledge when it comes to sharing faith with friends. What if your friends are all Christian? This is a natural phenomenon when you have been part of a Christian community for many years. The rule of thumb is “The longer you are a Christian the fewer potential Christians you meet.” In a way, the joy, care, and support one receives by being with, well, joyful caring, and supportive Christians makes it more likely that one will spend most of one’s time with these people. Kind of a “Catch 22” situation. The better the fellowship I receive within a Christian community the more likely I am to want to spend time with these Christians.

So, what do you do? You need to get out more. If you work, the most likely people you will reach out to will be people at work. If you go to school it will be other kids from school. It can be neighbors. If you have children, it can be parents you meet from sport’s leagues, scouting and so forth. You have (as Ken Callahan would say) help, hope, and a home being connected to Jesus and his church and so you want to share this with others.

Making friends with people who are not Christian becomes essential and intentional for a disciple of Jesus. It is also a lot of fun. You will meet some great people and you will have your thinking expanded. When you spend time with potential Christians you can learn from Jesus because if they have been seeking at all they have been influenced by Jesus drawing them to himself. So, you are not bringing something they don’t have any connection to as much as inviting them to join you on the path to learn from the Jesus who is already there. Name the name, as it were. The story in the Bible (Acts 17:19-31) of Paul speaking of the statue of the “unknown god” is a wonderful analogy.