The Necessity of Relationships

By Brian Mitchell     Let me start by asking you a few questions. Where do you go when you have a problem? Whom do you turn to when you need help or advice on some important issue in your life? Are you more likely to turn to someone you know or to a complete stranger? How do you feel when a stranger comes to your door or calls you on the telephone and tries to talk with you about political issues, replacement windows or religion? How much attention do you pay to all the junk mail that is addressed “To the Current Occupant” that crowds your mailbox every day?      Now please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not going to deny that God can sometimes use these techniques to touch people’s lives with the truth. Regardless of the approach, there will always be stories to prove that these efforts have some success in leading people to the Lord. HOWEVER—I believe that people are becoming more and more immune to impersonal approaches to evangelism. The fact is that all of us experience discomfort when someone outside our circle of family and friends tries to influence us about personal and spiritually significant matters.       The real honest truth is that we are not all that comfortable having people we know confront us about such matters and so we definitely don’t want strangers trying to do so. If we are going to listen to anyone though we all naturally gravitate toward people we already know and trust. Friends listen to friends. Friends confide in friends. Friends are influenced by friends. Therefore, if we’re going to impact our world for Christ, then one of the most effective approaches will be through our building of strong relationships with those God places in our lives.       We are called upon to be the Salt and Light of the world. Thus far we have been primarily talking about our influence as related to being salt as we have discussed: Authenticity, Compassion and Sacrifice. Today we want to address the need for close proximity or contact with those whom we seek to influence.  The most potent salt in the world has no impact when left in the shaker. The most powerful light will have no positive effect on the darkness if it isn’t allowed to shine. The most authentic, compassionate and sacrificial Christians on the planet will not influence anyone until they have contact with them. Thus, in today’s lesson we will explore the necessity of building of relationships with those we hope to reach.      And we don’t have to look very far in our Bibles before we find examples of this approach to reaching people for the Lord. We can’t be contagious Christians without getting close enough to other people for them to catch what we have got. Later on, we are going to talk about ways to effectively communicate the content of our faith, but it’s important to realize that the ability to communicate doesn’t do any good if we have no one to communicate with.       So be a friend to as many as possible. And what’s truly exciting is that when we are a part of reaching out to unbelievers, we see our own faith deepening and our reliance on God growing, and the mission becomes more fulfilling! What are you doing with the relationships in your life?

- Brian Mitchell serves as a minister with the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at https://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net