God's Redemptive Work
When Opportunity Meets Courage and Conviction.
I don’t consider myself an evangelist per se. Although I have served vocationally as a minister of the gospel among the Churches of Christ for over twenty-five years, I am more of a preacher, teacher, and pastor than an evangelist. That has something to do with the fact that I am an introvert.
As most people are aware, introverts require quiet time away from people. What that also means is that when I sit down in a coffee shop, bar, or elsewhere, I’m not looking for a conversation with people. That’s especially so when it comes to people I don’t know. Now that doesn’t mean that I’ll avoid or refuse to engage in conversation, it’s just that I’m not going into any place to see how I can engage others in conversation.
But this past Easter, I challenged the church I serve to invite one person to worship. I even had little cards, as pictured above, printed for church members to give out with the invitation. Of course, if I am going to challenge the church I serve to invite someone to our Easter worship gathering, then I better be willing to do so myself. But that also means probably having to talk to someone I don’t know, which means hearing little voices in my head saying, “Are you crazy? Are you nuts?”
Against every impulse, I walked over to my neighbor’s house and invited her and her husband to our worship. She told me that her husband would not be interested, but that she was. So, lo and behold, on Easter Sunday, my neighbor came to our worship gathering.
Of course, on Easter Sunday, I was preaching about the promise of hope that we have because God has raised the crucified Jesus Christ from the dead. It’s a subject that I love to preach about because twenty-three years ago, my wife and I lost our first child. Kenny’s death was so devastating to us, and it’s only because of our hope in Christ that we have learned how to live with such grief. So during the sermon, I mentioned the death of my son to say that the resurrection of Christ means that my son isn’t dead forever.
After worship, my neighbor had tears in her eyes when she showed me a picture of a young woman. As she showed me the picture, she said, “This is my daughter. She ended her life two years ago, and this is the first time I’ve been at church.” She also told me that her husband was so angry with God that he didn’t want anyone talking to him about religion (which I can empathize with). I didn’t realize when I invited my neighbor that I was inviting a grieving mother to join her first church service since the death of her daughter, but that’s what happened.
“Perhaps encountering God’s redemptive work at hand is simply a matter of when opportunity meets courage and conviction.”
This past Sunday, my neighbor was baptized into Christ. There to watch her be baptized were her husband and three other family members from out of town.
Besides the joy of knowing that my neighbor is now a believer and learning to follow Jesus, I am reminded of how simple evangelism can be. You see, evangelism isn’t our work, but the work of God through His Spirit, in which we participate. God was already at work in my neighbor’s life long before I stood on her porch inviting her to our Easter worship gathering. I just participated in that work by taking advantage of an opportunity that God had opened up, reminding me that I can’t ask my church to invite anyone if I’m not willing to do the same myself.
Yes, evangelism involves more than just inviting. The church participated in God’s evangelistic work by being a friendly and hospitable people to my neighbor, making her feel very welcome among the church. My neighbor and I spent some time reading the Gospel of Mark together, but there was another lady from the church who had also spent time praying and reading scripture with my neighbor.
I don’t claim to be any expert on evangelism. However, I do believe that God is always at work, in both visible and invisible ways. I am reminded, though, that when we look for the opportunities to participate in God’s work and have the courage and conviction to do so, God’s redemptive work still happens. Perhaps encountering God’s redemptive work at hand is simply a matter of when opportunity meets courage and conviction. That, of course, is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of us who follow Jesus as the Lord and Messiah.
However you serve with your church, I hope this little story encourages you as much as it has me. Our God is alive!
So Lord, give us the eyes and ears to see and hear your redemptive work. And may your Spirit give us the courage and conviction to join in your redemptive work as followers of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
K. Rex Butts, D.Min, serves as the lead minister with the Southside Church of Christ in Milwaukee, WI, and is the author of Gospel Portraits: Reading Scripture as Participants in the Mission of God. Rex holds a Doctor of Ministry in Contextual Theology from Northern Seminary in Lisle, IL, and a Master of Divinity from Harding School of Theology in Memphis, TN. He is married to Laura, and together they have three children.