Influencing Those Around You

I had a wonderful talk with someone via videophone this morning! This person is still an inspiration to me. I am going to refer her by the name of Amy. Amy has been going through some ups-and-downs in life. I have personally seen how Jesus continues to change her heart. She has been reluctant about Christianity and resisting to believe that Jesus is who we all must have in our hearts! I believe I have known her for over four years now. But time will come when she will surrender her life to the Lord. And I know that God is working!

One of our conversation includes the attitudes and influence the deaf Christians at Fairfax show. I admire Amy's courage to share her thoughts and feelings with me. It is really important that I know what other people are thinking about Fairfax. I believe it's good for any church to learn their weaknesses from people outside of the body, the church. It does hurt but that's when the healing process begins. It brings our attention to an area that's (hopefully) temporarily damaged. Amy has had a hard time building relationship with others. Christians often mingle with other Christians. Amy had several opportunities to build a relationship but they wouldn't carry on in "relationship-building". "Is it because I am an outsider?", she asked. Shouldn't be!! Once I become a member, they'll put their arms around me and say, "What took you so long?" That isn't the proper thing to do. Think of the parable of Jesus talking about one lost sheep. The shepherd left the 99 to seek that ONE! Likewise, Christians leaves the Christian fellowship seeking the hearts that are without God: in the church and outside!

God has given every believer, in every one of our churches, a mission – to go into the world and share the Good News about Jesus. Why? Why should we care enough about the people around us to tell them about how to get to Heaven? This can be a difficult concept to teach our congregations. How do we motivate them to take the Good News and share it with others? Here is something that might help.

The Bible – in 2 Corinthians 5:14 – says: "For the love of Christ compels us." Our love for Jesus motivates us to fulfill our mission.

Everybody matters to God. God has never made a person that he didn’t love. God made some people that I don’t love, and God has made a lot of people that I don’t even like.

But God loves them. The most despicable person you can imagine is still loved by God. And because God cares, we must care.

If the members of your congregation don't take the time to share their hearts with "unbelievers", "unchurched", then who will? I cannot do everything myself. Though I am the minister of the gospel, the church family has a responsibility to care for one another as well as seeking for ONE soul for Jesus! If we have a visitor or two at the church services, make sure you build a relationship with them. Often I have seen visitors stand around watching other Christians mingle among each other. We ought to be motivated by love for it is the love of Christ that compels us.

Many people in our congregations wonder how they should go about sharing their faith. You do it two ways: you’ve got to show it and share it.

Remember "show and tell” from your school days? That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to help others visualize it with our lives and verbalize it with our hands (ASL).

Sometimes, I just feel like hiding in a closet after preaching and teaching the Lord's children the art of building relationships, putting others above ourselves, considering others better than ourselves. Often, the children forgets. They're so focused on themselves. They hardly take the time to build new relationships. And they don't realize they're pushing the Lord's potential children away from Him by the example they give.

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We can actually keep people out of Heaven by the way we live. The fact is – you’re being watched by your boss, your neighbors, your employees, your children, your relatives, the visitors. Every conversation you have, every action you have, every word you speak has eternal implications.
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Satan wants to discredit our lifestyle so other people will say, “If that’s a Christian, forget it.” It's easy for us to do the opposite of what God intend for us to do and push those who may be hungry for Jesus away! The church became just another "deaf club"! That's the last thing God wants people to classify His church that way!

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God wants His church to be stewards of faith; a spiritual hospital for broken, hungry and thirsty souls!
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Remember, each and every Christian has an awesome responsibility. They are to be a powerful influence on those around you!! What kind of influence are you giving? Are you telling them your story of how you came to know Jesus? Are you building "NEW RELATIONSHIPS"!!? Jesus loves those who builds them!! He sees "relationship-builders" as "church-builders"!

I shudder to think of standing before God one day and explaining that somebody went to Hell because of my example. Remember, we have people who probably never went to church. We have people who never had a "real relationship". We have people coming from broken homes and they see similar environment in the church as their old home. We have people who thirst for relevancy and relationships but their thirst was never satisfied because we don't take the time to feed them the "Living Water". We need to show God’s love and live in a way that brings credit to God’s name. How we live is influencing where people will spend their eternity – Heaven or Hell.

I need to show the message, and I need to tell it. Colossians 4:5 says, “Make the most of your chances to tell others the Good News.”

A great question we must ask ourselves, "Is anyone going to Heaven because of you?"