5 Strangers

From the Communicate Jesus blog:

My wife and I were watching an interview of a couple whose son had died after participating in a dangerous and completely unnecessary activity.  It was very sad – particularly because it was entirely preventable. There was no need for their teenage son to die, and in the interview they pleaded with other parents to look out for the warning signs, and use this knowledge to care for their teens.

The father then made a statement along these lines: “I’ve made a commitment to myself to tell 5 strangers per day about what happened to my son, so that it doesn’t happen to others”.

This comment really struck me. As Christians, we can struggle to share the gospel with others. To tell friends and family can be difficult, and the reasons flow readily:

“The right moment just never comes up”.

“I don’t want to ruin the relationship”.

“I’d be happy to explain if they asked, but I don’t want to be pushy”.

To tell people we don’t know seems almost the impossible ask. Door-knocking, anyone? This episode really challenged me, because:

When you’re passionate about something, you can’t help but speak about it.

When you care about others, you tell them what you think they need to hear for their own good.

When you have news that can save the lives, you’re compelled to make it known.

When you believe in the message, you don’t care about the response you might receive – you’ll just tell anyone who’ll listen.

Shouldn’t this be the same for our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” – Acts 4:20