Like most people, I can smell SPAM from a mile away. Not the unholy canned-meat of yesteryear, but those unwelcome and impersonal robo-emails hawking minute-loans and adult webcam sites and Viagara at 70% discount. I don't even read them, they just go right in the delete bin.
Contrast this when I get an email from a friend, or better yet, a letter in the mail. There is a trust there, a relationship and foundation, that makes fertile ground for me hearing what they have to say. It's not coming from a stranger, and not unwelcome either.
When I get spam, I know someone is using me. They are casting their net wide with the hopes of catching a few gullible fish by chance. They don't care about me. They don't even know me. They don't personalize their email, it's a generic template. And yet they are sending me an invitation to wire them money to some Nigerian bank account? No thanks.
One of the most heart warming stories in the book of Acts for me is that of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip is on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza when he meets an Eunuch and stays near his chariot. The eunuch is reading Isaiah the prophet, and Phillip asks him if he understands what he is reading.
The eunuch asks about the prophecy in Is 53:7-8, and Philip tells him about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
And so they stop the chariot and Philip baptized him.
I like this innocent story because it encompasses a few key issues involved in evangelization: curiosity on the part of the eunuch, prayerful listening and gentle prompting on the part of Philip, companionship, trust, instruction, accompaniment, and the impartation of grace through baptism. Though Philip was initially a stranger, by the end of the encounter he no longer was. He didn't see the eunuch as a body to be counted, but as an individual whom he was called to attend to by the Spirit, personally.
I don't like feeling used, and I am discerning in whom I trust, so I am sensitive to people's wariness when it comes to the gospel message and how it is delivered. With something so important as our salvation, the source needs to be credible, and the witness sincere. The street corner preacher may serve an ultimate purpose, but he is kind of like a spammer. I personally would need to be in relationship and trust someone before I would listen to what they say.
Maybe you are that person, curious about something you've read or come across, but not sure you understand. Or maybe you are that person whom the Lord has placed on your heart to attend to someone with instruction, to walk with them. In either case, a reassurance is when the joy of salvation--whether through baptism or through coming to faith and understanding--is mutually shared by both parties, that both rejoice equally. Then we know the words of St. Paul are being fulfilled:
When I get spam, I know someone is using me. They are casting their net wide with the hopes of catching a few gullible fish by chance. They don't care about me. They don't even know me. They don't personalize their email, it's a generic template. And yet they are sending me an invitation to wire them money to some Nigerian bank account? No thanks.
One of the most heart warming stories in the book of Acts for me is that of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip is on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza when he meets an Eunuch and stays near his chariot. The eunuch is reading Isaiah the prophet, and Phillip asks him if he understands what he is reading.
"How can I," he says, "unless someone explains it to me?"
The eunuch asks about the prophecy in Is 53:7-8, and Philip tells him about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
"Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"
And so they stop the chariot and Philip baptized him.
I like this innocent story because it encompasses a few key issues involved in evangelization: curiosity on the part of the eunuch, prayerful listening and gentle prompting on the part of Philip, companionship, trust, instruction, accompaniment, and the impartation of grace through baptism. Though Philip was initially a stranger, by the end of the encounter he no longer was. He didn't see the eunuch as a body to be counted, but as an individual whom he was called to attend to by the Spirit, personally.
I don't like feeling used, and I am discerning in whom I trust, so I am sensitive to people's wariness when it comes to the gospel message and how it is delivered. With something so important as our salvation, the source needs to be credible, and the witness sincere. The street corner preacher may serve an ultimate purpose, but he is kind of like a spammer. I personally would need to be in relationship and trust someone before I would listen to what they say.
Maybe you are that person, curious about something you've read or come across, but not sure you understand. Or maybe you are that person whom the Lord has placed on your heart to attend to someone with instruction, to walk with them. In either case, a reassurance is when the joy of salvation--whether through baptism or through coming to faith and understanding--is mutually shared by both parties, that both rejoice equally. Then we know the words of St. Paul are being fulfilled:
"Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn."
(Rom 12:15)