A Thought For The Week Of July 27, 2015

"Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?'" (Acts 26:28) Paul was bold. He had known King Agrippa (a descendant of Herod the Great) for only a short time but almost immediately had begun to share with him the story of Jesus. Agrippa's reply is above. Paul had been challenging Agrippa to let go of what were probably long held beliefs and to adapt both a new way of living and a new way of living. To me, that says "boldness." It was a very bold move of Paul to seek to bear witness  to Jesus right off the bat - something that I suspect most Christians today would be uncomfortable doing, and that some Christians might even find offensive. But for Paul it was second nature. Whether uncomfortable or offended, many Christians today would shy away from following Paul's lead because, after all, we live in a pluralistic society and we don't want to be disrespectful. Well, it's worth noting that the same could be said for Paul - and yet he often received a favourable response when he shared the gospel. People were interested to hear what he had to say, because he shared respectfully. In response, he would get a hearing. Those who listened to him wouldn't always agree with him, but they would listen. And perhaps even more important is to note what Paul's agenda was: it was witnessing, plain and simple. It wasn't conversion. That, of course, was his hope, but Paul understood that faith came from God and that he had to leave the response to his message - whatever it was - to God. We see that in Paul's reply to Agrippa in the next verse: "Short time or long - I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am ..."  In other words, Paul was saying that the response to his message was out of his hands. His only goal was to share the gospel. How long it would take to have an impact on his listeners was between them and God. That, to me, sums up what the strategy and goal of evangelism should be: to share the good news with a heartfelt desire that those you share with will respond, but to leave the results to God. We do want people to respond. After all, we have to believe that what we're sharing is important or else we can't share it effectively.So we share with the earnest desire that somewhere along the way - at a time known only to God - what we share will have a positive impact on the lives of those we share with.