I was behind a truck one day when I noticed a sticker on the back which read, “Our greatest resource is our people.” The company was declaring that the most important aspect of their corporation was not the trucks, not the building, not the goods they shipped. The most important part of their business was their employees. The people working for them were the best parts of that company.
As Christians and as the body of Christ, as the church, we have a great deal to offer people. We can offer them the love and mercy of God. We can offer them a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that relationship can bring them comfort and peace.
But the greatest thing we can offer people who do not know who God is ourselves. We can be real to them. That is, we can be honest about ourselves – our wants and desires, our faults and flaws, our own struggles and hopes in faith. By seeing that we are just like them, that we face the same challenges and fears that they do, they will also see that we are happier because we know who Christ is.
We all may have an image in our minds of how Jesus called his first disciples, but John gives us a different perspective on this calling. According to verse 37, what did the followers of John the Baptist do? What invitation did Jesus give? What happens in verse 39?
According to the Gospel of John, there were a few men who were already growing in their faith. They had become disciples of John the Baptist, but when they saw Jesus they knew they had to follow an even greater teacher.
As they joined Jesus, the Lord did not immediately begin teaching them the wisdom of God’s kingdom. Instead he began this new relationship by spending time with these men. Verse 39 says that these new followers “spent that day with him.”
We have no other information about what went on, but we can assume that Jesus simply spent the day in conversation with the disciples, sharing himself with them, developing that bond of friendship.
Like Jesus we must also learn to greet those new to faith with ourselves. We don’t need to start in on what is wrong with their lives and what must change. We begin by being honest with them, revealing ourselves to them through conversation and by getting to know them.
Like the trucking company, the church’s greatest resource is our people. If we will be honest, friendly, and open with the new believer we will be the people who help others find Jesus.
DAILY CHALLENGE: Who needs to get to know you better?
