One Bowl of Apricots or Two
A young psych student pulling kitchen duty in the Army noticed that apricots were not very popular in the chow hall, so he decided to conduct a little experiment. He stood at the end of the chow line and rotated offering the apricots to the soldiers three very different ways:
- “You don’t want apricots, do you?”
- “You want apricots, don’t you?”
- “Do you want one serving of apricots or two?
The results were fascinating. Ninety percent of those asked You don’t want apricots, do you? said No and declined receiving a serving.
Fifty percent of those asked You want apricots, don’t you? said Yes and received a serving.
Fifty percent of those asked if they wanted one serving of apricots or two said they’d take some, while forty percent said they’d take two! Only ten percent declined all together.
There is power in a good presentation! What is your demeanor when you invite others to consider the claims of Christ? Does it say, "You don't want to know about Jesus, do you?" It's no surprise that the vast majority of these invitations are declined. Or, does it say, "You do want to know about Jesus, right?" Or, are you so bold as to ask, "Do you want one serving or two"?
"Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see" (Matthew 22:9).
It's Time for a Trim and a Shave
Imagine a customer at a barber getting his hair and beard trimmed when the barber and patron strike up a conversation. They talk about many things and various topics, and for a moment, the topic shifts to God.
The barber says, "I don't believe God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, just look out there in the street. What happens out there shows that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, why are there sick people? Why are there abandoned children? If God exists, surely there would be no sickness or suffering. I can't imagine a loving God would let all this happen."
The customer pauses to think for a moment, but doesn't respond, not wanting to start an argument. The topic changes, the barbar finishes his work, and the customer leaves the shop.
He no sooner walks out the door than he sees a man on the street with long, unkempt hair, dirty and tangled, with an untrimmed beard. The man looked dirty and neglected.
The customer turns on a dime and marches back into the shop, "You know what? Barbers don't exist!"
The barber objects, "How can you say that? I am here, and I am a barber. And I just cut your hair!"
"No!" the customer retorts boldly, pointing out the window. "Barbers don't exist, because if they did, there would be no people with long, dirty hair and untrimmed beards like that man out there."
"But barbers do exist!" the barber argues. "What you see is their own fault; why don't they come to me?"
"Exactly!" the customer agreed. "That's the whole point!"
The argument that God must NOT exist because ugliness and evil does, is nothing but a strawman fallacy of the ultimate proportion.
In this ugly, unkempt, messy, stinky, dirty world, God indeed exists. Yet it is up to US to seek Him. And once we seek Him, it is up to US to actually settle into His chair to let Him conform us into a more beautiful image ... into HIS image!
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13, ESV).
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29, ESV).
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2, ESV).
"And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Colossians 3:10, ESV)."And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24, ESV).
Put A Pebble In Their Shoe
It's happens to all of us. We're walking along and suddenly become aware of a nagging little bump beneath the sole of our foot. Perhaps we're in a hurry and don't want to take the time to address it, so we try to ignore it. We're just too busy; it's not worth the effort.
Or perhaps we're not in an appropriate place or position to stop and remove our shoe to address the discomfort, so, again, we try to ignore it. We keep walking, trying to convince ourselves that it's fine, this is fine, no big deal.
But sure enough, there comes a time when we just can't ignore it any longer ... the shoe, and maybe even the sock or stocking, needs to come off so we can shake out the tiny pebble which made itself at home just beneath soft, tender pad of our foot.
Many (if not most) evangelical Christians get so nervous about witnessing to others. We fret not having all the answers, or feeling inadequate in presenting the "whole" of the Gospel message. So we shrink back and say nothing. But does this dichotomy of choices really exist? Or is there something in between?
Christian author, Greg Koukl, speaking to The Gospel Coalition, had this to say:
A wise ambassador ... weighs his opportunities and adopts an appropriate strategy for each occasion. ... Now here is my own more modest goal. I want to put a [pebble] in his shoe. All I want to do is give him something worth thinking about. I want him to hobble away on a nugget of truth he can’t simply ignore because it continues to poke at him.
Effective witness doesn't have to include a full, five point Gospel presentation. Sometimes all that's necessary is a little "nugget of truth" that nags at the unbeliever's conscience or phyche, until they simply cannot ignore it any longer. They have no choice but to "deal" with it, giving it greater consideration.
What they do with that nugget isn't our responsibility. It's entirely on them now. Will they simply remove it and toss it aside? Will they take it out and ponder how it got in there? Will it cause them to pause and consider further truth?
Remember, next time you feel intimiated to "present the Gospel" to an unbelieving relative, friend, or even stranger ... you don't have to drop a boulder on their head. You just need to drop a pebble in their shoe.
Matthew 13: 3-9 (NIV):
A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.