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The Wrong Approach

A few minutes ago, I was in a store trying to find an item that I wanted to purchase. As I searched the aisles and chatted with my bestie on the phone, the store owner came up to me and loudly said, "Oh my G-d! What happened to your face?!" Then he repeated it, presumably to maximize my embarrassment...or for emphasis, whichever.

Now, because my rapier wit is only evident when I am NOT mortified, I timidly mumbled something about having suffered a break-out. He nodded with understanding and then suggested I try a particular face cream which, as luck would have it, could be found right there in his store. How serendipitous! Not only was I informed that I was afflicted with a hideous skin condition (for which apparently only confinement to some sort of colony would be appropriate), but also that the cure was within my reach.

So naturally, I left without purchasing anything.

I was SO irritated. Why on earth would he embarrass me like that and then expect me to patronize his establishment. My best friend was also upset. She'd heard him (it's likely this entire hemisphere heard him!) and was not happy with his approach. His brusque, discourteous manner made me question whether he was really trying to get me to purchase something.

Then I began to think about how we as Christians can come across when we try to point out to lost ones that they are in need of a Saviour. Do we approach people with love, genuinely concerned about their lost condition? Or do we just unceremoniously announce that they are sinful wretches who are destined for hell if they don't give their hearts to the Lord?

I bet you're thinking, "Wait a minute, Josie! This world is lost and in need of a Saviour! Are you saying we're wrong to point that out and then point them to Christ?"

Absolutely not! Perish the thought! But as I replay my encounter with the store owner in my head, I realize more and more that the ONLY reason I didn't purchase his "miracle" face cream was because of his approach. I was humiliated. Once he embarrassed me, nothing he could have said would make me purchase that cream.

So it is with our presentation of the gospel to unbelievers. If our approach is wrong, we run the risk of pushing them further away from the Christ we really want them to get to know. And if we study the life of Christ, we find that He was attractive to sinners and publicans. They wanted to be near Him, to get to know Him.

Therefore, there must be a way to present the unadulterated truth of the gospel in love so as to attract unbelievers, not repel them. Let's find it, even if finding it takes a little more prayer, or conversation, or just plain work. It might be inconvenient, but it might be the only way to reach  some who desperately need our Saviour.


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