Evangelism is not something I am good at. Quite an admission for someone who has been a pastor for over 30 years. But I readily admit that it is not my spiritual strongpoint. But I find it interesting as I read the Newer Testament all the different ways  that Jesus goes about doing evangelism. Here in John 1 we see a very effective method that we can easily emulate if we want to do a better job of introducing people to Jesus. I call it the “Come and See” approach.

Jesus uses this approach in 1:39 when a few guys were tagging along with Jesus and asked Him a simple question. “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He tells them to “come and see.”

Philip picked up on this approach when he was chatting with his very skeptic friend Nathanael:

Philip: We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law… Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathanael: Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?

Philip: Come and see!

The idea is simple and brilliant. Just use the power of an invitation to give people an opportunity to encounter Jesus.

In one of his podcasts,  called Keystone Habits, Andy Stanley discusses some cues that believers can listen for to trigger a very simple invitation:

If someone you are talking to says something like: “Things are not going very well…” You say, “Why don’t you come to church with me.”

If someone you are talking to says something like: “I’m just not prepared for…” You say, “Why don’t you come to church with me.”

If someone you are talking to says something like: “I’m not from around here…” You say, “Why don’t you come to church with me.”

A simple invitation. I don’t have to know a bunch of Bible verses or steps to tell people to get into heaven. Just invite.

I can do that. It’s what Philip did  and it changed Nathanael’s life.

Just to give you some background, here is what Chuck Swindoll says about Malachi…

The people of Judah began to be exiled from the Promised Land in 605 BC, returning from Babylon seventy years later. By the time of Malachi, they had been back in the land for more than a hundred years and were looking for the blessings they expected to receive when they returned. Though the temple had been rebuilt, the fervor of those early returning Israelites gave way to a thorough apathy for the things of God. This led to rampant corruption among the priesthood and a spiritual lethargy among the people.

Malachi came along at a time when the people were struggling to believe that God loved them (Malachi 1:2). The people focused on their unfortunate circumstances and refused to account for their own sinful deeds. So God pointed the finger back at them, and through Malachi, God told the people where they had fallen short of their covenant with Him. If they hoped to see changes, they needed to take responsibility for their own actions and serve God faithfully according to the promise their fathers had made to God on Mount Sinai all those years before.

The verse that most caught my attention this week was Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.” 

As I use my sanctified imagination I have pondered what it was that those who feared the Lord talked about together. I have no doubt that they were appalled by the way others around them were talking about God (3:13-15). I have no doubt that they were appalled by the way that their fellow Jews were “robbing God” (3:8-12). I Have no doubt that they were appalled at the behavior of the priests of God (2:1-9). They were not gossiping together but expressing righteous indignation concerning the way that the Lord was being blasphemed – not by those who were not Jews but by those who were Jews, the people of God’s own choosing.

Whatever they talked about was pleasing to God because He “listened and heard.”

May our conversations be such that they capture the attention of God and cause Him to perk up His ears so to speak. May we be appalled by the lackluster way that even those who call themselves Christian behave in the name of God. And may God create within us a righteous fervor that demonstrates tangibly that we are among those who “fear the Lord.”

The last part of Nehemiah 8:10 says this, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” This has been one of my favorite verses in Scripture for a long time. Perhaps you have even noticed that it is on the banner picture of this blog. As I read it again this week in its context of Nehemiah 8 I began pondering this question: Where does this joy come from that gives us the kind of strength we need to deal with all that life throws at us?

2 passages that help with the answer. The first is Nehemiah 8:7-10…

7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.

8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

12Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.