The Rev. Dr. Kristine Blaess shared with us some words from Dr. Paul Weston during her sermon last week. Paul was discussing the question, “What does it mean to be a witness?” Kristine gave us a small glimpse of his teaching, listing three ways in which we “make space” for good news telling:
1. We invite people to join us where we worship. Churches have been doing this since the 1st century.
2. We go out as missionaries where people are, talk with them and then eventually plant a new church where we can employ the first strategy, and,
3. We are telling the good news, but it is not about a geographical location. The story is about the person who becomes the place: Jesus.
This third way to share our enthusiasm for Jesus may be more difficult because it takes us deeper than a geographical place; it strives to connect us with people wherever they are both geographically and spiritually. There are no demands to fit in with preconceived notions of what faith is, what faith means, or where we find God.
When Jesus becomes the center of our discussion, we find that instead of telling people what we think they should know, we make a different promise: we tell them that we are willing to travel together to a place where maybe neither of us has gone before.
It is rare to find people who can set aside their knowledge of God and be willing to travel into the unknown, trusting God’s wisdom and looking forward to the adventure with another person. I’m blessed to have a small group of friends who embody this third way of sharing their faith. We are willing to travel together to places where none of us have been before, but we are on this adventure together.
Blessings,
Agatha