Here's How It Works!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

“And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

College students—but they got it. They invited—they brought—they found seekers—and the seekers had their lives changed.

Mary Jo was an English major. She had classes with a guy named Steve. Mary Jo had the Lord in her life. Steve did not. She brought him to our church and Christian small group. And Steve came to know Christ.

Two years later, Steve brought his brother to “fun things” because Mark really was not into Christian things—like Bible studies and worship. But eventually, through meeting other believers at the fun stuff, and through the invitations from his brother, Mark came and accepted Christ.

Mark, a couple of years later, had a new roommate. Mark invited Shane to our group, because Shane seemed lonely and in need of friends. Shane learned a lot about Jesus, and one day I got to lead him to Christ.

Notice the four generations of Christians—from Mary Jo to Steve to Mark to Shane. Sounds a bit like 2 Timothy 2:2 in action. “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

The chain kept extending and three new believers came out of this all. The angels in heaven rejoiced (Luke 15)

But that was not the end of the story.

Mark, who was president of our Christian group, had a poster on his door, inviting people to Baptist Student Union. One day Mark was in the hall, and an international from Thailand stopped Mark and asked him, “Are you one of them? Are you one of those who read the Bible?”

Mark said, “Well yes, I am.”

And Tanitje, a Buddhist, said to him, “I would like to study the words of Jesus.”

So Mark found time to meet with Tanitje and read and explain, as best he could, the words of Jesus. But summer came, and Mark was going home. Tanitje (nicknamed To) wanted to continue, so Mark found a female student who would be there in the summer. And she met and explained the words of Jesus to him.

When both Mark and Jenny were leaving campus, they asked me if I would meet with him, and of course, I did. We studied in the gospel of Mark.

In chapter 1 of that gospel, Jesus called Simon and Andrew, fisherman to follow Him. Simon and Andrew had to leave their family and their family business to follow Jesus. And it said, “At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Mk 1:18 NIV)

Now to be Thai is to be Buddhist. For a person to accept Jesus would be turning your back on family and culture and nation. But the very second week I met with To, that was the challenge in the words of Jesus that we read. And I thought, “God, you are not making it easy.” It would be a very big challenge to someone to leave family, culture, and nation behind if he came to follow Jesus.

When I was called away to a ministry in another part of our state, I turned over the “studying the words of Jesus” to a professor friend of mine, Larry, who met with To until he left to go back home.

Through all of that time with Mark and Jenny and me and Larry, To still did not, to my knowledge, follow Jesus, though he had the interest to “study the words of Jesus.” I emailed him a few times when he got back home, and even had some friends of mine look him up when they were in Thailand to teach English. But, as far as I know, he was exposed to the teachings of Jesus, but didn’t accept.

But this is how it works and how it should work. We pass along the message from one person to another person to another person. It reminds me of a wonderful chorus that was popular when I was a teenager. “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it. You spread His love to everyone; you want to pass it on.”

One by one by one. For some, that leads to changed life and a path to heaven. For others, it leads to, at least, hearing the words of Jesus. We all must decide for ourselves. The college students “got it”—the how of sharing and bringing and being with others. Do we?