Who, Me?

I have been blessed to be able to travel numerous times over the last 25 years - often abroad, and usually on a mission trip. It's always interesting to see just whom the Lord will place by me, but the conversations (if & when the occur) are nearly always predictable, going something like this:

• ME - Hi, where you headed?
• THEM - (destination given)
• ME - (small talk = weather, sports, world news)
• THEM - (relevant interaction)
• ME - So what do you do for a living?
• THEM - (usual description of job, scope, location, years on it, etc.)
• THEM - And what do you do for a living?
• ME - (moment of truth...how blunt should I be?) Me? Oh, I'm a pastor.
• THEM - (either they immediately identify with my role and become more "religious" or the conversation concludes in 10 seconds or less)

Because of this, I always wrestle a bit with whether or not to tell them that I am a pastor. I'm not ashamed or anything (quite the opposite), but I've found that, especially in our current culture, revealing my "secret identity" either turns people way "on" or way "off" - and I don't want the relational "bridge" we've been courteously constructing for the past 10-15 minutes to suddenly be gone...along with any opportunity to point them further towards Christ.

This brings me to the topic of the day. Did you know that statistically, you are more likely to nudge an unchurched person toward personal faith in Jesus Christ than I am? What makes the real difference with the unchurched are personal relationships. The majority who find Christ look back and say that it was a friend who influenced them toward faith...a friend like you!

In all my experience, over and over again, people share about someone in relationship with them. This friendship may have been for a lifetime or just a season, but it was the right person at the right time that helped bring them to faith in Christ.

Because of this, I place great confidence in the people of my church! I understand that most of them are far better situated to lead unchurched people to Christ than I am. And I've learned that if I do lead someone to Christ, I will likely be wearing the "friend" hat and not the "pastor" hat.

You, yes, you will in all likelihood be the one who leads the next person you meet to Jesus - either directly or indirectly. Thus, never underestimate the power of genuine friendships with those around you!