Moving your witness from the abstract to the concrete
A famous child psychologist, known for affirming children,
had a sidewalk poured in front of his house.
When the neighborhood children wrote their names in the fresh cement, he
lost it, “You stupid kids, get off my property.” The neighbors were shocked and confronted
him. He defended his outburst saying,
“It’s true, I do love kids but only in the abstract…I can’t stand them when
they’re in my concrete!”
Hopefully we are not like that psychologist, loving people
in the abstract but not connecting with them in our real lives, in our
concrete. We need to reach people in
where we actually live! Here a simple
formula on how to keep it real, i.e. how to R.E.A.C.H. people: Keep it Relevant and Relational, Easy,
Anointed, Christ-centered and Honest.
We also need to watch our attitude! When Jonah was called to a specific group of
people that he resented, he rebelled because he was afraid that God “was a
gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Jonah 4:2.
When our “righteousness” keeps us from loving the very people that God
loves, we need an attitude check. Let’s
keep our witness fresh as God keeps us broken and our witness authentic.
