Colossians 4:5 (NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
I led a service
in a traditional Baptist church in an area of urban deprivation. The aging and
declining congregation of about 25 had only two adults under 45 both girls, one
in her twenties and the other a teenager. Both had previously visited, on
occasion, the church and just happened to pop in for a visit after months or
years away. Both were local and neither seemed to fit either in culture or
dress. A welcome steward introduced one of the girls to the only other under 40 year
old in the church, one of my sons (20) who was accompanying me. There were two
sad things about these girls. The only people to engage these girls in
conversation before or after the service were the visiting preacher (me) and my
son. These girls didn’t seem to be believers, they may have come because it was
a warm building or they had good memories of the place or out of some desire to
have needs met. The other missed opportunity was that while praying (with one
deacon before the service) I felt there may be a visiting unbeliever I failed
to explain in simple terms the gospel message during the service. Although I
tried to make the service interactive, gave opportunity for open prayer and
anyone to share a word of encouragement most of what was done didn’t seem to
hit the mark concerning these girls. Members of the congregation had strangers
in their midst but felt uncomfortable in their presence or just ignored them. I
pray for ‘Sophie’ and ‘Kirsty’ that they will get better opportunities to meet
with Jesus in future.
Father,
sorry I didn’t make the most of the opportunity you gave me.
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