Being shelter-in-place now for three days and working from home for about two weeks now, I’m no longer limited by the constrictions of time and space to invite people into gospel-centered conversations.
Some of us have been waiting for an opportunity share the gospel with somebody and have always blamed not having the “right time” or being at the “right place” but now there are no excuses. Now-a-days, thanks to COVID-19, every time is the right time and the digital space is the only place. This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Go invite people into a gospel conversation with you.
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:30-31 ESV
Philip was travelling from one place to another and encounters an Ethiopian eunuch who was searching for God and all Philip had to do to engage this eunuch was invite him into a conversation so that he could share the gospel. There are four truths that we can learn from this encounter that we can apply in our digital spaces today:
Truth 1: Opportunities are available if you’re willing to run
Honestly, the only reason Philip was inserted into this chapter here was because he was willing to chase after God’s leaning. For way too long, many of us have been on the sideline just waiting for opportunities to fall onto our laps. But Philip jumped at an opportunity before it was even a real opportunity for him.
If you read the entire passage, Philip was travelling through from one place to another. This opportunity to engage with an important person only occurred because he was willing to take a chance and trust God to engage with a stranger (v29).
Truth 2: People are searching for answers
I don’t think I need to explain this in real depth, but the truth of the matter is, most people are not against you nor are they against who you believe. In fact, most people are searching for who you already have a relationship with. That searching only becomes intensified in times of crisis such as the one we’re experiencing in America today. People who don’t know where hope comes from; they are desperately looking for the source of hope– Jesus Christ.
Truth 3: Most people have information overload
The eunuch says in verse 31, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Have you ever Googled something you were curious about? Do you see all those “O”s at the bottom of the page? People today are so overloaded on information that they need guides to help them discern what is good information and what is bad information. Google, a few years ago, developed an algorithm to help people discern that by providing the “most relevant” sites on top. They do this based on how various sources of information have helped others, guestimating on accuracy based on crowd volume.
This is a good method, but you and I have a better method — the gospel. If people are looking for good news, there is none better than the person of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. Help people navigate the reality of our society today with the gospel. It’s such a powerful tool to help people cut through the chaff.
Truth 4: Searching people need a guide they can engage
People are not looking for gurus or experts. They are just looking for somebody who is willing to engage them and be real about it. Case in point, you’ve learned to fix that hole in your drywall watching an eight year old boy who did it on YouTube that didn’t make you feel stupid trying to educate yourself on fixing drywall.
You have a personality and you have a certain audience that you are capable of engaging, why don’t you use this opportunity to invite people into engagement. There are so many platforms to engage people who are searching, they are just waiting for you to reach out.
Prayer: God, help us encounter and engage with somebody digitally and share our knowledge of truth of who you are in our lives, so you can fill the void in theirs through this time of instability in our country. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
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