A Christian friend of mine used to go into bars with another Christian friend of his. They would walk in separately as if they didn't know each other. One would drink coffee and the other would sip on a beer. The two would walk up near people and act out a skit. My friend drinking the coffee would witness to the his friend drinking the beer (who would act as if he were a little buzzed), and he would then share the Gospel message with him. The one drinking the beer would then speak to the people around him saying, "This guy here is telling me that Jesus died for my sins and that if I put my faith in Him, that I could be forgiven, and saved from judgment.... is that true?" The usual responses were people in a bar agreeing and telling the man that this was indeed true.
The end result was that there would usually be drunken people affirming and sharing the gospel message that was first shared by my coffee sipping friend. This creative style of evangelism may seem unorthodox, and perhaps borderline dangerous, but the point is there was light being shined into the darkness, and the seed of God's word was being sown into people's hearts. While I personally feel this is pretty extreme, and that my acting skills probably couldn't pull this off, I also honestly believe that they will never fully realize the impact they had in people's lives until they get to heaven one day.
Maybe our first reaction is that this was too far out there, or that a Christian shouldn't step foot in such a place. I've heard other opinions that this is deceitful, and even have heard it referred to once as a "pathetic ploy" by a non-christian friend of mine. Although this is an unconventional means of evangelism, I personally applaud the effort taken to reach out into a place of spiritual darkness, and to shine the light of Jesus Christ.
Before you rush to judge my friend for being in this place, you may want to also consider that while Jesus walked the earth in the flesh, as a man, He also preferred going into the darkest and most undesirable of places, and then bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into people's lives. I personally think this is a very courageous thing, to step out of our comfort zones and to go out to reach the lost like this.
Back in Jesus' time walking on the earth there were places that the Jewish people simply did not go. Samaria was one such place. Samaria separated Galilee to the north, from Jerusalem in the south, and although the shortest way to each place was to travel through Samaria, the Jews despised the Samaritan people so much that they would normally go around their country, preferring to take a longer route.
Jesus however, would eat with tax collectors, speak to sinners, heal lepers, and yes... even walk though Samaria as He would travel.On one such journey, Jesus stopped at a well near a small town in Samaria called Sychar. There He met a woman who was there. Women, in biblical times were consider to be a man's property. They virtually had no rights, and customarily, it was an unthinkable thing for a Rabbi to condescend enough to speak to a woman. It was also an unthinkable thing for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan. Jesus chose to cross both of these cultural lines at one time when He spoke to this Samaritan woman.
John 4:7-26 says,
Maybe you feel like a modern-day Samaritan yourself. I remember once when I was a young man. I didn't know Jesus as my Lord at that time. I used to hit the bars too, but not to minister to people as my friend did. After a while I wanted a change in my life, but didn't know what to do. I confided with a cousin who I would go clubbing with about this, and we both decided that we should go to church. I didn't have the nicest clothes, and neither did he. We randomly picked a church and went. We both felt out of place as we were under dressed. I also had long hair, which I learned later was frowned upon by this particular denomination. some people were friendly, but my cousin and I also received some real funny looks. The overall experience was that we felt as if we didn't belong there, so we didn't go back. Looking back at it now, I felt like a Samaritan sitting in a temple full of Jewish people.
Unfortunately the Jewish people of Jesus time on earth were very overly concerned with not defiling themselves by going near the Samaritans. Jesus showed them (and us) the true heart of God, that loves the unlovable, that desires the undesirable, and seeks those who are lost.
The bible has plenty to say about avoiding sin, but Christians also need to resist being so preoccupied with being sinless that they shun the very people who are trapped in sin - the ones that Jesus died for so they could be freed from sin. Jesus showed us how to reach out to the sinner, while not sinning Himself. How? By letting them know they have value and that they are loved!
I believe Mark Driscoll, in his book "Radical Reformission" summed it up beautifully when he wrote,
Where is your Samaria? Is it a culture you are prejudice against? Is it a section of town that you look down on? Are you harboring racist feelings or holding onto a stereotype about a certain group of people?
I believe God is looking for Christians who be willing to step out in faith, and go where they would not usually go in order to reach the lost. This may not necessarily mean into a bar, but it definitely will mean stepping out of our protective bubble of Church friends, and creating new spheres of contact with people. What good is salt if it is left in a salt shaker? We as Christians are called to be salt that has a purpose - that is - to season the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.
To be willing to say, "Yes Lord!" would be our first step. We should then pray for God to cross our path with whoever He wishes to regardless of who they are. What could happen? Well, in the case with the woman at the well, she ran into the nearby town, told everyone there about Jesus, they accepted Him into their town and He stayed there a few days. The end result was that lives were changed forever, and all because He didn't choose to walk around Samaria, but instead chose to walk into it because He loves them.
Where is YOUR Samaria?
The end result was that there would usually be drunken people affirming and sharing the gospel message that was first shared by my coffee sipping friend. This creative style of evangelism may seem unorthodox, and perhaps borderline dangerous, but the point is there was light being shined into the darkness, and the seed of God's word was being sown into people's hearts. While I personally feel this is pretty extreme, and that my acting skills probably couldn't pull this off, I also honestly believe that they will never fully realize the impact they had in people's lives until they get to heaven one day.
Maybe our first reaction is that this was too far out there, or that a Christian shouldn't step foot in such a place. I've heard other opinions that this is deceitful, and even have heard it referred to once as a "pathetic ploy" by a non-christian friend of mine. Although this is an unconventional means of evangelism, I personally applaud the effort taken to reach out into a place of spiritual darkness, and to shine the light of Jesus Christ.
Before you rush to judge my friend for being in this place, you may want to also consider that while Jesus walked the earth in the flesh, as a man, He also preferred going into the darkest and most undesirable of places, and then bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into people's lives. I personally think this is a very courageous thing, to step out of our comfort zones and to go out to reach the lost like this.
Back in Jesus' time walking on the earth there were places that the Jewish people simply did not go. Samaria was one such place. Samaria separated Galilee to the north, from Jerusalem in the south, and although the shortest way to each place was to travel through Samaria, the Jews despised the Samaritan people so much that they would normally go around their country, preferring to take a longer route.
Jesus however, would eat with tax collectors, speak to sinners, heal lepers, and yes... even walk though Samaria as He would travel.On one such journey, Jesus stopped at a well near a small town in Samaria called Sychar. There He met a woman who was there. Women, in biblical times were consider to be a man's property. They virtually had no rights, and customarily, it was an unthinkable thing for a Rabbi to condescend enough to speak to a woman. It was also an unthinkable thing for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan. Jesus chose to cross both of these cultural lines at one time when He spoke to this Samaritan woman.
John 4:7-26 says,
I find it to be significantly revealing of Jesus' character that after He directly revealed Himself as the Messiah to this Samaritan woman at the well. A good PR man would have advised Jesus to reveal such a truth to the religious leaders of the day, but Jesus placed such a value upon this woman, that He chose to reveal the greatest truth in the universe, His very deity, to a woman who was deemed a social outcast among His people. Why? Because Jesus valued this person. He treated this woman as if she were somebody, and guess what? She was somebody to Jesus, and so are you!7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Maybe you feel like a modern-day Samaritan yourself. I remember once when I was a young man. I didn't know Jesus as my Lord at that time. I used to hit the bars too, but not to minister to people as my friend did. After a while I wanted a change in my life, but didn't know what to do. I confided with a cousin who I would go clubbing with about this, and we both decided that we should go to church. I didn't have the nicest clothes, and neither did he. We randomly picked a church and went. We both felt out of place as we were under dressed. I also had long hair, which I learned later was frowned upon by this particular denomination. some people were friendly, but my cousin and I also received some real funny looks. The overall experience was that we felt as if we didn't belong there, so we didn't go back. Looking back at it now, I felt like a Samaritan sitting in a temple full of Jewish people.
Unfortunately the Jewish people of Jesus time on earth were very overly concerned with not defiling themselves by going near the Samaritans. Jesus showed them (and us) the true heart of God, that loves the unlovable, that desires the undesirable, and seeks those who are lost.
The bible has plenty to say about avoiding sin, but Christians also need to resist being so preoccupied with being sinless that they shun the very people who are trapped in sin - the ones that Jesus died for so they could be freed from sin. Jesus showed us how to reach out to the sinner, while not sinning Himself. How? By letting them know they have value and that they are loved!
I believe Mark Driscoll, in his book "Radical Reformission" summed it up beautifully when he wrote,
"One of the underlying keys to reformission is knowing that neither the freedom of Christ nor our freedom in Christ is intended to permit us to dance as close to sin as possible without crossing the line. But both are intended to permit us to dance as close to sinners as possible by crossing the lines that unnecessarily separate the people God has found from those he is still seeking."How sad is it though that many times we toss the sinner into the sin dumpster, wipe our hands, and walk away feeling like we are holy? This is the opposite of what Jesus would do for He loves people, but how do we make this practical for us today in our everyday life?
Where is your Samaria? Is it a culture you are prejudice against? Is it a section of town that you look down on? Are you harboring racist feelings or holding onto a stereotype about a certain group of people?
I believe God is looking for Christians who be willing to step out in faith, and go where they would not usually go in order to reach the lost. This may not necessarily mean into a bar, but it definitely will mean stepping out of our protective bubble of Church friends, and creating new spheres of contact with people. What good is salt if it is left in a salt shaker? We as Christians are called to be salt that has a purpose - that is - to season the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.
To be willing to say, "Yes Lord!" would be our first step. We should then pray for God to cross our path with whoever He wishes to regardless of who they are. What could happen? Well, in the case with the woman at the well, she ran into the nearby town, told everyone there about Jesus, they accepted Him into their town and He stayed there a few days. The end result was that lives were changed forever, and all because He didn't choose to walk around Samaria, but instead chose to walk into it because He loves them.
Where is YOUR Samaria?
