As I left our office parking lot, I noticed an ice cream truck racing down the
street.
It was playing its music while traveling at least 45 mph. About 20 minutes
later I returned with my lunch to the office and again I heard the music and saw
the same truck, going the other direction, at full speed!
I walked into the building and told a coworker what I had just witnessed and
she said, “The other day I saw the same ice cream truck parked at the local
competitor’s ice cream shop!”
Surely that truck sells some ice cream. But to do so, the truck will have to do
three things:
- Slow down to attract attention in the neighborhood. Be catchable!
- Eventually come to a stop to conduct business. Be approachable!
- Believe in and consume its own product. Be believable!
As you may have guessed by now, I want to make a comparison of the ice
cream truck to our Christian lives.
Christians run from one Christian event to another, meeting only with other
Christians. We are so hurried doing “Church” that we are distant and out of
touch with the lives of people around us. We have to spend time with people
outside our circle in order to influence them. Be catchable!
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden”
(Matthew 5:14).
Is your light like a meteor, producing only a quick flash in the sky? Or is your
light more like the illumination of a well-lit town on a hill?
Sometimes people outside the church feel that a local congregation has a no-
vacancy sign on the front door. They feel kind of like Mary and Joseph the night
Jesus was born; as if the church is saying to the rest of the community, “There is
no room for you here.”
So many people are left to seek out friendships and community at a gym, a
civic organization, or a bar. Sadly, many people live life in isolation and
loneliness. We need to let the world know there is a place for them at the Lord’s
table. Be approachable!
If Jesus is our Lord, then His teaching and Spirit will transform our lives in a
convincing way. Such real change will make people notice how our lives are
different, even more satisfying than their own. Only then will someone want to try
out the amazing flavors of the spirit-filled life for themselves. Be believable!
This is how Jesus said people would know us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Are you catchable, approachable, and believable?
0 Comments