Live in Tension

So many times when we are witnessing to nonbelievers, we try to do it on our own terms. We have tracts, nifty little Bible-verse salvation plans, and even arguments to prove God’s existence, and we often approach people with these methods we’re acquired when trying to witness. In no way do I believe that it is wrong to have these methods all planned out and ready to whip out, however, I do not believe that it is the way in which we should approach people. We need to meet people on their terms, be incarnated. Too often we try to make witnessing about us: about what we know and how we can “help” people. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe this “help” that you are trying to offer is actually hurting people? That’s what happens when we try to live in our comfort zone.
We make ministry about us, we want to do what we know we can do. We as Christians are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. We need to love our neighbor AS ourselves - not like ourselves, as ourselves. Comfort is what we want for ourselves, so why not provide that for our unbelieving neighbor? Though it is definitely possible, it is rare to find a witnessing situation where both parties remain comfortable the entire time. So what does that mean for us? In order to give our neighbor what we would want for ourselves, comfort, we must sacrifice our own comfort. More often than not, both parties cannot be completely comfortable, and we need to be the ones to sacrifice for our neighbor. We must live in tension.