So I'm sitting in the car, trying really hard not to watch the traffic on the Jersey Turnpike, thinking.
I had some Jehovah Witnesses at my door the other day and I'm still thinking about how I handled it.
Standing in the kitchen, taking my cold meds, wondering if it's natural for a cold to last a month because if it is my chances of that happening are high. Glancing at the dishes wishing they would wash themselves and noticing that the dog has lost it. Completely berserk, she's chasing her tail, barking and pawing the front door. In my medicated stupor I go to the door.
"Hi, honey, how old is your dog?"
"Um, she's a puppy so if you don't mind I'll just keep the screen door closed. How can I help you", I said instantly realizing that the somberly dressed ladies on my door where carrying watchtower magazines and bibles.
"Do you feel that the world today is worse than ever? Getting more violent by the day? Does it worry you?"
"No, I don't feel the world is getting worse everyday but I think CNN would like you to believe it is. I'm not losing sleep at night over any violent acts."
This momentarily confused her but she plowed on just the same, "Let me read to you from the bible."
It was something from Psalm about God being our refuge and strength. It was a nice passage. Before she could say any more I interjected, "Thank you ladies, for reading me scripture. It's never a problem to open my door to hear the Word of God."
"I see you have a Watchtower magazine, Do you know Mark Schneider? I work in his office and he has a stack of Watchtower Magazines available at all times."
"Yes, we know Mark, tell him we said Hi."
"I'll do that. Now I need to get back to my dishes before my cold meds tell me its nap time. Have a lovely day ladies." And with that I firmly closed the door and went up to stare at my dishes. Wondering if I'd done the right thing.
It's not like Jehovah witnesses are vampires but just in case I don't want to invite them in my house. They very well could be anything, I really can't trust people who don't celebrate holidays. Call me shallow.
So back to me cringing on the Jersey Turnpike.
How are we supposed to deal with people?
Are we supposed to have 3 minute testimonies? Ready in a heart beat to sum God up in our lives to share with everyone?
I'm thinking no.
I'm thinking that we are supposed to meet needs.
This got me to thinking about going to the Doctor's office.
You start with a nurse, who takes down basic info and takes your temp, weight, blood pressure, etc... You then describe your dilemma to the nurse.
When the Doctor gets he/she reviews the information the nurse took down and asks you for more information.
You talk. Communicating your need.
Then the Doctor recommends the plan of care.
I think this is the formula we should be following as Christians.
We should let people know we're here to help but when they arrive we should start by listening. Then more listening should take place. Only after they are done telling us what they need to say should we offer a solution.
After we've listened.
How could this look? We could hold church garage sales, offering to pick up stuff for people. Once at their homes we can listen. We could maybe offer a card that works as a receipt for taxes that maybe has our website on it but no more. Continuing to listen. Not witnessing but communicating and maybe helping them clean house.
We could have people come into the food pantry and instead of a system that feels like we're selling a timeshare (up sell them than give then the promised freebie) we smile and just give.
I'm thinking if we just pitched in and helped people, listening we'd accomplish more for the kingdom than a 3 minute testimony.
Theirs probably nothing wrong with practicing your testimony until you've got it down to three minutes. It might sound like an infomercial but people love infomercials. However, I should probably point out that the good Doctor didn't really need to listen to you either. Your blood pressure, weight, temp, etc...tell the story pretty well without all your extra input. Oh, it helps but what it really does is help the person in need feel cared about.
Which is way more important that slapping a fix on something.
So as I think about how I handled my front door witnesses, I'm happy that I was pleasant and just listened. I didn't need to ruin their day. They weren't likely to change their minds and quite frankly that's God's job. I've been called to the harvest. Which is hard work but also quite easy.
The hard part is listening.
I had some Jehovah Witnesses at my door the other day and I'm still thinking about how I handled it.
Standing in the kitchen, taking my cold meds, wondering if it's natural for a cold to last a month because if it is my chances of that happening are high. Glancing at the dishes wishing they would wash themselves and noticing that the dog has lost it. Completely berserk, she's chasing her tail, barking and pawing the front door. In my medicated stupor I go to the door.
"Hi, honey, how old is your dog?"
"Um, she's a puppy so if you don't mind I'll just keep the screen door closed. How can I help you", I said instantly realizing that the somberly dressed ladies on my door where carrying watchtower magazines and bibles.
"Do you feel that the world today is worse than ever? Getting more violent by the day? Does it worry you?"
"No, I don't feel the world is getting worse everyday but I think CNN would like you to believe it is. I'm not losing sleep at night over any violent acts."
This momentarily confused her but she plowed on just the same, "Let me read to you from the bible."
It was something from Psalm about God being our refuge and strength. It was a nice passage. Before she could say any more I interjected, "Thank you ladies, for reading me scripture. It's never a problem to open my door to hear the Word of God."
"I see you have a Watchtower magazine, Do you know Mark Schneider? I work in his office and he has a stack of Watchtower Magazines available at all times."
"Yes, we know Mark, tell him we said Hi."
"I'll do that. Now I need to get back to my dishes before my cold meds tell me its nap time. Have a lovely day ladies." And with that I firmly closed the door and went up to stare at my dishes. Wondering if I'd done the right thing.
It's not like Jehovah witnesses are vampires but just in case I don't want to invite them in my house. They very well could be anything, I really can't trust people who don't celebrate holidays. Call me shallow.
So back to me cringing on the Jersey Turnpike.
How are we supposed to deal with people?
Are we supposed to have 3 minute testimonies? Ready in a heart beat to sum God up in our lives to share with everyone?
I'm thinking no.
I'm thinking that we are supposed to meet needs.
This got me to thinking about going to the Doctor's office.
You start with a nurse, who takes down basic info and takes your temp, weight, blood pressure, etc... You then describe your dilemma to the nurse.
When the Doctor gets he/she reviews the information the nurse took down and asks you for more information.
You talk. Communicating your need.
Then the Doctor recommends the plan of care.
I think this is the formula we should be following as Christians.
We should let people know we're here to help but when they arrive we should start by listening. Then more listening should take place. Only after they are done telling us what they need to say should we offer a solution.
After we've listened.
How could this look? We could hold church garage sales, offering to pick up stuff for people. Once at their homes we can listen. We could maybe offer a card that works as a receipt for taxes that maybe has our website on it but no more. Continuing to listen. Not witnessing but communicating and maybe helping them clean house.
We could have people come into the food pantry and instead of a system that feels like we're selling a timeshare (up sell them than give then the promised freebie) we smile and just give.
I'm thinking if we just pitched in and helped people, listening we'd accomplish more for the kingdom than a 3 minute testimony.
Theirs probably nothing wrong with practicing your testimony until you've got it down to three minutes. It might sound like an infomercial but people love infomercials. However, I should probably point out that the good Doctor didn't really need to listen to you either. Your blood pressure, weight, temp, etc...tell the story pretty well without all your extra input. Oh, it helps but what it really does is help the person in need feel cared about.
Which is way more important that slapping a fix on something.
So as I think about how I handled my front door witnesses, I'm happy that I was pleasant and just listened. I didn't need to ruin their day. They weren't likely to change their minds and quite frankly that's God's job. I've been called to the harvest. Which is hard work but also quite easy.
The hard part is listening.
