He said, "...maybe our actions are just too loud for our voice to be heard.". We were talking about discipleship-spreading the word of God and the challenges that awaits us once we decided to share the good news. Last night, once again, we had discussed about the same topic after we had read the gospel for this Sunday's mass which is Mark 6:7-13 and because I chose not to speak last night, I decided to share my thoughts here.
There are a lot of reasons why we sometimes fail when we try to evangelize to other people and I think that number one reason is our self. Maybe what we are telling our brothers and sisters are very much opposite to how we live, how we act and how we treat other people once we are not evangelizing.
A sister raised a question last night and asked what she should do in order to bring her friends back to God and I would like to share some of the things I had heard and thought.
Praying for them and praying before we act on what to do is, I think, the number one thing that we should do. In the gospel for July 12, 2009 (Mark 6:7-13), Jesus instructed His disciples to bring nothing in their journey except for a walking stick. I had understood the walking stick as our willingness and effort to reach out to other people. We don't need to prepare at all. We don't need to write down or plan the things that we should tell them. I believe that Jesus asked us not to bring anything else because He will just equip us with the right words or things once we are already in the situation. I believe that how we approach and share to them differs for every person and situation. One thing might not work for the other.
The second thing that we should do is maybe check our selves and our life. I believe that people should see a different glow in us, a light that will shine no matter how bad our situation is. I remember when we were still back home in the Philippines our playmates would often think of us as rich in our area. Our home was just average and very simple, we ride public vehicles, eat simple foods and live a simple life but still our playmates would label us as rich. My younger brother would often wonder about that and had asked my mom about it a couple of times, even until now, and my mom would just repeatedly answer "...because we are a child of God. We are rich because He had given us everything." I guess once people will notice a shine on you; happiness even during the times of trouble, contentment despite of the lack of things, hope, love and peace even in times of crisis, maybe, that will be the best example that you can share to them about how being a Christian is a great thing.
The last thing that I can come up with is to be patient. God will just give us the right time to talk to them about Him and by that time, I am sure, that He had already prepared us and the person that we have to evangelize with. I believe that God is powerful. He can change the heart of His people and make them believe in Him within an instant. However, God wants us to help. He wants us to do something. When the right time comes, I believe that God had already prepared their heart to listen to us. As for the moment, while we are still waiting for the right time, I believe that praying for them is the best thing that we can do.
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