REALSample

What Do They Have That I Don't Have?

By Troy Wierman

It was a beautiful day at a village in the highlands of Guatemala. Gateway children’s ministry and medical teams were busy serving residents inside a local school as construction teams spruced up the walls with new paint. Though it was the end of a physically demanding day, laughter, smiles, and children’s worship music saturated the atmosphere.

The founder of the local ministry we were serving grabbed my hand and dragged me to the other side of the courtyard. She took me to an indigenous pastor who was ministering to the residents waiting to see the medical team. I could see he was lovingly praying for and sharing the gospel with the people. He proceeded to tell me the story of how he became a pastor.

Five years earlier, he was an alcoholic and worshipped false gods of the Mayan religion. While stumbling through the streets, he noticed unusual activity at the school. Peering from outside the fence into the courtyard, he saw a group of foreign missionaries genuinely caring for and loving the people of his village. At that moment, he thought, Why are these people helping my friends with such joy? What do they have that I don’t have?

The way they were ministering to his friends, showing God’s light, prompted him to enter the courtyard that day. That’s when he discovered what they had was a relationship with the one true God, and that was missing in his life. He ended his story in tears, sharing with us that he recognized several of the Gateway team members as the same people he watched through the fence five years ago. 

In the book Lifestyle Evangelism by Joe Aldrich, an evangelistic lifestyle “calls Christians to live an attractive, winsome, holy life that captures the attention of neighbors and coworkers to earn a chance to share the gospel.”

Living an evangelistic lifestyle makes it easy and natural to form relationships with people that open the door to conversations about what Jesus has done in your life and can do in theirs. To paraphrase Matthew 5:15–16, be a light in your community to attract people. You don’t have to be in a foreign country to live evangelistically. In your everyday life, always be ready to give an encouraging word, lend a helping hand, show a smile, and comfort others. When you do these things to glorify God, and not yourself, you’re playing a part in fulfilling the Great Commission!

I challenge you to tell others about the Good News of Jesus and live as He lived, filled with the fruit of the Spirit. This is how we can truly live a life of evangelism.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, saturate my every action so I can live a lifestyle that attracts others to You. Give me the words to draw people to You and glorify Your name. Tap me on the shoulder when I glorify myself. I want to be a light, and I want to shine for You to prompt others to open up to You. I love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." John 15:12–13