Were you raised in the church?
A few years ago, I was at Bret Harte High School speaking to the Christian club, and I asked them if they see kids alone at lunch. All the kids agreed that they did, and I asked them if they had ever invited them to this lunchtime gathering or youth group. They unanimously stated no.
I went to explain to the kids that I was an ADHD kid who was challenging to be around. I was, as my wife describes, a “porcupine personality.” These kinds of people want to get close to anyone but end up poking them with their quills. As desperate as they are for friendships, their personality kills any chance.
I explained that I was not raised in the church and yet how desperate I was to find a place to belong. I was the person Jesus talked about when He said He came for the sick. Then, as a thirty-year-old man, I began to hear about how big of a Christian club was on campus during my years at Bret Harte, and all I could think about was why no one invited me. How different could my life have been if I had been introduced to Jesus?
This week, we will look at the parable of the sower. We all have opportunities to invite people to church or, in the words of Jesus, be a sower. I know each of us has that “porcupine” in our lives. They live next door; they work in the cubical across from us, and their kids are in our kids’ class at school.
Remember that hurt people, hurt people. The simple fact is most hurt people become “porcupines” and are challenging to be around. One thing Carah taught me when we ran AWANA was to see past a child’s poor behavior and look for something good that gets obscured by bad habits. Once you can see something good, looking past the complex issues becomes much more manageable.
So, who can you invite into this story of Jesus and become a sower? I am forever grateful that a sower knocked on my front door and gave us a meal during a difficult time in our lives, and one year later, that seed germinated into a confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in my life.
Never underestimate what God can do with a follower who is faithful and brave to go out of their comfort zone. See you Sunday at 9:30 AM.
In Him,
Pastor Chris