Get Real!

"You Christians one kind one. Got ulterior motive in being friends with us. Once we say we are not interested in your religion, you disappear..."

This was one of the examples shared during my CG out, when we were on the topic of evangelism. This example in particular strikes me hard as a youth worker. And I do feel guilty about it. I think about the many students whom I have contacted throughout the ministry and how in wanting to be relevant in my sharing with them and creating an opportunity to share, I would spend time smsing, playing, going out with them etc. But once the gospel is shared and there seems to be no positive response, I would then put them aside and start focusing on other students. It is a dilemma. On one hand, I have only but one life and 24 hours a day. And there are many many young people out there who have not heard the gospel before. I can’t possible just invest my whole time on a group of people who are not responding to the gospel. But on the other hand, have I become like a factory worker, pragmatic and just number-crazy to want to reach out to as many as possible and chucking those who responded negatively aside? It is then no wonder why that particular friend would feel this way towards Christians.

I believe that this tension will continue to exist. There is no way I can forgo quantity for quality (we need to be relevant in our sharing) and quality for quantity (the harvest is plentiful and night is coming where no one can work). What I believe this calls for is genuineness. The way I view each individual I meet, must be seen as lives, which God loves. That should be the motivating factor for me to spend time with him and share to him. If I view an individual as a number to achieve, it will eventually show and my relating with him will be seen as very fake. This is probably one of the biggest problem Christians have in reaching out to people. We are more concerned about targets and accounting to our leaders but we forget why in the first place we are doing this. Especially in the ministry I am in, I would need to constantly remind myself to be real and genuine in my relating with the young people I meet in the course of my ministry. It is just so easy to go into a routine and forget why I am doing what I am doing. That is why this work I am doing is something I cannot do with my own strength but only with all His energy…