“I am the way and the truth and the life.  no one comes to the Father except through me.”   john 14:6

you know the scenario. you’re outside working in the yard or washing your car. perhaps throwing the ball with your dog. you’re enjoying the weather, away from everything noisy and electronic.

or maybe you’re inside your home. relaxing. spending time with family in conversation or around the table. watching something funny on television. reading a book. checking a post.

outside.

inside.

either way, some down time.

and then you see them.

they travel in pairs. they carry a religious book or a handful of pamphlets.

“missionaries” from a group that believes a bit different from the one you’re connected to.

they’re walking up your street.

in fact, they’re walking up your driveway.

at this point, things move in one of two directions: (1) you run for your life. you become immediately unavailable. (2) you gear up for a religious conversation battle. you’ll show them. you have strategies and you intend to win.

this afternoon i found myself in just this situation. out of the corner of my eye i saw them approaching my driveway. i was busy with something in the yard, and i hoped they would keep walking.

they didn’t.

“hello there, can we speak with you for a moment?”

“um, sure, okay. but you probably won’t want to speak with me for long.”

“why would you say that?”

“well, I’m sort of a Jesus freak, so whatever you want to share, you know, i’m gonna come back to Him. and you’re from… ?”

(they told me their affiliation.)

“right. well, i’m a bit familiar with your book and your beliefs, and i know there are several points on which we’ll disagree.”

“can you give us an example?”

“well, i just know that there are some foundational issues you have that are not in line with what the scriptures teach.”

“what do you mean?  what church do you attend?”

(pssst.  mary… mary…. throw your net on the other side of the boat.  you’ll catch more there.)

(what? go where? do what?)

(mary, this isn’t a competition or a debate.  just tell them about me.  keep it simple.  talk about me.  the gospel.  my gospel.  it’s simple.  talk about us, mary.  tell them how I’ve changed you.)

i felt the muscles in my face relax. soften.

“what I really want to say is this: i’m all about Jesus. i was raised catholic, i’ve been a methodist, i’ve been a baptist, i’ve been church of God. all great churches, but you know, the church didn’t hang on the cross for me. Jesus did. and honestly, I’m not so much about a particular church as i am about Jesus and the words of Jesus. you see, when i was 15, i spent a lot of time making fun of the christians at my school. really harassing them. irritating them. and do you know how they responded?   they responded by continuing to offer their friendship to me, to the point of inviting me to their church camp. at that camp i heard the gospel preached. heard the claims of Jesus. read his words and what He promises to those who follow Him. and listen, i couldn’t run down the aisle fast enough. i had never heard preaching like that before. never knew what Jesus said, that He claimed to be THE way, truth, and life. that He offers that life to any who will believe, who will follow after Him.  i wanted that Jesus.”

“yes, we believe in Jesus too.”

“that’s so great. because listen, i’ve never been the same since. i was changed completely that day, and i’ve had this peace in my life that i can’t explain. do you have that peace?”

“we follow Jesus Christ.  yes.”

“i’m so glad. because Jesus said many will come to heaven expecting to be invited in, and He will have to tell them He doesn’t know them. even if they did and said things in His name, if they didn’t have relationship with Him, then He won’t recognize them. in fact, God says through the prophet isaiah that He created us for two reasons: to know Him and to believe Him. that’s it. even if we never DO anything FOR God, we are His if we know and believe Him.”

“hmmmm.”

“listen, let’s say you’re big fans of taylor swift. like, seriously, you love the girl. you buy her music, you promote her concerts, you send gifts over to her house, you speak about her to everyone you know; in fact you’re responsible for bringing her a sizable number of followers. but listen, no matter what you’ve contributed toward her fame, we both know that if you walk up to the door and knock, she’ll call the police on you. in fact, while you’re standing on the doorstep recounting all you’ve done for her, she’ll look at you with a blank stare and tell you to leave her property because she doesn’t know you.”

“yes, she will.”

“Jesus said the same thing will happen when some stand before Him at the door to heaven. He will have to say He doesn’t know them.”

“umm-hmm.”

“so here’s where i want to land with you and everyone else who may not believe exactly the same on every theological point. all else aside, every other issue stripped away, if we can gather at the foot of the cross, if we can agree that the work was done on the cross by Jesus, just Jesus, then really that is what matters. that our hearts belong to Jesus.”

“hmmm.  can we leave you a card?”

“sure. and thanks for stopping by. be careful walking around today.”

and they left.

i was actually a little sad to see them go.

but what a privilege it was to speak Jesus over them.

oh, God.  send more.  send any and all, from whatever belief system.  send them to my door.  to my driveway.  let me speak Jesus over them.  no competition.  no debate.  no proving them wrong.  no arguing.  no issues.  no condemnation. just Jesus.   the Way, the Truth, the Life.  just Jesus.  Amen.

i know there are many who will say that i ignored important foundations of the faith today in this exchange. and perhaps i did. i don’t know.

God knows our hearts.

and well, the gospel is supposed to be simple enough for even a child to understand without getting all tangled up.

so here’s what i do know: today the voice of the Savior stopped me. redirected my conversation. replaced my (planned debate) words with a testimony all about Him.

today I got to preach the gospel.

today those girls heard about Jesus.

just Jesus.