In the Gospels we meet a man named Matthew. He was a tax collector. In his day this meant he was a traitor to his people, cast out of the religious and social circles of those who followed God. His circle of friends were thieves, tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. When Jesus met Matthew, he could see past the outer crust to a heart that was soft and ready to enter a relationship with the Savior. Once Matthew became a follower of Jesus, he naturally became a bridge between his two relational worlds.
Matthew had his new friends, Jesus and the disciples. He also had his old friends, a bunch of tax collectors and sinners. Matthew brought them all together at a big party. What a great picture! He did not keep these worlds separate but integrated them. Matthew was a bridge builder. This kind of relational connecting is reckless and powerful. It should be normative in the life of every follower of Jesus.
In your personal life, look for natural opportunities to connect your Christian friends with those who do not yet know Jesus. Have a party and invite friends from both worlds. When you are going to an appropriate church gathering, invite a friend who is open spiritually. If you are part of a social gathering with nonchurched people, see if one of your Christian friends can come along. Make it your mission to be a bridge builder.
In your church, set a goal to have regular events that nonbelievers would enjoy. Be aggressively intentional about having church members invite spiritually disconnected people to these gatherings. At one church where I served, a group of couples met every month to play a card game called euchre. Ten to twenty couples would meet in homes, not on the church campus. They had a blast! One of the great things about these evenings was that people could invite nonchurched friends to come, hang out, play, and have fun. It was a nonthreatening and natural way to connect their worlds. At Shoreline Church we hold occasional “Open Mic Nights.” These are evenings with great refreshments, warm people, and a stage with an open mic. It is always fun to see what the various artists from the church and the community bring as they share the stage, read original poetry, perform music—they have fun and get to know each other. This builds all sorts of wonderful bridges.
You get the picture. God wants us to have strong relationships with Christians. We need to be connected in the church. We should also have rich and growing friendships with people in our community who do not yet know the love and grace of Jesus. We are to let God’s light shine through us in our world. Finally, we should joyfully construct bridges between these two worlds so God can use us to bring his message of grace to the world.
This excerpt is taken from Reckless Faith: Embracing a Life Without Limits by Kevin Harney. © 2012 by Kevin Harney. Used by permission. All rights to this material are reserved. Material is not to be reproduced, scanned, copied or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission from Baker Publishing Group.
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