Disturbed

Jed is disturbed by the actions and beliefs of people who call themselves Christians and he disdains the notion of putting his faith in the Lord. Yet, for as argumentative as he is, he still loves to engage in conversation about God and what the Bible says. Jed is sort of an odd bird. People don’t tend to get along with him. I found early on that his mouth goes far beyond where my ears want to go and he doesn’t take hints real well. But the Lord began to convict me for my lack of patience with Jed. Rather than engage him in conversation, I was too quick to try and avoid him. I had to learn to put aside my agenda and listen. Gradually, he began to open up about things that caused him pain. Because I took time to befriend him, he went out of his way to help me in my job. The day will come when I believe Jed will give his heart to Jesus. I suspect most of his arguing is a smokescreen to avoid having to yield his life to the Lord.

Meditation
Mark 6:19,20—So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, because Herod was in awe of John and was protecting him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very disturbed, yet would hear him gladly.

It would be interesting to find out what John the Baptist thought of King Herod. Herod threw him in prison because his wife Herodias wanted him dead. This was because John told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (6:18). Yet the sinner admired the saint and took the time to engage him in conversation. Who knows what the two of them talked about behind cell walls? Even though the truth greatly bothered him, Herod evidently looked forward to his talks with the prophet.

Do we go out of our away to avoid sharing truth with those who disturb us or seem bent on sinning? As best we can tell, Herod rejected John’s message but that did not stop Jesus’ cousin from sharing. If God gave up on people because they were disturbed, Saul would never have become Paul. If we neglect sharing with spiritual antagonists we may avoid losing our head, but for sure we will not gain any hearts. Better to be jailed for telling the truth than to be free to say nothing.

Inspiration
Indisputably, evangelism is not a priority to most Christians. Less that one out of ten said that they have ever intentionally built a relationship with someone in the hope of being able to lead the person to Christ. Fewer than one of every five believers claimed to know a non-Christian well enough to share their faith with that individual in a context of trust and credibility.—George Barna in Growing True Disciples