In Finally Alive, John Piper’s great recent book about the new birth, he says, “Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don’t seem to care about them.”
Another way of saying this might be, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (PHP 2.3-4). Look to the interests of others. Find people interesting.
For the past year I’ve had the opportunity to take an interest in our postman. Though I had a few interactions with him years ago (we were both in rock ‘n roll bands), he became our postal carrier about a year ago. He’s a cheerful, outgoing guy, and from time to time I’ve been out in the yard when he’s delivered our mail and we’ve chatted for a few minutes. He has a passion for basketball and has coached many girls basketball teams. He truly wants to inspire and encourage them and sounds like an amazing coach. He told me that former players often stay in touch with him years after they play for him.
Yesterday the doorbell rang and he was on my front porch with a couple packages that were too large for our mailbox. We spent a few minutes talking about his most recent team and the tournaments they played in. As we talked he mentioned his desire to always “do the right thing” as a coach, and even mentioned that he prays. So I asked him where he goes to church.
He told me he didn’t go to church and didn’t believe in organized religion, but believes in God and doing good. I asked him if I could take a couple minutes to share how the Bible says we can be accepted by God, and he graciously agreed. So I told him the gospel, and we talked about it briefly, completely amicably. And though he disagreed with me, he said he’d think about it.
As he left I thanked him for listening. He said, “Well sure! You always listen to me when I talk about girls basketball.”
John Piper says, “If you really find their story interesting, and care about them, they may open up to you and want to hear your story – Christ’s story.”
photo by Crashmaster007
Greatly challenged and encouraged by this post. And you’re right about Piper’s book, it really is great.
Hey guys,
Though I don’t comment often, I wanted to let you know that I am really encouraged by your posts. Your posts are consistently thought-provoking, Gospel-centered, and up-lifting. Thanks for taking the time to be used by God in the blog-o-sphere!
Warmly,
Mrs. Hankins
Hi Deek,
Thanks!
Hi Mrs. Hankins,
Thanks for your kind encouragement. In the blog-o-sphere, it’s hard to know how God may be using our feeble efforts, so thanks for letting us know!
That’s really great, Mark. Shouldn’t be such a novel idea to us, should it? To find people interesting, that is. My hubby is such a good example to me of drawing people out and really listening to their stories. I think I’ve grown some as a result of his wonderful influence in this area, but I’m grateful to always be spurred on all the more by testimonies such as you shared here. I want to find people interesting, hear their stories so that they may grant me the privilege of telling them mine (which, like you eloquently wrote, is God’s story).
Hi Briana!
I want to keep growing in this area too. So often I’m so self-centered I miss wonderful opportunities to take an interest in people. Thanks for your encouraging comments!
I guess as one pastor to another we can get so focused ay scoring one for the team or getting another notch on our belts we forget people are not numbers they are people. Thats for the blog and the reminder.
Thanks Isaiah!
I wanted to come back here and let you know this blog post seems to have left a “lasting” impression on me. God has brought those words, “Find people interesting” to mind so many times in the last week or so…especially as I’ve been out w/ neighbors (one a 20 yr. old mom or 2 yr. old twin girls that, in my flesh, I think I have NOTHING in common with…except for the twin thing, of course) and medical personnel (have seen a lot of those recently, too). As I sat in the dentist chair or out on the sidewalk w/ the neighbor girl, God brought this to mind, and it helped shake me out of my self absorption and at least take a stab at trying to connect in some way w/ these folks.
After being asked a simple question of, “So when do you guys eat dinner on these late nights?”, the dental hygenist proceeded to spill many personal and significant events of her life in a matter of 10-15 minutes. And, this from a simple reminder to “find people interesting”.
So, thanks again…and know that some of these posts are going to be direction changing for folks…like me.
Wow, that’s so encouraging, Briana! Thanks so much for sharing this – that’s really great that you’ve been making such an effort to reach out to these folks.