One of the days this week, Fearless Unity and Team Telios had the opportunity to go to one of the university campuses and run the English Corner booth at the Freshman Fair. This particular English Corner is associated with the church we are working with. Our job was to tell people about the English Corner and hand out fliers of information on it. As foreigners, we are much more likely to be listened to, so Leo felt we would be a good draw for the English Corner booth. We had a lot of fun handing out fliers, talking to students, singing praise songs, and clowning around with our contacts. I loved bringing the light of Jesus onto a Chinese college campus! I even had a really cool contact come out of it, which I’ll share in a later post.
As I was handing out fliers, I saw a parallel between handing out fliers and sharing the Gospel. See, I stood on the street, a bundle of fliers in my hand, smiling and saying a simple “Hello!” as I handed a flier to students. And I noticed something. There were some students who smiled back at me and joyfully took a flier, reading intently as they walked away. Others grabbed a flier as they walked by, clearly not interested, but grabbing what was handed to them out of habit. And still others avoided eye contact and walked away, ignoring what I offered them.
During the day, as I noticed the three types of students, a parallel opened up in my mind. I have free information about the most important of “clubs,” the Body of Christ. I have the invitation for it, which is the Gospel. And when I share the Gospel, there will be three different types of listeners. There will be people who joyfully receive the Gospel, eager to learn more and to grow in faith. These are the Kingdom workers, who will in turn spread the Gospel themselves and become strong members of the Body. Then there are those who take in the Gospel because it is handed to them, but fail to really ingest it and allow it to change their lives. These might be people who accept the Gospel, but only as a means to get into Heaven, instead of desiring an intimate relationship with their Savior. Or these might be people who listen to the Gospel politely, may even agree with it, but fail to accept it. And the third type of listeners are those who refuse to hear the Gospel, or reject it outright.
Dear reader, which type of “student” are you? Do you desire a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus? Hear me when I tell you that Jesus loved you so much that He died for you, as a substitute for your sins. Because no matter who you are, no matter how “good” you think you are, you sin. The stink of your sin cannot be tolerated, and you are separated from Jesus. But He hung on a cross, bloodied and beaten, and sacrificed Himself for your sake, so that He can bridge the separation. The God of the universe, the Creator, the King of Kings, loved you (YOU!) so much that He made the ultimate show of love. But it didn’t stop there. See, Jesus came to earth as a man. But He was still fully God. And so the grave couldn’t hold Him. He rose again! He conquered death and sin in order to bring you into a relationship with Him! And the only thing you have to do is to accept this free gift. Some things really are that perfect! There is nothing you can do to earn this…NOTHING! But how marvelous, how wonderful, is God’s great love for us that He wants us to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Will you accept him? What’s stopping you from grabbing this flier?
