I spent some time speaking with a woman this week who is about to begin a six month course with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.If you’re not aware, the JWs are a cult that started some 170 years ago when a man named Charles Russel decided he was right and every one on the planet was wrong. He created his own religion, claimed to be a prophet (though his prophecies never materialized) and he twisted the teachings of the Bible so much that his followers ultimately wrote their own in 1954. The JWs are decidedly not Christian, but they are often well meaning and loving.

A mutual friend had asked this woman to speak with me before she committed to the JWs and so we meet yesterday to talk. I recognized fairly quickly that, though she was genuinely seeking truth, no theological discussion was going to sway her. For a year her JW friends had loved her and cared for her. They showed concern for her when no one else had. She felt so accepted by them that she wasn’t able to truly consider that what she was being taught was false.

My point? We need to be like that. We (including me) need to put others above tasks and schedules…just like the JWs do. We need to make ourselves available and care enough for people that they see and feel the love of Jesus in us. We’re on the side of truth–God is for us–when we love others and share the gospel with them, we’ll see him work in powerful ways. 

We can’t let ourselves overlook people or tell ourselves that we’ll reach out “some day.” Let’s commit to loving the people in our oikos and inviting them to life group and to our Sunday gatherings. Begin by praying for people and caring genuinely for them…you’ll see God open doors every time. 

This Sunday we jump back into our series on spiritual warfare. Who could you invite this Sunday to join us?