Friends 7 Evangelists 0

Next month I will baptize my friend.

I've hardly known her more than a year or two, but she's been many things to me in that time. At first she was little more than an afterthought. All I knew was that another friend I pray for had a new girlfriend, so I tacked her on to my sometime prayers for him. Then I got to meet her and, one remarkable afternoon, ended up in a discussion of the disappointment she had suffered when she first drew near God. Our friendship grew till my wife and I were bold enough to offer to start a seekers' group in their house, and she was bold enough to accept. We had hardly finished examining Christ's nature and accomplishment when she decided to resume her long interrupted relationship with him. Now in amazement I watch God's characteristics of generosity and concern surge forth, as if they had been in her all along, pent up, waiting to be set free. From the sidelines, I cheer her and Jesus on with all I've got--I'm their biggest fan.

It's taken me a while to learn that sharing the gospel is not about me. It's not my big opportunity to show how charismatic, knowledgeable, sensitive, pious, or persuasive I've become. It's always someone else's game; someone else's life. I am called to the sidelines, to be ever ready to share a mug of hot coffee, remind the team which way the end zone lies, yell "Boo!" at overbearing umps, linger stubbornly in the cold autumn rain or looming defeat. And I've discovered what every true fan knows: such insistent devotion makes every yard pleasing, every touchdown sweeter, every win a triumphant moment we will recount long after we swarm from the stands.

You go girl!
 

September, 2002