Initiate: Earning the Right to be Heard

Think about it.  You’re channel surfing on an early Saturday morning looking for your favorite cartoons, and you land on an infomercial selling the newest “must have’ blender.  Odds are you change the channel as quickly as possible.  Why is that?  In our lives, we usually only listen intently to those who have earned the right to be heard.  Our teachers, our parents, and our friends have all earned that right because over the span of your life they have shown that they truly care for your well-being.  It is not different for those in our community who have not yet found Christ.

If this is true, then are you, your family, and your church serving the needs of your community and earning the right to be heard?  The way you live your life, treat your neighbors, and love those you come in contact with will either earn you the right to be heard, or build a barrier towards people receiving the Gospel.  If you aren’t living like Jesus commanded, you are representing Him well. 

If you want to start having conversations about Jesus, you’d better make sure you’ve earned the right to be heard.

Loving Out Loud

Did you know that God loves everyone? That means that every neighbor, classmate, and person we meet is another soul that Jesus died for.  How can we love God and be obedient to Him without loving the people God places in our lives?

Have you ever thought about what Jesus came to this earth to do?  With every action He took, it boils down to Him coming to serve, even to the point of death.  Learning to be like Christ means learning to live a life of sacrifice, because that is what Jesus came to do. Living a life of sacrifice means that we must love out loud. Loving out loud means that we love with purpose- to draw people to God and to the church. We love people, not because we get something out of it, but simply because God loves people.  To love like Jesus means to bring healing to our community by putting others before us.  If we are not representing Christ in this way, then we have not earned the right to speak His message.

Living On Purpose

The manner in which we live often communicates our message before we even open our mouths.  For instance, if you choose to leave church and immediately chew out the waitress at lunch, your lifestyle is not matching the message of Christ.

Our style must match our message!

 Why would anyone want to associate with Jesus if His followers treat people badly and only think of themselves?  This is why it’s so important to live out loud- earning the right to heard starts with our daily interactions with every person we encounter.  What is your life saying?  Do you make eye contact with the cashier at the gas station?  How about your waiter or waitress?  Or the lunch lady?  Are you rude to your teachers?  What do your daily interactions say about your relationship with God?