Baby Steps Towards Christ

“Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30).

These words horrified her. “But, but.. I’m still just figuring all this out…” she stammered. Raised in a culturally atheist home in China, her encounters with Jesus over the last four years of her time studying in the Midwest were many, but still she wasn’t by any means “all in.” “Am I really against Jesus?” she asked, clearly shaken up by the thought of it being true.

The FMC missionary in the room, my husband, explained to her that these words from Matthew’s Gospel are true, but they were spoken to the Israelite religious leaders, who had been prepared for centuries for His coming. He comforted her by adding that Jesus knows and respects her journey and where she’s coming from. The peace she received at hearing this was visible on her youthful face.

Across the room sat a young man listening closely to all that had just transpired. When it was his turn to share, all listened with careful attention.

“Before the video started, Jesus was like a five out of tenfor me. Then I heard that He says, ‘If you’re not for me, you’re against me’ and this seemed so unfair to me. So He became a four out of ten.”

There was a long, thoughtful pause. Everyone stared at him with anticipation.

Finally, the young man continued, “But after you explained it, now He’s a six out of ten!”

Applause erupted, mixed with joyous laughter.

The scene I just shared took place at a weekly event held on the campus of a very large university with a large population of foreign students. This event is a place where Mandarin-speaking students can come and ask life’s big questions and hear the Good News in a way that considers their unique context.

When working with people from cultures in which the truth of the Gospel has yet to deeply penetrate, we view helping students to get even just a few steps closer to being “for” Jesus as a great success. We are all on a journey; some of us have farther to travel than others.

This reality brings to mind a sermon by C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory,” (which you most certainly should find and read in its entirety), the climax of which reminds us, “All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations,”—referring to what Lewis describes as “immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” He continues, “It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.”

Realizing that all our interactions are “fraught with eternal consequences” precisely because we are dealing with immortal souls is an important reminder for each of us. Nothing we do or say is neutral.

How can you encourage a person in your life to take one step closer to Jesus?