| John 2:1-2 – “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.” |
Jesus’ calendar was covered.
Every day, He could be found teaching the crowds, serving the hurting, healing the sick, confronting the culture, challenging the religious leaders, encouraging the discouraged, praying for His disciples, and calling new followers.
He also attended parties. A lot of parties. Jesus attended almost as many parties as He taught parables.
At parties, Jesus found ministry opportunities and built teaching platforms. At some parties, He performed miracles. Even without using His supernatural abilities, Jesus made gatherings memorable.
Jesus attended many parties because He was invited to many parties. He was invited to many parties because He was likeable. He was likeable because He was personable.
The church often brainstorms the best methods for building secular bridges to launch spiritual conversations. In those well-meaning efforts, it’s possible to overlook one of the basic ingredients for successful evangelism—be likeable.
Unfortunately, not all Christians are likeable. Said in another way, they aren’t invited to many parties.
To be fair, some parties Christians should not want to be invited to, but when you think about your life, do people enjoy spending time with you? Do you light up the room or dampen the mood?
Some Christians find themselves alone not because of high spiritual discipline, but low emotional intelligence. True evangelism rarely begins without a friendship.
If you aren’t invited to many parties, spend some time processing why. It may unlock solutions to several problems in your life.
- Jacob Hawk
