When you are there for the garbage, it s amazing how people will open up to your Jesus. One of the great ways to build a Jesus-bridge into the heart of someone you know is to be there for them in the garbage times of their life the time of loss, the time of illness, the time of hurt or need or stress. You may not consider yourself any kind of super-Christian or someone who is good at communicating your Christ to a lost person but being there for an unreached friend during the bad times is a step of active love that anyone can do. When it s hurting time for someone within your reach, you drop everything, realizing this is a precious opportunity to display the Jesus-love you want that person to experience. People never forget who was at the hospital, who was at the funeral, who was there for the emergency and who wasn t.
Folks remember who calls or visits when they re sick who even notices that they re missing.
When you are there for the bad times of someone you hope to introduce to Jesus, you often find moments of unique spiritual softness the kind of moments when you can tell the difference Jesus has made for you . . . I watched that happen in a major way when the flood of the century hit our area in northern New Jersey. The people of our church responded with their hands, their feet, and their hearts, helping the flood victims clean up a filthy mess. They gave clothes and furnishings and they helped in locating alternative housing. There are people in those towns who know Jesus because believers who came to their spiritual rescue opened the door for them to hear about Christ.