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"Then he said, 'Lord, I believe!' And he worshiped Him!"
(John 9:38)
John 9 is simply amazing. John recorded the story of Jesus and the man born blind. Jesus told him to put mud on his eyes and go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud off. John 9:7 states, "And He said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing." I do not read anywhere else in the Bible where God told someone to put mud on their face and go wash it off. But what a brilliant move by Jesus. He used an earthly visual to help point this man to Himself. Jesus frequently used parables to help people understand His message.
We are the same. We love pictures, parables, stories, etc. The images before us constantly change. Next time you watch the news or any TV program, notice how quickly the scenes change. The producers want to keep you engaged with their program, and they use multiple visuals and new images constantly.
Last week and this week in these devotionals, we have been studying and elaborating on Pastor Levi Skipper's powerful message entitled, "No Sweat Evangelism". I heard him teach this message in a seminar at the Irving Convention Center at the Empower Evangelism Conference in February. His four points are:
- Own your role as a missionary.
- Choose to be super intentional.
- Develop evangelistic curiosity.
- Show them what you are telling them.
It is good to use visuals or object lessons. Levi uses a three-object approach in sharing the Gospel. He first used this in a shoe store sharing Jesus with three people, and all three prayed to receive Christ. One shoe or shoebox represents God, and another one represents you, but they have a distance between them. The third box represents Jesus and how He bridges the gap between sinful man and holy God by His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead. The primary point is that Jesus bridges the gap, and only Jesus is the Mediator Who does this because of Who He is and what He has accomplished for us. In Billy Graham's Steps to Peace with God, he uses this same approach.
A couple of verses to remember are:
1 Timothy 2:3-6: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
And 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit."
This three-object visual approach to sharing Jesus is simple and effective. You can use almost any three objects for this illustration. You can even draw it out on a napkin or piece of paper. People are visual learners, and there is no more powerful visual than the cross of Jesus!
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