My husband and I really wanted to reach our neighbors for Christ. Valentine’s Day was approaching, and capitalizing on the holiday, we decided to invite our neighbors to a four-week couples’ Bible study on marriage. I found some elegant invitations at the store, tied with ribbons, and handed them around to neighbors, friends from our children’s school, and book club members. The response was not overwhelming, but three couples joined us for a Tuesday evening small group study.
At the outset of the first evening, one of the husbands, crossing his arms, informed us that he was not interested in Bible study. As far as he was concerned religion was personal, and he was present only for the purpose of pleasing his wife. Mark and I exchanged a this is going well look across the room and proceeded with the discussion. That same husband never stopped talking. Each week he contributed frequently and we had trouble keeping him from monopolizing the discussion.
The eight of us had some interesting conversations about communication, resolving conflict in marriage, and romance. We shared a few laughs over our marriage blunders. We consumed some delicious desserts. But we never really seemed to get to Jesus. When the four weeks were over Mark and I concluded that besides acquainting people with the Bible and with the format of a Bible study, not much was accomplished. No one was introduced to the Lord Jesus. Basically, it seemed a flop.
Surprisingly, Tom and Amy, another couple in the group, suggested we all get together again in the summer for a barbeque and Bible study. But by the time summer arrived Tom and Amy had sold their home in our neighborhood and moved away. Years passed and I would hear about Amy from time to time. She was enjoying living in a suburb some miles west. Mark and I never had the nerve to offer our little Bible study again, convinced it was a disaster.
Over time my children grew from pre-schoolers into upper elementary students. One summer, we drove them to a church camp an hour south of our home. I remember walking them to their cabins, and across a field a blond-haired woman began waving at me and calling my name. She drew closer and I realized it was Amy.
“Amy, what are you doing here?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice as I knew Amy had previously worshipped at a church of another denomination. She hugged me and laughed, telling me that when she and Tom moved away from our village they determined to look for a church where people talked of and knew God like Mark and I did. Unbeknownst to us, they had settled at a sister church of our church and had become committed followers of Christ. Amy was helping direct the women’s ministries there and Tom was involved in a men’s Christian fellowship.
We never really know, do we, what God can do with our inadequate attempts to share Christ with our neighbors? He is so adequate and able to salvage even our most feeble efforts to bring honor to His name and to accomplish His purposes of bringing the lost to Himself. Why not nurture a neighbor’s soul in the near future by inviting her to a Bible study in your home? I suggest you meet for a little longer than four weeks, say six to eight weeks, and that you select a Bible study that focuses on the Lord Jesus. Your Christian bookstore has wonderful resources like Rick Warren’s Forty Days of Purpose six-week video series, or Neighborhood Bible Studies, They Met Jesus or Mark discussion guides. And “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…” (Phil. 2:15b-16a). Look forward to God’s surprises as you reach out in faith and love.
