Evangelistic Like a Dog

It has been three weeks since I've posted anything...some of you have been asking where I've been. Well...I guess you could say that my blogging voice had gone mute for a time. I couldn't find the words to share some of the things on my mind so I simply went mute. I wouldn't say that my voice has fully come back but here it is.

- Ryan




I have a dog…his name is Zeus. There are speculations as to how I came to own him but he’s been with me for about seven months now. I have only lived in my house for about nine months so Zeus has been with me for most of my time there. From time to time I’ve let him run loose in the neighborhood because it seems to be the thing to do where I live…and he was chewing through everything I put around his neck and running loose anyway. In the past nine months, I’ve only been able to get to know my next door neighbors just a little bit. Relationships weren’t really coming along that quickly till Zeus joined my household.

As I’ve ran into people around the neighborhood I’ve come to find out that they had already met Zeus and had fallen in love with him. A lot of my neighbors even have nicknames for him. I was contemplating finding a new home for Zeus because of how little I am home but my neighbor talked me out of it because their family loves him so much. I’ve met more of my neighbors and they all seem to already have a good relationship with Zeus.

We’ve been talking about evangelism a lot around the office in preparation for the things Jim is going to be doing with the congregation here. One of the major aspects of evangelism is relationships…genuine relationships…with people. It seems to be a lot easier to travel around the world, across the country, or even across town to tell others about a relationship with God. We often find it difficult to walk across the lawn or street and build a relationship with our neighbor.

Though I don’t agree with many of his methods, Zeus has quickly gotten to know many of the families in my neighborhood. The good side off all of this is that he’s been my foot in the door to getting to know everyone. Last Sunday evening, Jim challenged us to be “intentional” with our lives…to be “Intentional Christians.”

Take a moment to sit down, think of all the good relationships you have. How many of them are Christians? What percentage of them are not Christians? The reality is we tend to stick close to the people that make us feel comfortable. Be intentional. When you go outside to get the paper and your neighbor is standing there doing the same…don’t simply say “morning” and then head back inside the house. Strike up conversation. Start walking your neighborhood with your spouse and meet people. If your kids play in the backyard…cast your nets on the other side…and go play with them in the front yard.

I may not do all the things that Zeus does when he meets people but it is completely obvious that he wants to meet people. Let’s start being Intentional Christians. Let’s build relationships. Let’s bring them home to meet our Master.