Being on Mission "Fishers of Men"

I have been trying so hard lately to live a life on mission. The other day I posed the question to Beth, "What are we intentionally doing, in order for lost people to come to faith in Jesus?" I was really convicted of this the other day while listening to a sermon titled "Dwelling w/ Unbelievers" The point of the message was to share the importance of living intentionally missional lives. They asked the question, "where are you hanging out so that you are intentionally hanging out with unbelievers, in order to see the people far from God, filled with life in Christ?" They also, asked "Do you have influence w/ any unbelievers right now?" and Why are you afraid to chill w/ unbelievers?" Those are some tough questions?

Hanging around lost people is not very difficult for me because I work a secular job that puts me in touch with many different people, I play basketball at the YMCA 3 days a week, and my personality is one which engages people all of the time. The conviction came when I asked myself, "Am I utilizing these opportunities to see people far from Christ, draw near to Christ?" I need to start looking very careful everyday at how God wants to use me to be a missionary who is intentional about these things everywhere I go.

Matthew 4, Jesus says, I will make you fishers of men. Notice he didn't say hunters. Sometimes I want to be a hunter rather than a fisherman. A fisherman, throws out his line, and when he hooks something, slowly reels it in. A hunter, sees its target and shoots it. Jesus was a fisherman, he would throw his line out with compassion, love, truth, etc and when one would take the bate, he would be right there to guide them in. I at times can be a hunter where I see someone who is lost and want to kill them with the gospel rather than loving them and slowly walk them into this love story with Jesus. There is a huge difference.

Examples:

If you read back a few blogs ago, if I would have shot Starr w/ the gospel rather than having love and compassion on her situation, she would have been uninterested. But because I threw out a little Jesus, she bit the bate and my family is growing a close relationship with her and watching Jesus work in her life.

Last week, at the YMCA, one of the guys I play ball with was going to go in for surgery on his knee and it was his last day to play for 6 months. After we were done playing, I pulled him to the side, and just asked him if I could pray for his surgery. In a moment of shock that I would ask such a question, he accepted. So I prayed and was done. Afterwards, he looked at me and was amazed that someone would actually do that, he gave me a hug, (A man hug may I add, one that starts with a dap, then is brought in like dudes do after scoring a touchdown). He looked at me and said with as much sincerely I have ever seen from him, "Thank You". That was missional. I didn't tell him about his sin, or hell, or outside of a relationship w/ Jesus , you have no business coming to the throne of the Father in prayer. Instead, I loved him like Jesus would have if he were here.

I (we) need to live missional, we need to love like Jesus did. We need to surround ourselves with lost people like Jesus and show them what it looks like to follow Christ and not be religious fundamentals., like the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross.