He stayed at it for about two hours, but no one took the bait. I got the feeling that condemnation was nothing new for the coffee shop prey. They had heard it all before from the internal and external voices that haunt us all.
We all know we’re flawed. We all recognize our imperfections. We’ve all rehearsed our failures. Spiritual table-pounders aren’t offering us anything new.
And this brings me back to grace.
I believe people aren’t fascinated by a list of their sins, they’re fascinated by a God who is willing to throw that list away. They already know they’re broken—they can feel that—they need someone to tell them they don’t have to be broken forever. They want to hear about acceptance and healing and fresh starts.
But more importantly, they want us to do more than talk about these things; they want to see us prove them. They want to see people who choose to act like the Christ they claim to follow.
Grace is a life lived, not a conversation starter.
This is why witnessing is more than a five-minute proposition. It can’t be done in shopping mall parking lots or in Facebook posts. Jesus isn’t an infomercial, and salvation isn’t an Evite. Evangelism takes time. It has to be lived, demonstrated, proven.
This is how we point people to Jesus—we demonstrate the grace that changed our lives. We accuse the accusers, we embrace the prodigals, we fight against injustice and we love people who are convinced they’re unlovable.
When we do that, we follow the example of Jesus. He didn’t hand out tracts, shout at sinners or ruin a morning at Starbucks. He did something far greater. Simply put, He loved us at our worst, and He offered us His best.
I think that’s grace. And I think that’s enough.
