YOU WIN MORE BEES WITH HONEY

Philippians 1:27 Only live your lives in a manner worthy of the Good News of the Messiah.  Then, whether I come and see you or I am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit-striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the Good News.

What is going on in this world?  Disagreements over viewpoints turn to anger, turns to rage, which turns to violence, which turns to murder....seriously?  Well meaning believers push their beliefs down the throats of non-believers with yelling and finger pointing.  It's ridiculous!  We point the finger of blame on religions but actually the finger of blame should be pointed at the one who points the finger.  Judgmental attitudes does nothing but push people away from Jesus.  We somehow think we have the right to shove our beliefs in peoples faces to prove we're right and they're wrong.  We are so proud of our biblical knowledge that we can even quote chapter and verse of those bible passages that prove our point.  Oh we can be so well rehearsed that we even surprise ourselves.  But who are we trying to fool?

We can preach and preach and preach the good news until we're blue in the face.  We can pray every night for God to bring us someone to witness to, but if we ain't livin' and actin' in a manner worthy of the good news our testimony, our beliefs and our words will be empty and meaningless. (At least that's what I believe.)  We can all talk a good talk, but are we walking the walk?  We hear messages on Sunday morning, but are we living out what we're hearing?  We read the Bible but do we conduct ourselves the way Jesus wants us to?  If I had to honestly ask this question of myself, I would have to say no.

It really saddens me to answer that question that way but it's the truth.  I try and I try but I always fall short.  I could sit here and beat myself up over this sad fact, but instead I keep striving, I keep walking and I keep going towards the goal Christ has set for me.  I do my best to live my life in a manner worthy of the good news of Christ, but I'm not perfect and never will be.  The thing I do my best to do is ask myself a scary question, 'What Would Jesus Do?"  I know this goes back many, many years but for me it is still very relevant and very real.  I makes me check my motives and check the way I do and say things.  Actually it has stopped me in my tracks quite a few times.  WWJD has caused me to shut my mouth and close my eyes.

Listen I know that we believers are called to witness to the lost, but we cannot finger point and think we're gonna lead people to Christ.   We cannot get in people's faces and tell them they're gonna go to hell and honestly expect them to give their lives to Christ.  Jesus only got in the faces of those "religious" people who disliked Him and His ways.  Jesus sat with sinners and showered them with love and grace and understanding and patience.  That is how He won people over.  His motive was to show them grace by His humility.  Jesus was God in human form on this earth.  If anyone had the right to finger point and get in people's faces, it was Him, but He didn't.  He could have sat with royalty, but He sat with sinners.  

So how do we witness to the lost?   We give them grace they don't deserve, we love them even though they aren't worthy of it, we sit down and be a friend.  No preaching, no condemning their sins, no judgmental attitudes, just grace and love.  We can be the Jesus people need to see or we can just talk about Him.  But when I read this verse it really makes me stop and think about what I am doing, what I am saying and my motives.  I do not want to be one of those believers who can quote chapter and verse of Bible scriptures without actually  living them out.  Head knowledge to the lost is just empty words, action speaks volumes.  

Love and grace handed out so freely to those who are lost will impact their lives forever.  By planting seeds of love and grace we will  change lives quicker than we ever could with our words.  Paul was a prisoner when he wrote these words.  He was in chains, living in a cell surrounded by garbage and sewage, yet he lived what he wrote.  Many soldiers came to belief in Christ just by witnessing Paul's actions and listening to his words that were filled with grace.  

Remember the old saying, "You win more bees with honey"?  Well it's true.  We cannot be argumentative and angry and preachy and expect people to hear us.  We cannot be telling people to believe in Christ while we're condemning them for their sins.   We cannot live our lives in a way that does not bring God glory and expect the good news to change them.  Grace and love are the weapons we need to show people who Christ really is.