God's Net of Grace

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19 NIV)

Yesterday's children's sermon was cute.  Pastor Chad took a couple of kids to form a "net"  and then "captured" small groups of other kids in it.  But even though Chad tried to make it look fun to be a part of the net, Cecelia and one of her friends wanted no part of being captured and ran from the group that came towards them.

It made me think about reasons some people might have for running from the invitation of God's grace.

• Some may not like the feeling of being "chased."  Sometimes our attempts at evangelizing can be off-putting... even if we feel like we're using a soft approach.  It can be overwhelming for people to be relentless in their invitations to church and church functions.
• Some people have been part of the net before and have had bad experiences... being treated unkindly by so-called Christians, or even being abused.
• Some feel like they are not good enough to accept the invitation.  They want to "get their life right" first.  Sadly, many have learned this from other Christians too.
• Some feel they need to have proof positive about God's existance.  They can't commit to something they can't see, touch and feel.

I believe the remedy for most, if not all, of these reasons for running from the Net of Grace is for us to be real.  Our evangelism should spring naturally as we form friendships with others.  As we share our lives, we share what Christ has done for us.  No bibles need to be used as sledge hammers.

Being real means letting others be real as well.  When others see that even church people aren't perfect, they might be more willing to see what this grace stuff is all about.  Being real will also help us to see hypocracy and abuse in the church, expose it and get rid of it.

Being real means allowing ourselves to talk about our doubts and questions and share those moments when we know God was present with us.  If we present ourselves as people who often struggle with our faith, maybe those who think they need proof positive will see that proof is not really necessary to receive the joy and peace that come with faith.

God's grace net is not insistant, but it is persistant.  We should make it look like the wonderful thing that it is, and we can do that by being real, even when... no, especially when... it makes us feel vulnerable.

Father,

I pray for those who are searching, but avoiding your net of grace.  Help us to allow them to find you through us.  Amen.