“Where else can you go and talk about Jesus to people who are coming to learn about Jesus?” my wife pondered aloud. Peggy was speaking about our weekly International Friendships (IFI) Bible study with students from other countries attending college here in the United States. She was right—it is a group made for each other. As I considered her observation, it occurred to me that Kairos Prison Ministry is similar in that regard—people come to hear about the love of God from people coming to share the love of God, an encounter ripe for spiritual birth and spiritual growth.
The two ministries share this in common as well: when participants receive the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus, no single volunteer can “take credit” for it, for in the wisdom of God, the love of Christ shines through the gifts and callings of all His people in a collective beacon of hope to others. When new believers speak of their faith in Christ, it is common to hear them recall the hospitality and love of Christians. “When I came to America, these people welcomed me into their home. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without them,” we often hear, or “I couldn’t believe people would take four days away from their families to be with us in prison.” These simple acts of kindness in Christ are turning points for many and cornerstones for future faith.
This is God’s matrixed design. He gives each of us spiritual gifts “just as He determines”1 and then works through all of us together to draw to Himself a people He calls His own. Jesus taught His disciples, “One sows and another reaps,”2 and Paul likewise used an agrarian analogy to assert the same: some plant, some water, but only God makes things grow.3 So what does it look like to encounter Christ face to face through His people? To some, it looks like hospitality in a welcoming home; to others, it sounds like true words, gently spoken. To some, it feels like open arms embracing a broken heart; to others it is the sound of their own voice finding sanctuary in a listening ear. To all, it is the good news of life in Christ—“the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”4 So Paul encourages us, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”5 For people who seek to find Him will do so through people who seek to share Him.
Father, you are always drawing people to yourself. Open our eyes to see them, and open our hearts to share You with them however you call us to today. In Christ I pray. Amen.
1 1 Corinthians 12:11
2 John 4:37
3 1 Corinthians 3:7
4 2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
5 Colossians 3:17 ESV
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Paul Nordman—Author 