Lighting Up Our City Video 1: Relational EvangelismSample

I used to be a teacher, and I had the privilege of teaching some of the most amazing kids on this planet. Each of them was unique. I couldn’t talk to them all the same way. I couldn’t discipline them all the same way. I couldn’t expect them to all do assignments the same way. Some worked better if their tests were printed on colored paper. Some worked better if they sat under their desks. One student couldn’t pass a test on paper, but if I sat and read him the questions after school, he aced it every time. Those afternoon sessions were a small sacrifice to watch him grow and gain confidence.

I was also privileged to work with other teachers who understood that kids aren’t made in molds. Because our class sizes were smaller, we got to know and work with our students as individuals. For some of those kids, that made all of the difference in the world.

Something I frequently heard in staff meetings was “They don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” I made sure to build relationships with my kids, not because I wanted them to listen to me, but because I wanted them to leave my classroom with riches they didn’t have when they came into it. It was never about me. It was always about them. Although, every single time, they blessed me right back.

Evangelism is like that, isn’t it? We get to know people and love them because they are unique and wonderful and created in God’s image. And in the process, we grow to love them so much that we want them to walk away from us with riches they didn’t have when we first met them. This is what it looks like to “love someone to Jesus.” To care more about them than ourselves. To go out of our way to serve them. And to love them right where they are so we can watch them grow into who God created them to be.

How can you show someone in your life that you care?

By Jodie Bailey