Two weeks ago, I preached the message “A Mission of Life and Death.” Today, I want to revisit a theme that has been burning in my heart, and which I believe God has been speaking intensely to us as a church.
The world around us is lost, desperately in need of rescue. We all need to experience the joy of being an instrument in saving the lost.
We cannot be passive spectators whilst souls are being lost. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14), sent to make a difference HERE and NOW.
How many people have you led to Christ? How many disciples have you made? If someone works closely with you, will they encounter Jesus? If someone lives in your home for a season, will they leave knowing God?
We all need to experience the joy of being an instrument in saving the lost.
But how, then, do we fulfil this mission? Let us learn from our greatest and most perfect example: Jesus.
Today’s message is a question for you: Do People Want to Know God Because They Know Us?
Today, I want to speak to you about a central theme for this journey of ours: Jesus, the man who valued and invested in people.
The Three Things Jesus Did
As I studied the Bible and the life of Jesus, I realised that He did three fundamental things that are key to our mission. If we want to fulfil our mission and reach the lost, we need to do just as Jesus did.
1- Jesus Connected Deeply with People
Jesus went to where the people were and identified with them. Jesus did not wait for people to come to Him; He went to them! He had an incredible ability to connect quickly with anyone. People looked at Him and, somehow, felt: “He understands me.”
Apostle Paul captured this essence when he said in 1 Corinthians 9:22: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” Paul, like Jesus, entered their world to understand them.
We need to do the same! It is not biblical to expect the lost to come to us, to our “sacred territory.” It is we who go to them, where they are. Think of Jesus: He left the splendour of heaven, came to Earth, was born in a manger, amidst human fragility. He came to us.
Illustration: Imagine a fisherman. He doesn’t expect fish to jump into his boat. He goes where the fish are, with the right bait, and adapts to the fish’s environment. So it is with us: we need to go, observe, understand, and then “catch” hearts for Jesus.
Remember: The Gospel begins where people are, not where we are.
2- Jesus Added Value to People
Wherever Jesus went, everything improved! He never left anyone worse than He found them. He healed the sick, restored the oppressed, encouraged the disheartened, lifted up the fallen. He was the salt that gives flavour and preserves, and the light that illuminates and guides.
Matthew 5:13-14 tells us: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”
Wherever you are, people should feel better, more hopeful, more valued after meeting you. Our role is not to leave people annoyed or ashamed; it is to leave them hungry for God, with a glimpse of the love that transforms.
Don’t force your faith. First, build friendship. Serve. Offer practical help, a word of encouragement, a listening ear. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
So, stop cursing the darkness around you. Start shining your light!
3- Jesus Chose the Way of Grace and Transformation.
In our interactions, there are basically three paths we can follow:
- The Road of Divine Excellence: This path is that of transformation. It’s where you act out of love, grace, and forgiveness, regardless of the other person’s attitude. It is the path that elevates and inspires.
- The Road of Self-Righteousness: This is the path of exchange, of “I treat you as you treat me.” It is a reciprocal path that, Even though it seems fair, does not transform. It is a mirror, not a source of light.
- The Road of Destruction (and Contempt): This is the path of selfishness, vengeance, disdain. It is the path that diminishes and destroys.
Jesus always, without exception, chose The Way of Grace and Transformation. He taught us in Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” He did not call us to be “just” according to the world’s rules, but “perfect” in love, as the Father is perfect.
A Powerful Truth
This is the truth that struck me, and that I want you to engrave in your hearts:
If I live like Jesus, people will like Jesus. If I don’t live like Jesus, people won’t like Jesus.
If I don’t live like Jesus, people won’t get a chance to know Jesus.
The sad reality is that, for many people, the only image of Jesus they get is YOU. Think about that.
That’s why I made a firm decision: “I want people who know me but don’t yet know God, to be drawn to God because of me.”
I have a question for you that we should ask ourselves, with all honesty:
Do People Want to Know God Because They Know Me?
Are People around You Drawn to God Because They Know You?
Jesus Valued All People
Jesus loved ALL people. Not some. Not just those who agreed with Him, or those who fit “the right” frame.
John 3:16 is the core of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He loved the world, in all its imperfection and diversity.
Jesus did not come to point fingers, to condemn, to label. He came to restore, to heal, to give life. He came to embrace us, not to push us away.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 (NIV)
We, as Christians, need to stop creating divisions and start living the love that unites. It is normal to have differences of opinion, culture, ideas. Differences are intrinsic to our humanity. But division is a choice. And we are called to choose love, unity in Christ (John 17:21).
“Love is not a feeling; it is a choice.” And Jesus chose to love.
Citizens of Heaven and Ambassadors
Remember who we are in Christ:
- We are Citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20). Our true homeland is in God.
- We are Ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). We represent the King of kings on earth.
- We are Priests who bring people to God (1 Peter 2:9). Our ministry is one of reconciliation.
We do not speak our own opinions; we represent Jesus. Our mission is reconciliation, to bring people back into a relationship with God.
The Value of People
C.S. Lewis said something profound: “There are no ordinary people.” Everyone is eternal, created in God’s image and likeness, carrying invaluable worth.
Jesus saw in people much more than:
- Their past (their mistakes and sins)
- Their social status (their position or wealth)
- Their sin (their present condition)
Two weeks ago, I showed the video with testimonies of young people who were drunkards, addicts, lost; I preached to them, and today they are pastors of large churches, missionaries, and successful men. I preached to a friend and didn’t know I was saving a pastor!
Jesus see people’s full potential. He sees what everyone has the potential to become in God’s hands.
Think of the woman caught in adultery, brought by the Pharisees to be stoned, condemned by the law and society. John 8:10-11 shows Jesus saying to her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Think of Matthew, the tax collector, seen as a traitor and sinner by the Jews. Matthew 9:9 recounts Jesus’ call: “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”
Think of the Samaritan woman, not only from a people despised by the Jews but also with a history of relationships that marginalised her even in her own community. Jesus, intentionally, went to meet her at the well, during the hottest part of the day, a time when she would be alone to avoid the reproach of others.
In John 4:28-29, after this transforming encounter with Jesus, she becomes an evangelist: “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?'”
People whom society and religion of the time had discarded and condemned. Jesus loved them, welcomed them, and transformed them.
Religious people, often, “write people off” from their circles of acceptance. Jesus, on the contrary, “writes people in” to the Kingdom of God. He opens His arms, not closed doors.
Jesus Did Not Keep Scores
You know, the idea of “keeping scores” – of registering who made mistakes, who offended us, who “deserves” what good or bad due to their actions – makes sense in games or in accounting. There, keeping a scoreboard or a balance sheet is essential. But for life, and especially for the Kingdom of God, this mentality is destructive. In the Kingdom, there is no place for a scoreboard of hits and misses, of emotional debits and credits.
Peter, one of the most fervent disciples, had this tendency to be a “scorekeeper.” He was attentive to who did what, who “owed” what. He promised eternal loyalty to Jesus but unfortunately fell. He denied Jesus three times, feeling completely disqualified, worthless, probably believing he had lost everything and that his “balance” with Jesus was irremediably negative.
But Jesus did not discard him. When He resurrected, the first message He sent to the disciples was crucial: “Go and tell his disciples… and Peter” (Mark 16:7).
Jesus went after him! He sought out Peter.
And in the final conversation by the sea, Jesus comes down to Peter’s level, in love, asking three times: “Do you love me?” This was a profound restoration, without judgment, without accusation, without “score-keeping” for his past failures. It was a love without demands. A love without a scoreboard. A love that completely restores. It is the kind of love that 1 Peter 4:8 reminds us: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Conclusion
Beloved, we have seen today that Jesus did not keep scores, did not judge, but was the very Way of Grace and Transformation. He went beyond appearances and social condemnations.
He:
- Connected deeply with people, regardless of their labels.
- Added value to each one, seeing their potential and the image of God, not their sin.
- Always chose The Way of Grace and Transformation, offering forgiveness, restoration, and a new life.
Now, the challenge is for us, the church of Jesus, those who declare themselves His followers. If we are His disciples, we are called to imitate His steps.
Looking at how Jesus acted, I ask each of you today, with sincerity in your heart:
Are People around Us Drawn to Know God Because They Know Us?
Does our life, our way of connecting, valuing, loving, and forgiving, so clearly reflect Jesus’s Way of Grace and Transformation that people are drawn to seek the One who transformed us?
May our answer to this question be a renewed commitment to live and love as Jesus loved, so that He may be glorified in each one of us.