Think Outside the Bubble

Two of the hardest questions you can ask yourself are, “Am I intentionally surrounding myself with opportunities to share the Gospel?” And the second is like it: “Am I proactively developing relationships with lost people?”

Rick Jones, Bellevue member and manager of the Bellevue Bookstore, explained a time he felt convicted of those very questions. “I was exercising at the GRACE Building (Bellevue’s gym) for a year or so when God convicted me that I did not really know any lost people,” Rick said. “I had allowed myself to stay in the ‚ÄòBellevue bubble.’ So, instead of exercising at our GRACE Building, I decided to join a local gym for the purpose of trying to build relationships with people who do not know the Lord or are not intimately walking with Him.

Through joining a local gym, Rick explains how one day, the Lord struck his heart to begin a conversation with an employee of the gym named Teddy. In this conversation, Rick learned that Teddy was a Christian but that he did not know how to read and understand the Bible or grow his relationship with God.

Because of these confessions and through prayer, Rick felt God calling him to teach Teddy more about the Bible and walk with him through deepening his relationship with God.

“When I link the Great Commandment (love God and love people) to the Great Commission, I can’t imagine having not entered into such a commitment,” Rick said. “Teddy was so hungry to learn God’s Word, so transparent with his life, and just fun to be around.”

Over the next two years, Rick discipled Teddy weekly, but then it just “became two friends meeting together to discuss God’s Word and His goodness,” Rick explains.

Being obedient to surround himself with opportunities to share the Gospel and then being obedient to actually share the Gospel when the opportunity arose has forever impacted both Rick and Teddy’s lives. So, Rick encourages each of us to do the same.

“Pray God will lead you to these conversations and that He would give you the words to speak. Be prepared; have a Gospel outline to work through. Use questions to turn the conversation. Ask them, ‚ÄòWhat is your story?’ or ‚ÄòHave you ever thought about how our world became such a broken place?’ Everyone has a story to tell, and we all know this world is broken.”

For more information on evangelism and discipleship, contact Bill Street, Pastor of Evangelism, Discipleship, and Prayer at bstreet@bellevue.org.