Sermon 7 - The Necessity Of Relationships Series

Introduction:

A. One day a rabbi and a priest got into a head on collision with each other.

1. The damage to both cars was considerable, but amazingly neither of the clerics was hurt.

2. After they crawl out of their cars, the rabbi saw the priest’s collar and said, “I see that you’re a priest, guess what? I’m a rabbi. The fact that we aren’t hurt shows that God was looking out for us and must have meant that we should meet and become friends.”

3. The priest replied, “I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God.”

4. The rabbi continued, “And there’s another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.”

5. So, the rabbi handed the bottle to the priest who agreed and took a few big swigs and then handed the bottle back to the rabbi.

6. The rabbi took the bottle and immediately put the cap back on it.

7. The priest asked, “Aren't you going to have a drink of the wine like I did?”

8. The rabbi replied, “No...I think I'll wait to have a drink until after the police arrive.”

9. I guess they weren’t quite friends just yet!

B. Let me start by asking you a few questions: Where do you go when you have a problem?

1. To whom do you turn to when you need help or advice on some important issue in your life?

2. Are you more likely to turn to someone you know or to a stranger?

C. Let’s ask a question from a different angle: How do you feel when a stranger comes to your door or calls you on the telephone and tries to talk with you about political issues, insurance, replacement windows or religion? You probably don’t appreciate it or want to talk with them. Right?

1. How much attention do you pay to all the junk mail or junk email that you receive every day in your mailbox or inbox? You probably throw it away or delete it as quickly as you can. Right?

D. Now please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not going to deny the fact that God sometimes uses impersonal or “cold” techniques to touch people with the truth.

1. Things like: street preaching, door knocking, direct mail, bumper stickers will always have some effect with a few people.

2. But I believe in our day and age, people are becoming more and more immune to impersonal approaches to evangelism, unless those people are searching on their own, perhaps on websites and Youtube videos.

E. The fact is that all of us experience discomfort when someone outside our circle of friends tries to influence us about personal or significant matters.

1. We all naturally gravitate toward people we already know and trust.

2. Friends listen to friends. Friends confide in friends. Friends allow friends to influence them.

3. Therefore, if we’re going to impact our world for Christ, then one of the most effective approaches will be through our relationships.

F. Back in sermon #3 from this series we talked about the formula for impacting our world and that formula included high potency and close proximity.

1. We have been talking about our potency as we have discussed authenticity, compassion and sacrifice – which are all related to high potency.

2. Today, I want us to address the need for close proximity.

3. The most powerful salt in the world has no impact if it is left in the salt shaker.

4. The most authentic, compassionate and sacrificial Christians on the planet will not influence anyone unless and until they have contact with them.

5. So, in today’s lesson we will explore the building of relationships with those we hope to reach.

6. We don’t have to look very far in our Bibles before we find examples of this helpful approach to reaching people for the Lord.

I. Biblical Evidence

A. Let’s start with the example of Jesus.

1. The picture on the screen depicts that moment in Scripture when Jesus spoke with Zacchaeus the tax collector who had climbed the tree to see Jesus – Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house.

2. It’s amazing that we often overlook the fact that Jesus spent the majority of his time with those outside of the religious establishment.

3. Time and distance tend to soften history and the sinners that Jesus hung around with can seem more safe and sanitized than the ones that we might encounter today.

4. But such was not the case; for example, the tax collectors Jesus associated with really did extort large amounts of money from the downtrodden people around them, and the prostitutes He expressed compassion for actually engaged in illicit sexual activity as an occupation.