Title: The Power of Woo
Text: Colossians 4:5-6
The Big Idea: God prefers we woo people rather than whop them.
Introduction:
I’m reading a new book titled, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons based on research from the Barna Group.
The first chapter begins with this line, “Christians have an image problem!”
The author defines those who are looking at the Christian faith from the outside as outsiders. It is a broad and inclusive term that includes any and all who are not Christians, without using terms that are offensive, like pagans or infidels or may not necessarily fit everyone outside of the faith, like seeker or pre-Christian.
The book is the result of unpacking research regarding the ways outsiders are reacting to the Christian faith. These outsiders, “think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind… that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be.” (p.15)
The researchers discovered that outsiders expressed most opposition toward evangelicals. “There are twenty-four million outsiders in America who are ages sixteen to twenty-nine. Of these, nearly seven million have a negative impression of evangelicals; another seven million say they nave no opinion; and ten million have never heard the term evangelical… that leaves half a million young outsiders of the twenty-four million, who see us in a positive light.” (David Kinnaman, unChristian, Baker Books, p.25)
On June 25, 2008, the LA Times, Times Bloomberg Poll reported President Bush had a 23% approval rating among registered voters. If we think that is bad… if only five-hundred thousand of twenty-four million approve of us, that means evangelical Christians have a 2% approval rating.
Christians have an image problem.
We are baffled by the violence espoused by radical and extremist Islamists who are determined to destroy the “infidels” of the world. So we are really confused that we are not necessarily viewed as being all that gracious in eyes of the world either. So how does God want us to represent him in the world? What kind of ambassadors are we to be?
Jesus told us that when the Holy Spirit came we would have power nd we have come to understand that to include not only the ability to communicate the Good News of Christ but to live lives under the power or influence of God’s Spirit. “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere… in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
The Spirit of God gives us the power to woo people… to influence them and make a difference in their lives. The Spirit of God gives us the power to gently convince them of the life-changing difference Christ can make in a person’s life… not by threats and browbeating, but by woo.
Here’s an amusing look at the opposite of woo.
Project Video Clip: Classic Dick Van Dyke
If we wish to become people who have the power to woo people to Christ, where do we begin? It begins with the inner life.
1. The Power of the Inner Life
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about God’s plan that Christ is also for the Gentiles.” Colossians 4:2-4
When someone speaks of nurturing the inner life, we generally think of taking time to read, reflect on God’s Word, and to pray. Unfortunately, busyness is the primary culprit in hindering us from nurturing the inner life. This week I ran across a piece from Marriage Partnership.
The Ten Reasons You are too Busy to Pray Today.
1. You wake up feeling rested, then realize your alarm should have gone off an hour ago.
2. Your spouse is away on a two-day business trip that has lasted a week.
3. None of the clean clothes you were able to find match.
4. Your teenager shaved… the left side of his head.
5. You can’t find your check book.
6. A strange fluid is dripping from your car.
7. You accidentally delete your quarterly report ten minutes before a meeting with your boss.
8. You are in charge of games for the church youth group tonight.
9. You dog just got really sick… yuk!
10. Your toilet is overflowing, but at least you found your checkbook.
THOSE ARE IN FACT, TEN REASONS YOU REALLY SHOULD PRAY TODAY!
While some wisely pray before they act, most of us skip the praying and plunge into action. Busyness that does not grow out of prayer is just that… busyness. That kind of busyness is the human effort apart from the guiding and empowering of God’s Spirit.
We value activity… we like to do. Even in the Christian community, we focus on urging and encouraging each other to do good deeds and speak good words. But our text wisely urges us to begin with nurturing the inner life of prayer, which then readies us for action.
The power that will set us in good stead for whatever we face in the course of a day, and ready us to be wise and alert to God-given opportunities, begins with living in a humble state of prayer and openness to God’s leading. I like “the Merton Prayer.”
“Lord, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road… therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost…” (Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, p. 79)
No prayer… no power. So we begin with prayer for the power to be a good person in the eyes of those who are observing us.
2. The Power of Being a Good Person
“Live wisely among those who are not Christians / Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;” Colossians 4:5a (Ephesians 5:15)
I read somewhere this week that when a major retail corporation put mirrors behind their customer service representatives so irate customers could see the own behavior, their anger levels subsided and they negotiated their complaints more graciously. Imagine for just a moment, how our behavior might change, if we could see ourselves as others see us.
In his commentary on Colossians, Barclay interprets the concept of living or acting as behaving. He says, “Behave yourselves wisely to those outside the church.”
There has been no shortage of scandals and charges of misconduct by Christian leaders in the public arena. We understand the power of a poor example and how aspersions generally cast a wide net.
Since 1970 there have been nineteen scandals involving televangelists and prominent pastors and their wives. Thirteen of those scandals were sexual in nature and six involved money. Currently there is an ongoing Senate investigation of six large Christian evangelistic ministries who attracted the attention of Senator Chuck Grassley. The ministries are described as those of “jet-setting televangelists.” The Senate committee is asking about salaries, perks, gifts and ministry oversight. Grassley said, “The ministers’ private jets, million dollar homes, exotic cars, and expensive gifts attracted his attention.”
One of the most defiant televangelists, who is refusing to cooperate wrote in a letter to his supporters, “The enemy is not gong to steal what the Lord has won through this ministry, and he is not going to use this attack to bring harm to the rest of the churches and ministries in America.” I hope he is right but somehow I suspect the fact that these allegations have become a matter of national interest has been harmful. (Christopher Quinn, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 03/28/08)
Those are obvious examples of how to behave badly and make a poor impression on those outside the faith. A more likely scenario is that of Christians making needlessly antagonistic and alienating comments that irritate, when they might have said the same thing in a nice way.
It is when we arrogantly take the moral high ground and denigrate those who disagree with us, that the cynics in society can crank out cartoons like this one titled, Life On the Moral High Ground
Project Cartoon - “Life On the Moral High Ground.”
It shows two guys dropping boulders on and clubbing those who disagree with them. The caption reads, “And the best part is, you can crush everyone from up here!”
When Christians are offensive in taking the moral high ground… one offense can pretty much undo any previous good. When Christians behave badly we alienate the very people God wants us to woo and win for Christ.
The teaching in this text urges us to begin with praying for God’s guidance, then living our faith… not talking about our faith. When we live exemplary lives, we earn credibility and can then speak with integrity. Our opportunities to talk come out of our relationships.
That is why we make connections with people. There is power in connections and relationships.
3. The Power of Connecting with People
“Make the most of every opportunity.” Colossians 4:5b
“Make the most of or buy up every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.” Ephesians 5:16
Another way to say “make the most of every opportunity” is to “buy up every opportunity.”
The word for opportunity or karios, is a time word. It speaks of an opportunity as “a point in time.” An opportunity is a point in time that requires action or the opportunity will be lost. A karios moment may be thought of as a God-moment. Chronos time speaks to time as a duration or period of time. When opportunity presents itself, you do not have all the time in the world to make a decision and act.
The last time our family visited, our daughter asked, “Dad, do you think you have enough cheese?” A year ago Bonnie asked me why I bought ten boxes of coffee filters… they were cheap and we’ve not run out of filters for a long time. I think we still have a couple of boxes, if I could just remember where I put them.
Opportunities are like good deals… you have to seize them at the time or you will loose them.
This week I happened upon a chunky peanut butter sale… do you know that you can pay as high as $12 per pound for “designer brand” peanut butter? Do you know that major brands of peanut butter sell for around $4 per pound? I picked up several jars of chunky peanut butter for $1.35 a pound. Unfortunately, I don’t eat peanut butter but the price was really good.
In our text, the idea of buying up or making the most of opportunities is not about bargain hunting. It is about connecting with others in good and meaningful ways, when opportunities present themselves.
Dave Stone wrote in “If Jesus Lived in My Neighborhood” about his uncle Greg, who is a quadriplegic. A few years ago uncle Greg was able to attend a special needs camp at Country Lake Christian Retreat in southern Indiana. A man named John was assigned to be with uncle Greg for four solid days. For four days, twenty-four hours a day, John did everything for Uncle Greg. He fed him every bite. He gave him every drink. He bathed him and helped him with all his personal needs. He slept on a mattress on a concrete floor beside uncle Greg’s bed. He took uncle Greg out on the lake in a floatation device and uncle Greg swam for the first time in his life.
At the end of the week the campers all gathered before returning to their homes. Each was asked, “What was your favorite part of the week?” Almost unanimously they said “swimming.” When it was uncle Greg’s turn to talk about his favorite part of the week, he simply pointed to John and said, “You!” (Dave Stone, “If Jesus Lived In My Neighborhood,” PreachingToday.com)
There are all kinds of uncle Gregs and all kinds of ways to connect with people in ways that we can show others the love of God. When a neighbor wants to chat… chat. When you have an opportunity to volunteer in an elementary classroom or go on a field trip… volunteer. When you have an opportunity to send a note of encouragement or a card to a colleague or neighbor who is going through a hard patch… sit down and be Christ to that person. When you have an opportunity to mediate and bring healing to a conflicted situation… be an agent of grace in your community or workplace. When we fail to act when we are presented an opportunity to connect with another person in a way that demonstrates the love of Christ… we miss our opportunity.
When we have earned the right to speak and when we speak with graciousness, our words have the power to influence for good.
4. The Power of Talking Nicely
“Let your conversation to gracious and effective / Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,” Colossians 4:6a
“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words may be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29
“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it looses its flavor, yow can you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” Mark 9:50
In his Focus on the Family magazine article entitled “The Problem with Nice Guys,” Paul Coughlin refers to the three major personality types found among American Idol judges. He wrote, “Paula Abdul is gracious but not always truthful. Aggressive Simon Cowel is truthful but rarely gracious. Assertive Randy Jackson is most often truthful and gracious. Be like Randy Jackson.” (Paul Coughlin, “The Problem With Nice Guys,” Focus on the Family Magazine, June 2007, p.8)
There are two issues regarding our conversation:
The first is the issue of speaking with graciousness. The word for grace is charis, which means to speak pleasantly, charmingly, and winsomely.
The second point is in regard to our conversations being seasoned with salt or with zestiness.
R. Kent Hughes described the way Christians converse like this, “The conversation is never insipid or boring. In fact, it is “seasoned with salt” – salty, savory, scintillating – not the dull, sanctimonious vocabulary that seems to be demanded in some church circles. It is… joyful, even witty, for this is what salty speech meant in classical Greek.” (R. Kent Hughes, Colossians and Philemon, Crossway Books, PP. 138-139)
Few people have ever been argued into the faith, but many have come to faith through a compelling personal story. The last way we woo people is through the power of our stories.
5. The Power of Telling Your Story
“If you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must always do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” I Peter 3:15-16 (Colossians 4:6b)
President Jimmy Carter wrote of an occasion when Billy Graham, a truck driver, and he were seated together on the platform where each was to give a five-minute witness to 17,000 delegates who had gathered for the Southern Baptist Convention.
Billy Graham spoke first. Then the very nervous truck driver rose and began to speak. He said, “I was always drunk, and didn’t have any friends. The only people I knew were men like me who hung out at the bar in the town where I lived.” He went on to describe how someone told him about Christ and that he had eventually become a Christian. He was encouraged in his faith by other Christian men who spent time with him in a bible study group. Eventually he thought he should begin to share his faith with others but the only place he felt comfortable was the bar. However, the bartender wasn’t impressed and told him he was “bad for business” and a nuisance.
But he persisted and though, at first, he was treated as a joke, the people began to ask him questions. “So,” he said, “I kept up with the questions and when I couldn’t answer one I went and got the answer and then came back with it. And fourteen of my friends became Christians.” (Jimmy Carter, Sources of Strength, Meditations on Scriptures for a Living Faith, Time Books 1997, pp. 71-72)
Carter went on to say that no one remembers Billy Graham’s eloquent speech or his own well crafted testimony… because the highlight of the convention was the power of the truck driver’s story.
Conclusion:
You may not think you have any power or influence in your neighborhood, your workplace, the marketplace, or even this church… but you have the power of God’s Spirit within you and working through you, to woo your world to Christ by how you live. You have the power to connect with people and love them. You have the power to be gracious in every conversation. And you have the power to tell your story when given the opportunity.
A Mercedes Benz TV commercial shows a Mercedes slamming into a cement wall during a safety text.
Someone then asks the Mercedes company spokesman why they do not enforce their patent on the Mercedes Benz energy-absorbing car body, a design evidently copied by other companies because of its success. He replies matter-of-factly, “Because some things in life are too important not to share.” (Homiletics, May . June 2008 / Volume 20, Number 3, p. 14)
Transition: That is why we woo people rather than whop them…
Slide 10
Some things in life are too important not to share!
