Feb 26

Written by: PastorJohn
2/26/2009 11:08 AM

The following article appeared in our August 2000 Newsletter. It is part 2 of a 3-part series on the impossible work of evangelism. Click here to read part 1.

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. X

I had been given my orders from Headquarters (HQ), and now it was time to go to work. The mission was simple enough: deliver a message of life-and-death proportions to Adam Race. So, I packed up my laptop, cell-phone, explosive gadgets and an assortment of Tupperware products and headed out on my quest. HQ mentioned a few other bits of pertinent information, but I’m not big on all those details. I like to just plunge right in!

Finding Mr. Race was easy enough. I practically stumbled over him as I was walking out the door. There he was, lying on the ground, a pitiful picture of pathetic proportions.  I don’t even think he saw me coming. “He must be sleeping,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just go right on over and wake him up and give him the message . . . no muss, no fuss.”

“Hey, Mr. Race,” I said, but there was no response. I tried again with a little more volume,  “MR. RACE! WAKE UP!”  There was still no reply. “He must be really tired; maybe he’s sick. If that’s the case, all this screaming is probably making things worse.”

So, I went quietly over to him and began to rub his head (sick people love it when you rub their heads) and I whispered tenderly in his ear, “Mr. Raaaaaace? Can you hear me Mr. Race?”  Still no reply. I think he’s just being stubborn now. So I began to plead and reason with him.

“Look, Mr. Race, I know you don’t know me, but I’ve got some news that you really need to hear. If you just give me a few minutes, and then I’ll be out of your hair, OK? It’s in your best interest, sir. Think about your family and friends and everyone who loves you. Don’t you care about your future?”

He remained perfectly still, and I began to feel terribly foolish especially as the passersby began to gaze in our direction. I checked his pulse and then I remembered why this was not such a simple mission: Adam Race was dead. How could I have forgotten that, it was only yesterday that HQ gave me the orders?  I began to recollect some of the pertinent details of that conversation.

HQ mentioned something about my needing to seek the help of a Mr. X. Someone who moved about like the wind. ”Like the wind?” I thought for a moment, and then I remembered reading somewhere about someone who moves about like the wind. In fact, if I recall correctly, this person actually has the ability to give life to the dead.   “No sense wasting my breath, I’d better find Mr. X right away!” 

While we’re waiting for the nail-biting conclusion  of our story, let’s take a moment to reflect on this concept of “speaking to the dead” or as we call it in Christian circles: ‘evangelism’.  The first lesson of effective evangelism is this: know the condition of your audience. The unbelieving world is not asleep, nor are they sick, nor are they just plain stubborn. . . they are dead! (Ephesians 2:1-3) And that one piece of information is going to drastically affect the way we approach things. For starters, just like our hero, we need to learn not to waste our time reasoning, pleading, or screaming until we first seek out the only one who can help us — Mr. X (a.k.a. the Holy Spirit).

Only the Spirit can give life to those who are dead  [John 3:5-8 & 6:61-65], and until He does, even the cleverest arguments and most passionate pleas will be in vain. So let’s keep that in mind until next time when we begin our search for the Mysterious Mr. X.

TOMORROW: Stranger in the Night

 

Copyright ©2009 Michael John

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