Someone I know recently suddenly really out of nowhere really out of the blue said to me “I am thinking of becoming a Christian.” He knows I am a Christian but he does not know me well. We have had a few conversations about why I am and the impact it has had on my life. But we have had no more than a few. So when he said this you could have knocked me down with something very light indeed.
But should we be surprised when unexpected things like this happen?
Jesus talks about how the Holy Spirit like the wind blows wherever it pleases (John 3 v 8). You cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going but you hear the sound. “So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
We cannot predict when and where the Holy Spirit will work in someone’s life to convict them of sin, judgement and righteousness (John 16 v 8).
Our role is to plant and to water, the rest is then up to God in His time to make it grow (1 Corinthians 3 v 7).
But it is not just the unexpected with individuals
that we should not be surprised about.
It should be churches as well:
“Mission is often described as if it were the planned extension of an old building.
But in fact it has usually been more like an unexpected explosion.”
(The Go-between God, John Taylor page 53)
Reading this as someone who often talks with churches about action plans and strategies, it is a reminder that we can and should often talk about firm foundations and steadily growing in our faith and outreach i.e. extensions.
But the Spirit moves where He moves and often might have other ideas that we are not prepared for and are not in our time scale whether this is how initiatives go or who responds i.e. explosions.
So keep wearing the hard hat of salvation for the extensions and explosions.
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