Third, are we engaging our world in such a way that allows people to see Jesus as He is revealed in our lives, His Word and circumstances?  It is important to let the Word of God purify our hearts, and we must love those Jesus came to save, but unless we physically reach out to the lost the condition of our hearts is irrelevant to our mission.  This is where the organic nature of our faith makes us most effective.

When I was a young boy I watched college football games on television and attended one in person.  The competition was exciting to watch and we always cheered for our favorite team.  But watching football isn’t how I learned to love the game.  My passion was developed in our front yard where my grandfather and I spent hours tossing a football.  It grew in a nearby field where I met my friends on Saturday morning for a game of tag football.  And it was reinforced when I played one-on-one with my own son.  In fact, I still bear a scar from one of our games when I slipped and my glasses sliced my cheek open.

The purest form of anything is dispensed in person where it is impossible to hide behind the hype.  It is where we share life together and are willing to reveal our inner selves.  This is why, when God wanted to redeem us He came in person, in the form of His Son, Jesus.  In His description of his encounter with Jesus, the Apostle John wrote, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:2-3).  It is difficult to proclaim anything for the purpose of fellowship unless we engage others.  The 100% Jesus is seen best one-on-one.  That is how He came.  That is how He sends us.