Day 1 - Nathanael Musgrave, 11th Grade

Nathanael Musgrave with Ricky - 11th Grade

According to the Texas almanac, Texas has more Evangelical Protestant churches than any other state in the Union. Yet people will drive by our churches every moment of every day without even a second glance; however, they will reschedule their entire day for a friend, someone that they trust. Relationships are the single most important thing in “evangelism”.   I put that in quotes because as Christians, we treat evangelism as something we do once a year on mission trip, and maybe when our church has a volunteer day.   This is not correct; evangelism is how we live our life every minute of every day.  This starts with the relationships we build. Our culture teaches us to distrust everyone and everything, thus unsaved people will not listen to the pastor of a church that they have no connection with, but if they have a friend, that they see Christ in, who invites them to church, then they might listen. 

As Christians, we are called to “Love the Lord your God with your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second is this, to love your neighbor as yourself”.  The ordering of this is so exceedingly important to note.  If Christ is at the center of our lives and secondly we build up our relationships with others, then those who we have relationships with cannot help but see our first love.  People remember what you have done for them, the time you spent with them, the love that you gave them.
Every night during the month of June at Mission Arlington, we have tent revivals all around town. This past year, I had a kid named Ricky at one of these revivals that just latched on to me.  He would knock on doors with me.   He would sing when I would sing. He would be in my small group.  He would ask all sorts of questions.  He would make sure he was the last kid to be walked home. That tent revival was the last time I had seen him until this past December when we had an event that all the kids came too. Before the event started, I feel a tug on my jeans and I hear my name. Turning around I see Ricky, he remembered who I was, but most importantly he remembered that I told him about God.  Altogether I had spent less than a day with him, yet he will always remember the time I invested in him, the love I showed him, and the fact that he saw a glimpse of Christ during that short time.
In all of our relationships, with people who may have known us since we were born or even those who we just met, we must have a life that has Christ in the center because then, others will see him through us.  People will remember you for the rest of their lives if they see Christ at the center of your life. They will remember you as the glimpse of Christ, maybe the only glimpse of Christ they will ever  see.  If you have Christ at the center of your life, then your relationships with others will gravitate towards His love and people will be eternally changed because of your life.