Have you ever thought about the conversations that Jesus had with people? It doesn’t exactly parallel the nice and neat gospel presentations that we are familiar with today (i.e. The Four Spiritual Laws, etc.). Let’s take a look at some examples.
- To a scribe Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” This is a bit odd because the scribe was telling Jesus that he was willing to follow Him. (Matthew 8:20)
- To a disciple Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” That sounds kinda harsh. Is Jesus against funerals? I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying. (Matthew 9:22)
- To Matthew the tax collector Jesus said, “Follow me.” Sounds simplistic. Jesus didn’t give a whole spiel like “So you’re a sinner and you need to believe that I’ll die for your sins one day to have heaven in your future.” (Matthew 9:9)
- To the rich guy, Jesus said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow me.” Surely, Jesus isn’t say that the way to be in good standing with God is to go broke, right? Well, it might be the case for this guy as Jesus may have perceived that this guy’s god was his riches. (Matthew 19:21)
- To money-changers who were just trying to make a living providing for their families, Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” Well, that’s not very nice, is it? I bet Jesus hurt their feelings. (I’m being facetious). (Matthew 21:13)
- To the fig tree that didn’t do anything against him, Jesus said, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” OK, this doesn’t really fit the parameters of what Jesus said to people, but I thought it’s kinda interesting that Jesus even had something to say to a tree. (Matthew 21:19)
- To Pilate the governor, Jesus said, “You have said so” when asked if he was the King of the Jews. Wow, here’s an opportunity to tell Pilate, an influential figure, who he was and Jesus barely said a word. Seriously? (Matthew 27:11)
Just wanted to highlight these to you to show you how varied Jesus’s responses were. Also want to challenge your notion that there is one correct way to share the gospel.