Come and See

I've been thinking a lot about the woman at the well recently. You can read the story in John 4. But what has stuck with me recently is when the woman goes and shares with the others from the village. She goes and tells them what has just happened. When they aren't sure if she's telling the truth, the woman responds, "Come and see." In the evangelical community we often stress sharing our faith with others. Unfortunately this has too often turned into a debate about faith, or judgmental condemnation. The woman doesn't provide an elaborate proof of the faith. She doesn't beat up those in the community with condemnation for their skepticism. Instead she invites them to come and see for themselves who Jesus is.

I think we need to be more inviting. There's a time and a place for rationally defending the faith. There's a time for calling brothers and sisters to accountability. But if we want the world to see what following Christ looks like we need to invite them to come and see what he's doing in the world and show the world how it makes a difference in our own lives.