Doves On Distant Oaks

Catch a Wave

One of the joys of living in the Philadelphia PA region for a number of years was traveling into the city to watch Phillies baseball games with my family. This was at the old Veterans Stadium that has since been torn down. Other than a number of timely home runs and stunning fielding plays, made by some memorable players like Schmidt and Carlton, one of my favorite memories was being part of the first ever Veterans Stadium wave.

You don't see much of them these days, but back "in the day" they were all the rage. Once section would stand up in unison, followed by the next one to it, and so on all the way around until a giant wave of humanity swept the stadium. It was a joy for my children and I to watch and become a part of on a warm, July 4th evening game.

The problem was, these stadium waves were difficult to get started. The key was first to get everyone to notice, and then to get everyone to participate. In our case, it was one individual with a megaphone standing in front of his section. He would get everyone to stand and then try to get the section next to them, and then the one next to them, to catch on to the drill. That was the difficult part.

Years later, I got to thinking about that human wave. It seemed no different than a wave in water. The scientific explanation for a wave is that it's an illusion. It exists only because excited water molecules jump up and down, transferring energy to adjacent molecules, which makes it look like the water is moving.

It was the same with the stadium wave. All people did was stand up from their seat and then sit back down. It becomes a wave when the people next to them did the same. As I sat and analyzed that, it occurred to me that is much the same way we're to practice our walk with Christ. All we need to do in order to spread the Good News of Christ is show our love to the person next to us and let it eventually become a giant wave.

The question is, how well are we doing that? Are we making an impact on even just one person standing next to us, or are we leaving people as we found them? If it's the latter, we're not being true to what Christ has called us to do. Are people you meet consoled, encouraged, warmed, had their spirits lifted ... loved … simply by having met you.

To leave people exactly as they were before is a travesty because we carry the greatest force to transform lives on earth. I often hear Christians don't want to, or know how to, do that. They think it's about saying the right words and preaching boldly. Or worse, they think it's telling people what they're doing wrong. Yet, the true nature of evangelism is simply sharing love.

The word evangelism derives from the Greek word euaggelion, meaning "good news." There are lots of ways to spread good news—a smile, simple concern, a pat on the back, all the way up to providing disaster relief with a bible in your hand. It's all about spreading the good news, not necessarily to the world, but to a single person. That person could be your neighbor, a friend, someone you meet at the supermarket … anyone.

It's all about connecting with people and leaving them better off than they were. That's the true nature of Christ's love. If every follower of Christ did that, the resulting wave would sweep the world with love.

Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

– Psalm 96:2-3

Keywords: Evangelism, Gospel

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