Scripture
Luke 10:1-16
Shape: Octagon
Jesus is never more detailed in his instruction on how something is to be done than he is about evangelism. What is the key? His strategy? Find the Person of Peace. Find the person who is open to you, likes you, likes your mission, and wants to serve you (because in doing so they are showing their openness to Jesus). We see this exact same strategy playing out all through the book of Acts and the early church.The Octagon looks at how we can discover those Persons of Peace.
Story
In applying these tools intentionally, I often encounter conflict with people who are challenged by my expressions of faith. It has been a real struggle for me, because, like most people, I don't want to be dis-liked. And, someone that dis-likes me is not likely to accept my expressions of faith. It took me a while, but I eventually realized that these kind of struggles are part of the Person of Peace reality. There is tremendous freedom in realizing that I need not chase after a person that continuous to react out of fear or combativeness to my witness (because that is my temptation ... to be so convincing that they agree with me). Instead, I use the Person of Peace tool to seek to build bridges when those conflicts arise, and to evaluate whether a person simply isn't going to be a Person of Peace for me. I am free to invest in those relationships that the Lord has prepared especially, and release the others to His care and concern.