Dear Friends,
A few years ago, I attended a meeting in our church
for those seeking recovery from addiction. Like AA, we had a speaker who shared
a testimony on how he or she found recovery through the power of Christ.
As I listened to the speaker share her story,
I was intrigued by the number of times she had relapsed in her recovery
process. For her, it was one start after another, and each start ended the
same-a return to her addictive behavior.
Throughout her many failures, the speaker
testified that there were always people in her life who supported her and
encouraged her on her journey to recovery. They didn't give up on her,
and all the while they kept reminding her that the power of Christ could break
the bondage of her addictive behavior.
Like finding Christ, discovering the road to
recovery is not always a one-time event. Recovery can be a process that
takes place over a lengthy period of time.
Seeds that are planted don't sprout up
overnight. You can't rush the process. Each seed has a certain timetable before
its flower is produced. Think about your own life. How many people did God send
into your life before you received Jesus and experienced life change? If
you were lucky, you had people around you who were persistent in loving
and praying for you, and it was their persistent belief in you that
strengthened you, especially during those times when you were discouraged
and wanted to give up.
Fortunately, our speaker had friends who were
committed to her recovery and who were with her for the long haul. Even when
they failed to see the changes in her life they had hoped to see, they never
gave up on her. Because of their patient love and continued encouragement
during those many failures, she now enjoys seven years of sobriety and is now
sharing the story of her recovery journey to help others find hope in recovery.
Often in our efforts to see someone saved, we
feel we must give them the whole gospel, and when they don't immediately pray
the sinner's prayer, we feel like we have failed, and we are tempted to give up
on them. However, if we assume responsibility for the success of our
evangelistic efforts, we assume something that is not ours to assume.
The same is true for the recovering addict.
They may need to fail many times before they experience and embrace the change
in their lives we hope to see, and during that time they need faithful
people around them who will continue to love and encourage them in their
recovery.
As believers we are called to be witnesses.
Those were our Savior's marching orders. We are reminded in 1 Peter 3:15 that
we are "to always be prepared to give an account to everyone who asks us
for the hope that we have within us," but we are never personally
responsible for that person's ultimate decision.
Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) has a
wonderful definition for evangelism: "Evangelism is sharing Christ in the
power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God." We are not
the ones responsible for the person's salvation. We may deliver the message,
but it is God who opens the door to a person's heart. When we understand this,
we will never feel a sense of failure, regardless of a person's response to our
message.
Whether you are witnessing to someone about
Christ, or patiently witnessing to them about recovery, we need to be patient
and persistent in offering our love and encouragement. Don't ever give up on
them and continue to let them know that you will always be there for them, even
when they fail to demonstrate the change you desire to see in them.
Remember "The righteous falls seven
times and rises again…" (Prov.24:16), and it just may be that it is the
seventh time that he/she chooses to never to fall again.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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