When Yelling Works

Scripture: When he [the cripple] saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Acts 3:3-5

Observation: Peter is about to heal this man and give glory to Jesus. However, there is something else going on in this exchange that is hard for me to put my finger on. I think this caught my attention due to the way the crippled man is indecisive in his level of interaction with Peter and John.

Within these four sentences, the man goes from a) seeing Peter and John going into church, to b) initiating an interaction with them, to c) completely disengaging with them, to d) responding to a firm order, to e) physically reaching to them.

Of course, he isn't reaching for the reasons Peter and John wish he would. He isn't reaching out in faith to Jesus (the faith that heals him is Peter's and John's). Instead, he wants something material - he wants money. He is in need of earthly things, and believes these men entering the temple are about to give it to him.

Application: I think this the REAL way non-believers engage with the church. This is the exchange in a microcosm ... this represents what may sometimes be years of interaction, crammed into three seconds of action.

First, non-believers simply see 'the church' and the people, and they wonder if we will give them something ... probably wanting some love and assistance. However, since they request is just a material need, they disengage ... sometimes they just don't have hope, sometimes they get hurt, sometimes other believers have done nothing for so long they just expect no better from us.

But what we do next is key ... how could we get a non-believer to physically interact with Jesus? Would we DARE to YELL at them?! Would we dare to command them to re-engage with us??? And if they did, would we get over the fact that they did so not because of faith but because they thought we were about to give them some secular comfort, and actually instead bring our full faith to bear for their salvation?

I think most of us do the initial engagement with the non-believer, but when they disengage we wonder what to do next. Maybe we toss them a coin and hope they say "thanks" so we can restart the interaction. Maybe we think "phew, that was a close one" and just walk on by. We'll gently talk, but very few of us yell at them ... command them to "look at us ... re-engage with me ... I'm about to shove Jesus at you ... so get your fanny into this church building NOW!!"

Prayer: Jesus, I'm ready to yell at people who have disengaged. May your words be ever in my mouth, and may I be open to your leading to do your work and your will every day.