Par for the Course
John Hopper -
Last night at a fundraising dinner, a friend asked me, “John, you always have such great stories about reaching out to others. What’s one of your latest?”
I was flattered that someone enjoys hearing about the moments when God opens the door for a spiritual conversation. But I also must admit that those stories can create the wrong impression. It might seem as though I have some special knack for making meaningful conversations happen each and every time.
The truth is much less impressive. For every good conversation that leads to Jesus, many never get off the ground or garner limited interest. If I experience any success, it’s only because I try often enough that a few turn into great conversations with people who have questions about life and God.
As I’ve talked with others who serve on staff with Search, they tell me much the same. They are an amazing group of gifted people who are great at making friends and navigating rich conversations. But their success in reaching out probably has less to do with any grand aptitude and more to do with a willingness to keep reaching out one more time—to one more person—when the last time didn’t go so well.
Have you ever texted someone to grab coffee and never heard back? Invited the couple across the street to dinner several times over the years, only to hear that they’re too busy? Or started a promising spiritual conversation that was soon dismissed? In my experience, this is par for the course. And considering that Jesus said we can’t always expect a great reception (John 15:20), I suppose He understood that our scorecard would be dotted with at least a few “unsuccessful” attempts to reach out to others.
Of course, thwarted connections and conversations are never fun. At times, they can be deeply discouraging. But if a sheep is worth finding, if a coin is worth the hunt, and if a son is worth the wait (Luke 15), then making another phone call or inviting a new friend to lunch is worth it too. After all, that next call or invitation may be the one that changes a person’s life. So as the Apostle Paul reminds us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
John Hopper is the Executive Director of REACH, the evangelism training arm of Search Ministries. He served as a pastor for 16 years in Houston, Texas, completed his doctoral studies at Biola University, and is the author of Questioning God? and Giving Jesus Away. He loves his wife, tennis, and apple pie to very different degrees!
