Introduction 104

‘”You are the salt of the earth. But what good is the salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless’ Matt.5:13.

I have had different people who want to start a business contact me with a name or a slogan for the business. Sometimes it reads something like this “Jesus is Lord beauty salon”. And they want me to affirm their slogan or business name; they want to know if it is good. And I say no because it is not a good name. When you put up or put forward a name like that, you are alienating some people. In fact, you are alienating the same people God gave you that business idea to reach. Don’t put Jesus in your business name. Let Him be in your heart and then let that light shine. I know this would be scandalous to some people but I am willing to take that chance for the sake of the souls who have been alienated because of this very reason. Remember, the objective is to reach people for God. At the level people are, that is not what you want to put in their faces. Recall how salt works and the results it achieves? If the salt decided to jump into the pot of stew all at once would anyone be able to eat it? I do not think so. When Jesus met the disciples, Jesus said “Come and see”. Then Jesus said, “Come and follow me”. Then towards the end Jesus said “Come and die”. If Jesus just met Peter and said to him “Come and die”, Peter would have run away. Jesus takes people through progressions until they are ready. Imitate that! A lot of us are too much in people’s faces. It is fine but sometimes you can actually be a nuisance. I remember a Pastor’s message; he said that before he matured in God, he used to be very rascally. He gave his life to Jesus and his own Pastor told him and some others to go and evangelize. He zeroed in on a soccer pitch where some boys were playing and he went there with his Bible. While preaching to them he said, “If you don’t accept Jesus today you will perish”. So one of the boys playing soccer came to him and said “didn’t Jesus say that if you are slapped on one cheek, you should turn the other?” And before he could answer the boy slapped him. He says he dropped his Bible and beat the boy until he accepted Jesus. Then he carried the boy to his Pastor as a convert. Do not scare the fish away.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me to be discerning even as I introduce people to Jesus so that I will not scare them away, in Jesus Name.