There is an undiscerning Christian man. Sadly, I say this term loosely.
As I stand at the outside mall daily with my everchanging evangelistic sign. There is a man who comes to me daily. He claims to be a Christian. At first his visits were inviting. I enjoyed sharing spiritual truth and learning where this man was in his walk.
However, his visits have now become annoying. When he first encountered me, and asked me what led me out here. I explained that the Lord instructed me to be here daily and display a message that would reach into the heart and souls of the passerbys. I was also instructed to have limited dialogue and just pray for everyone who reads the sign and/or asks questions about God or the Bible.
Shockingly, even after explaining it to this man on a couple of occasions, he continues to wish to engage in useless chatter, share the latest religious joke he heard, or debate biblical issues. On occcasions in the past, I found my self silently praying that God would dismiss him from our presence because of the distraction.
Yesterday however, became the red flag. As he stood there (in what was really a one sided debate) debate me about an issue, I clearly told him that he was wrong about that issue and needed guidance from the Lord so that he wouldn't mislead people in that area, he then became flustered and loud. I then prayed that God will dismiss him, which He did.
I believe that there was or is a reason that God allowed this man to continuously show his face. And maybe to my shame I am failing to hear from the Lord regarding this. Nevertheless, as I prayed about this last night, God gave me the peace to recognize that it is my responsibility to dismiss this man, but to also handle him with care.
I originally called this man undiscerning, not for the reason of offending, but for the reason of pointing out what is being made clear to me.
When a member of the body is witnessing/preaching/sharing in an open forum, that by far is the most inappropriate time to debate about non-essential matters. It is that time to pray that the member is fruitful in his work.
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