[Church and Discipleship] A Winsome Approach (12/13)

By Louie Rudin

Meanwhile, our neighbors think that Jesus is pretty irrelevant. I wonder who will move into their neighborhood and live a lifestyle that will show them otherwise? You know the lifestyle I mean… love God, love people, make disciples. Remember the Volvo convert? Let’s talk about him for a minute. We assumed that his conversion was the result of a glitzy TV commercial that had convinced him that a Volvo was better than his Lexus. But let’s be real. People don’t change lifestyles like they do automobiles. I believe that in regards to a lifestyle change it would possibly look more like this- Mr. Smith lives next door to Mr. Jones who was also a former Lexus owner. Mr. Jones’ buddy from back in his college days just purchased a new Volvo and was all excited about it and convinced Mr. Jones to give one a test drive. He liked it and bought it. Convert. Meanwhile Mr. Smith sees the new vehicle in the driveway next door and is curious. Now, please allow me to interrupt the story here. Let’s assume that this story could move forward in two different directions. Story A could be like this- Mr. Jones is rather annoying. He is extremely competitive and rather arrogant. In spite of this he does many good things for the community (he enjoys the attention) and is a member of many boards of directors for numerous clubs and organizations in town. Mr. Smith, however, is a bit more reserved. He is cautious with people due to some bad experiences when he was younger. Mr. Jones is continually hinting to Mr. Smith that he would be much better off if he were to look at life in the same way Mr. Jones does. Obviously Mr. Smith resents this, but tolerates it and is pleasant just the same. He sees Mr. Jones in the driveway and decides to be friendly and go ask about the new Volvo. Mr. Jones is all excited and raves about his new car and suggests to Mr. Smith that if he was really intelligent (like Mr. Jones), he would also buy a new Volvo. Quite frankly, now that Mr. Jones has a Volvo, Mr. Smith would never consider one. Potential convert thwarted by a testimonial that was tainted by the behavior of the messenger. But let’s consider Story B- Mr. Jones is a very successful yet very humble man. He is a recovering alcoholic and definitely has learned what his limitations are. His company provides a vehicle for him, and the most recent one was a Lexus. It was time for the lease to run out on his company Lexus and a close friend told him about his new car, a Volvo S60. Mr. Jones decided to check it out and eventually decided that his next company car would be a Volvo. Mr. Smith was intrigued by the change and Mr. Jones was very happy to chat with him about it. He even gave Mr. Smith the keys and suggested that he take Mrs. Smith out to dinner and determine if it was a good fit. Mr. Smith greatly respected Mr. Jones and considered him a true friend, so combined with the trust that has been built in their friendship, the desire to own this new car was sufficient to bring him to the Volvo dealership. Convert. And as time moves forward, if the “relationship” that Mr. Smith has with his new car eclipses that of his former one, then indeed a transformation has taken place.