Never too busy to talk about Jesus

I think I give the impression to many people that I’m a really busy person. And I guess it’s true that I am. It doesn’t feel right to try to hide the fact that I am often insanely busy with all the responsibilities that my job entails. Yet I sometimes worry that this appearance of busy-ness stops kind-hearted people from asking me the very questions that I want them to ask – questions about my faith, questions about Jesus, questions about the truly truly important things in life. Perhaps they think they shouldn’t bother me when I am so busy. But, you know what? That’s what I live for, work for, and wait for – for people to ask me these questions.

I believe I say this on behalf of every committed Christian in this world – ASK US ABOUT JESUS. It’s not a burden to spend time talking with others about the most important thing in our lives. Getting the opportunity to tell someone the story of our faith is a privilege that makes everything else that we do worthwhile.

I had someone spend several hours with me a couple of years ago, talking seriously with me about Christianity and what it takes to believe in Jesus. This happened during exam and marking time at our university (i.e. a time when academics are generally known to be at their busiest, often working in the evenings and weekends to get their marking done on time). At the end of her time with me, she apologised for taking up such a lot of my time. But I don’t think she understood the fact that she had in fact made my day, my week, and my year just by wanting to know … from me. Getting the privilege to speak to her at length and in depth about the most important thing in my life was something that made all my hard work worthwhile. (And, by the way, I still got all my marking done on time!) 

Bill Hybels, prolific Christian writer and now the pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, wrote in his book Descending into Greatness (Zondervan, 1993) that he was once asked as a young man, “What are you doing with your life that will last forever?” At that point, Hybels had apparently had his eyes set on business, money, cars, and the other usual trappings of success, but that question stopped him in his tracks and eventually changed the direction that his life took.

The bible teaches us in Matthew 6: 19-21:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Investing time in people’s lives and their souls – that’s something that will last forever. I will never be too busy to talk with someone I know about what I believe in. So ask me, please.