Can You Relate?

 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me.”

 

-- Matthew 10:40

We've all done it once or twice, and some people tend to do it more than others.

It's name-dropping, or suggesting that we have a relationship with a celebrity, politician or other notable personality. It's a favorite sport at parties, and sometimes it's useful at job interviews because it can create familiarity and connection.

Name-dropping can also be annoying, but it's OK to brag a bit about a relationship

with the right person. In the Bible, this is actually encouraged. After all, Christianity is a faith that embraces relationship over religion. Specifically, there's a parent/child relationship between us and God. And it's a bond that's only made possible through Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross -- a punishment we all rightly deserve for our lifetimes marked by personal failures and shortcomings (also known as "sin"). But since we're connected with the right person (Jesus), he's already paid the price to save us from a certain death and eternal separation from God.

  

That's the primary relationship we enjoy as Christ-followers. But God also wants us to make relationships with others. That means introducing them to Jesus, sharing his story and relating how his death on the cross means a whole new life now -- and later in eternity.

How can we get the ball rolling? One of the best ways is to pray for people by name. They can be family members, co-workers, neighbors, political leaders, the unsaved -- and particularly our enemies. After that, don't be surprised if God opens up the circumstances where we become the answer to someone's prayer.

Jesus set our example when he sent 12 of his followers to the nearby Jewish communities to spread the Good News (the Gospel):

"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel," he told them. "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

Here was a time Jesus instructed his followers to be the answer to someone's fervent prayers in the midst of difficulties and pain -- and all while using their connection with him to do the seemingly impossible. As the saying goes, it's not always what you know that counts in life. It's who you know that makes all the difference.