Learning to Read Peoples’ Eyes

Without whole faces to look at, its easy to interact with people around us in a much more detached way. Believers cannot afford to do that.  We need to be diligent about seeing the hurt in the eyes of those around us.

The pundits say that in an election year, everything is about the election.  Everything this year is about election and which side you are on—pandemics, race, masks, market—everything. And the election is about President Trump—no Joe Biden. Every vote cast in the fall will be for or against the President.

It’s wearying.

It is so easy for believers to sucked into the media narrative that we fail to see what God is doing in this moment. The heathen are raging and Satan wants to lure us into the shouting match. If we follow, we will be sidetracked and miss the moment of opportunity.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Jesus took possession of this passage in Luke 4:18 claiming Himself as its fulfillment. It might have had some contemporary application, but Jesus makes it messianic, and because it is, it is our message too. We don’t preach conservative politics or social correction. We preach Christ, and because of the Great Commission, we preach what He preached.

Let’s engage a different audience.

So instead of shouting to the world on social media about all the horrible things that are happening, how about finding some people like Isaiah mentions here? Let’s find the poor, brokenhearted, captives, prisoners, and mourners. They are all around us. Look at those fearful and wearied eyes peeking out from behind all those masks.

We have prayed for an awakening in this country. Evangelistic shout-downs with the screamers of this world rarely have a positive impact, but it’s the screamers that grab our attention. The ones we need to look for are the fearful ones, isolated and alone. Let’s speak to people one on one—in person—as we get the opportunities. All we really need is one “like”—the smile of the Master.

Let’s proclaim a different message.

Some believers want to speak out against the moral decline we see around us. So, why is this world declining around us? It is not because unbelievers have lost the will to live morally—depravity took care of that already. It’s because the salt has lost its savor. We are the salt and our savor is the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus used the word gospel when He quoted Isaiah 61:1 in Luke 4.

The gospel message is one of healing, liberty, and comfort. Accepting it clothes the receiver in the righteousness of Christ and produces transformed lives. We have the only real message of hope for a fearful, angry, and distraught world.

We need to do more more than survive the trials of 2020, we need to be victorious in them. These trying times are an unusual opportunity for evangelism.  Are we making the most of it?

O Lord, lead me to some soul today.