DO YOU SEE THIS WOMAN?

"...If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner...Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman?'" Luke 7:44


I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on this passage in Luke 7 relating to personal evangelism. A lot of us cringe when the subject of "witnessing" comes up, because for many the term suggests the scenario of approaching individuals we might rather not talk to and questioning them about the state of their soul. For others, evangelism means that someone else preaches the gospel to a foreign mission field on the other side of the globe. When viewed through the life of Christ, however, we find that witnessing to a lost world is more micro than macro, more local than international. Christ declares in Matthew 28:18-20 that witnessing does not begin across the ocean or across the country, but across the fence, across the street, or in the space next to us.

We encounter multitudes of people in the course of a lifetime without giving most of them a single thought as to their spiritual condition. As I study this passage in Luke 7, I am convicted by the fact that I have a tendency to "look through" unfamiliar people. I'm not rude or antisocial, but sometimes I spend more time thinking about the day ahead of me to the point where those around me become invisible and blend into the background. This smites my conscience because human beings are not trousered apes or featherless bipeds, but creatures made in God's image, and one day they will stand before Him, joined in intimate fellowship or separated from Him for eternity. I cannot imagine anything more sobering than that.

Too often I resemble Simon in Luke 7 in that I do not always "see" the people around me. When Christ asked him if he "saw" this woman, I believe that He was asking if he "knew" her in the sense of who she really was. Simon knows that "she is a sinner," but does he care enough about her to know her? Why was she known as a "sinner?" Is he afraid to approach her, or does he fear what his friends might think because of her "reputation?"

This story pricked my heart and mind because of my own shortcomings in this area of my life. Remember, evangelism is about relationships, it is about loving your neighbor, it is love in action! Sharing the gospel is not about "winning" theological arguments or leaving tracts that anger and antagonize the recepients, but it involves a loving, conscious effort to know people on a personal level. Many well-meaning believers ruin their "witness" by employing evangelism strategies that alienate and castigate those who urgently need the gospel of God's sovereign grace.

One principle idea emerges from my meditations on Luke 7: evangelism begins when we "see" -- become acutely aware of -- the "invisible" people around us. Perhaps it is more a question of making ourselves more visible to those who need to "see" us. We should not use Christianity as a cloaking device, but rather as a light and mirror for others to see the life and love of Christ within us. Maybe I speak only to myself, but, as the old saying goes, "If the shoe fits, wear it." As we live and move in this world, may the Savior's words ring in our ears -- "Do you see this woman?"