From Protected to Projected- Part 2- A Rusty Plan of Evangelism

Hi blog visitor! Thanks for stopping by. This is a second part of a series. Read part one first if you'd like. 

Part 2- A Rusty Plan of Evangelism

      A year or so into our marriage, my husband Gil, and I found ourselves bored on a Wednesday night and decided to do something out of the norm- we went to the Wednesday night Bible study at our church. So adventurous, right? When we arrived, we sat down and waited for the Bible study to begin and an older gentleman, someone very well known and respected in our church approached us and asked us why we were there. We were a bit taken back and didn’t quite know how to answer Mr. Rusty because, well, we thought it was ok to attend church on a Wednesday night. So, we looked at each other and somewhat stumbled to say that we just thought it would be nice to come. Without even a second to think about it, Mr. Rusty leaned down and whispered loud enough for both of us to hear, 

“You need to go back home and make babies”. I almost choked on my peppermint! Excuse me, did the oldest guy in my church, the man who is so good and humble, just tell me and my husband to go home and make babies? Gil was the first to respond. He looked at me with hopeful eyes and said, 

“Did he just say what I think he said?” I gave Gil the “not tonight, buddy” look and hesitated to glance back at Mr. Rusty. Then, without delay, Mr. Rusty continued to explain his statement. He said that if every young Christian couple decided to have 5 or 6 children and raise them up to be Godly adults, then our nation would be a Christian nation in few generations. Then he walked away. 

A few awkward moments passed while Gil and I waited for Mr. Rusty to walk far enough away so that he couldn’t hear us and then we released our embarrassment with laughter, hoping nobody else heard our short and unforgettable conversation with the legendary, Mr. Rusty.  We sat through the Bible study unable to pay attention to our pastor and thought through what we had just been told. He’s right. The Rusty Plan of Evangelism, as my husband and I have dearly labeled it, would work. This silly idea of raising our kids to be real, living, breathing, giving Christians with the idea of changing our world might just work. Did you read that? We can change the way the world looks for everyone we, and our children, encounter- if we are willing to work a bit harder and think a bit deeper before we set out with our parenting strategy. 

In his book entitled, Raising Worldly-Wise, but Innocent Kids, David Wyrtzen says, “effective parenting is more than teaching facts about life or the Bible. Our kids might be champion Bible trivia players, but that does not guarantee they will have moral character.” Knowing the words typed in our Bible is not the key to figuring out this thing called “life”. In fact, knowledge of those words is just the beginning to understanding the greatness God has for us. Just as a child becomes familiar with hearing his native tongue before he has the skills to speak it himself, so we can simply familiarize ourselves with the words of scripture before we are able to apply it to our situations. A safe time of learning the words of the Bible is wonderful and should be prioritized, but this will not provide the deep roots needed to help sustain life. We need more than memorizing Bible verses and fun songs. We need life altering directions and council from God and others in our lives that have walked the years before us.  

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Come back for the next installment of From Protected to Projected next week! Also, I would be deeply grateful if you'd share this with friends and family that might enjoy it. 

Love,
Lindsay