Preacher’s Point: How ya doing?

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“How ya doing?”

“Fine. How you been?”

“I’m doing okay.”

The preceding conversation or something extremely similar will happen thousands, maybe millions of times across America on any given day.

Fine, okay, all right, and the occasional “pretty good” are the most common responses people give when someone asks how they have been.

As Christians is “fine” an appropriate response?

I’ve heard some Christians respond to the “How ya doing?” question with, “I am blessed and highly favored.” Ok, this is true, but after 10 or so times of hearing it, it begins to go in one ear and out the other, to the hearer, it becomes a longer version of “fine.” We should be more precise.

When you wake up on Monday morning is Sunday still fresh in your memory? I hope so, attending church should be a blessing, a time of fellowship, worship, learning, and most of all heart changing.

A note on heart changing here: Heart changing does not necessarily have to be something that alters the rest of your life. If you leave the church happier than when you arrived, your heart has been changed. If you enter the church with worries on your soul, and you leave comforted, your heart has changed. Heart changing often is not a tearful collapse at the altar, it can also be something nearly undetectable to those around you.

Back to the subject at hand. Come Monday morning, the blessings of Sunday should still be fresh in your heart and memory. When you walk into work, and Joe asks, “How ya doing?” should your answer be, “Fine”?

What would Joe think if your response was something like this? “When I went to church yesterday, I was worried about the cost of getting the breaks fixed on my car. The preacher preached on how God provides. I’m not quite sure where the money is going to come from yet, but I’m not worried about it anymore.”

That response gives God the glory, plants a seed in Joe, and provides you with another opportunity to drop a word about God with Joe once God provides a way to repair your breaks. Much better than, “fine.”

As Christians, we are to be witnesses of God (Acts 1:8). Being a witness is to tell what you have seen. If God comforts your soul, witness of that. If God gives you a material blessing, such as getting your breaks fixed at half price, tell others, giving God and the mechanic credit.

For some reason, even in Christian circles, people seem to think to be a witness you need to force someone into a corner, beat them over the head with a Bible until they drop to their knees, all the while screaming, “Repent or perish!” Honestly, I don’t give this technique a high probability of success.

Since God is involved in every aspect of a Christian’s life, then everything that happens is an opportunity to witness of what God has done, or how He is currently working.

Consider the following responses to Joe’s question, “How ya going?”

“We had game night last night. It was so nice playing with the kids; God has blessed me with such a wonderful family.”

“Well, I’ve had a cold the last few days, but I think The Lord has got me over the worst of it.”

“Did you notice the trees covered with snow this morning? God sure can make the worst of weather look beautiful.”

“When I was reading my Bible this morning, I was reading about David and Goliath. God is encouraging me to have stronger faith.”

Please understand, I’m not saying every paragraph we speak during the day needs to mention the Good Lord Above. What I’m trying to show is that often we miss the opportunity to witness and deeper than that, we often don’t see the blessings ourselves. When you walked out of church happier than when you arrived, did you notice enough to say “thank you” to Him. Even deeper, often we don’t give the opportunity for God to bless. God can’t speak through the Pastor to you if you are not there to hear him. God can’t teach you lessons from His Word if you don’t read it.

Well, I reckon, the only way to properly end this week’s column is to ask a question.

How ya doing?

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By Timothy Johnson

Preacher Johnson is pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.preacherjohnson.com. E-book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TUJTV2A If you email, inform me where you have seen Preacher’s Point. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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