Missing the Cross

“For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18, NAS.

I am ashamed to say that I have offended hardly anyone with the Gospel this past year. I have comfortably shared about God’s love and His faithfulness. I have built many bridges … but … very rarely have I crossed the bridge with the people here. I thought a lot about the girls who used to come to our house for cooking club. One night I wrote in my journal, “Every week Robin* and I added more to the bridge in an attempt to ease our way to the cross. But the girls stopped coming before we ever fully got there. I was called here to tell those girls about the cross of Jesus and I told them about everything but the cross. I told stories from the Old Testament and even stories about Jesus healing and doing miracles… but the cross… how could I not tell them about the cross?!”

But in God’s plan and grace He gave us another chance. We had been trying to reconnect with the cooking club and Robin was able to meet with them one night when I was teaching. She told them the first sacrifice story of Cain and Abel and talked to them about restarting the chat club. They agreed and came to our house the next week.

According to the plan, Robin told them the second sacrifice story of Abraham and Isaac and they were all very interested. We told it to them a few times and then asked them to tell it back to us. Then we asked them questions about what they learned from the stories. Their answers were so neat. I am constantly amazed at how the people here react to these stories.

When we thought we had answered all their questions, Paula, the local believer in the group, asked the best question of all. She said, “So if all of us in this room believe these stories, why do Christians not have to sacrifice anymore while Muslims still do?” Paula looked at me and smiled. She knew that she was opening a door for us to share the cross.

Thank God for that question. Robin and I then shared the last sacrifice story with them: the story of the cross. We told it to them in English and brought out a copy for them to read in their heart language. The four of them sat around the piece of paper and read it over and over and discussed it amongst themselves. They talked about it so long that they completely missed a traditional prayer time!

*Names changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

Pacific Rim personnel will not allow fear to keep them from boldly taking the lost to the cross of Jesus.

These women who heard the story of the cross will respond to the Gospel with saving faith.

Believers called to share cross-culturally will be ever mindful that the reason they build relational bridges is to take the lost over it so they can hear the message of the cross!

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.