Be Receivable

"Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me." Matthew 10:40

I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the bottom line of the mission of the Church is that the people for whom Christ died would receive Him as Savior and know Him as Lord.  Jesus made it pretty clear that He came to, "seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), and yet there's usually a disconnect when we simply "preach Jesus" but nobody ever receives Christ.

Maybe our message is offensive? Yes, both Jesus and Paul assured us it would be (John 16:3; 2 Corinthians 2:15). But what if salvation is not just about trying to get people from point A to point B?What if there's another stop along the way?

When Jesus sent out his disciples to prepare the way for His ministry, He charged them with a huge responsibility: becoming receivable. Jesus not only promised that those who received them would receive Him (Matthew 10:40), He also warned them about the reality that those who didn't receive them would probably not accept Him either (Matthew 10:14-15). 

The disciples were sent out into the community to preach the message of Christ as the precursor to them accepting Jesus. Those that accepted Him did so because of what they had seen and heard from His disciples; and yet at the same time, there were others did not receive Christ for that very same reason. 

What if it's not always the gospel people reject? What if it's us? Maybe people can't or won't receive Jesus simply because they don't like His disciples? That's a sobering reality. Who are the people who can't even hear the gospel because they stumble over what they see in me? 

Now don't get me wrong, the gospel message has enough power all by itself to save anyone who believes despite my shortcomings (Romans 1:16), however the principle is still true: "he who receives me stands a much better chance of receiving Christ". I'm not saying that we should make pleasing people or being liked the end goal of our ministry. I'm just saying that a big part part of our mission as Christ's Body should be seeking to connect lost people to us as a means of connecting them with Christ. 

It might be that my neighbor just isn't open to the gospel. Or it could be because of my attitudes and actions that he thinks I'm a jerk. Either way I should be doing everything in my power to ensure that it's not the latter, otherwise my chances of winning someone who straight up don't like me (for non-gospel related reasons) are slim to none. Like Jesus said, "He who receives you receives me". Let's make it our aim to be as receivable as possible so that they might receive Christ. 

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