Cracker Jack and Good News

This year’s Super Bowl showcased some great commercials.  Personally, I liked the Doritos ads (“Grandpa?!”).  I was reminded of other commercials in the past that have had a line in it that has stuck with me. 

One of those is a Cracker-Jack commercial from the early 1970s that received an award from the Cannes Film Festival.  It opens with a man (the dad?) sitting in a chair at home, reading the paper and eating the candy-coated popcorn with peanuts (and a prize).  Then a little boy comes in the back door and announces “I’m home” – as the man hides the Cracker-Jack box in his folded newspaper.  The child walks to the man and stares... knowingly.    The man asks, “What did you learn in school today?” The boy replies, “sharing.”  It’s a simple line that I’ve never forgotten (maybe because I had three sisters and I empathized with the  man’s plight). 

In the end, the man reluctantly hands over the box of tasty morsels to the boy who then ends up “sharing” back some of it with him.  The message I remember taking away from the ad was this: that box of sweet and crunchy goodness is really too good to give away (I think what I was supposed to learn is that “it’s good to share something that is good”).

Sharing. It is something that even the youngest preschoolers begin to learn.  Yet it remains a struggle for many of us to practice no matter our age, especially if what we possess is something we like a lot.  But what about when it comes to “sharing” our faith?  We like our faith, right?

It makes me wonder, are there times when I am reluctant to share my “box of spiritual goodness” with others (the “good news of Jesus Christ”), because it seems too good to share (or I know that they might accept the invitation)?  I know that doesn’t make any sense (the good news was meant to be shared)... or does it, at least a little bit?! 

Could it be that there are times when you or I think that things are pretty well set the way that they are?  What if someone did accept your invitation?  What impact might that really have long term?  Do you know what I mean?  You have your circle of friends, your accustomed place to sit in the Sanctuary, the style of music that you prefer, the place that you normally park, your familiar small group that you’ve been with for a while... and frankly, even though you don’t want to admit it, someone new coming into the mix or having to change any of those things would really not be your first choice.  Of course, you’d never want to keep someone from going to heaven, and if you knew for sure that sharing your faith in Christ would lead directly to someone’s salvation, you would do it (even if it meant changing in one of those areas above)... but you don’t really know that would be the result, right?  Ah-h... but this can be just the beginning of your own version of the folded newspaper.

There are a plethora of other hindrances to sharing your faith.

I’ll admit that it’s easy for me to simply become too busy doing a variety of other good things.  Again, it’s not that I don’t want others to make it into the Kingdom, but it is tough keeping that priority high when other things seem to demand my time and attention.  Occasionally, I’m just plain tired.  By nature I’m not an extrovert.  I’ve learned to become more that way over the years but I really enjoy private time, too.  My tendency in a crowd is not to go around and strike up conversations with people, even though I know that I have the ability to do that.  I suppose when I get honest, there are times when I just flat out don’t make the effort.  (I don’t even like reading what I’ve just written, but can you relate?)  Other times, I do have sort of a fear of failure.  I don’t like being rejected any more than the next person.  I know... “they aren’t rejecting me” and I’m “just the messenger,” but it can hurt a little (and at least be very disappointing) when someone hears my presentation of the gospel and still says, “no.”  Frankly, that has happened many times over the years.  I have had the privilege of sharing Christ with lots of people, and I know that many have said “yes,” but certainly not everyone.

I guess sometimes the question is, how much do I really care?  Do I care enough to get past the spiritual hindrances to go ahead and share my faith?  Do I really care and remember that Jesus loves and died for every person?  Do I look for opportunities to share and take them as God presents them?

Maybe other times the issue is one of definition.

What does it really mean to “share” when it comes to our faith?  For some people it means living a godly life and letting your actions demonstrate your beliefs.  St. Francis of Assisi (Founder of the Franciscan order, 1181-1226) is credited with saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” I know it’s a catchy saying and all, but it strikes me that at some point in everyone’s life, they need to actually hear the words of the good news (Romans 10:14) – otherwise the good deeds you perform will come across with an unclear message.  But there is a relationship between those two concepts.   

Doing good can serve as a great bridge for the gospel and communicate that you love and care for someone.  This is INVESTING your life in a relationship... and it has to be genuine.  It has to be the “no strings attached” kind of commitment and care.  However, for them to understand that not only you, but that God loves them, sooner or later someone needs to tell them about Him.  Someone needs to connect the dots between your ministry and your message.  This can happen by INVITING someone: to meet Jesus, to meet other followers of Christ (like at church) where they will hear the gospel message, and/or to hear your personal story of your relationship with Christ.  It’s important to PRAY for someone regularly to come to know Christ and to pray for open doors of opportunity to share with them, too.  Our memory verse for this week reminds us that Paul saw the importance of prayer: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith.” (Philemon 6a). 

I don’t believe that I have the gift of evangelism, and maybe you don’t either, but this is one of those “Big Rock” priorities that I know must be present in the life of every follower of Christ.  I want to grow in this area of my life.  Let’s not keep the message in a folded up newspaper of activities and hindrances.  News this good was meant to be shared.