Fried Rice - Part 1

To say my daughter’s a picky eater is quite the understatement. In the midst of many recent dietary adjustments for my husband, I’ve still had to contend with my sweet Miss Picky. She can hardly cope with three ingredients mixed together, so you can only imagine her thoughts toward me when I tried to substitute zucchini noodles for pasta. She swears she will raise her children differently and not have this issue. All power to her!Despite the pickiness, we did celebrate last year when she unexpectedly announced that she now enjoys Asian food (aka “fried rice with no veggies”). I’ve attempted to persuade her to try many foods over her short lifetime. Usually, the suggestion is met with disinterest. In this case, however, I hadn’t even mentioned Asian food as a possibility.This weekend, I learned that, in some ways, it was the lack of pressure to try Asian food that helped her along. She simply said she’d been with other people eating Asian food on several occasions and no one had ever tried to get her to eat it; they just appeared to thoroughly enjoy it. One day, she simply asked her friend if she could try a bite. That was all that was needed to open up an entirely new genre of restaurants for a family meal!The reason we ended up discussing this great culinary improvement, however, stemmed from a much more important topic. As Annika and a few of her peers recently attended a student conference, she later reflected on how different personalities process our responsibility toward evangelism. Some couldn’t imagine whispering a word about their faith. Others have a boldness that, when properly directed, can be effective. Bart Lewis – our new, awesome Student Pastor at Highpoint – made a great point as he told our students that you have to earn the right to speak to your friends about Jesus.Annika recounted the conversation to us later and then said, “I think Christianity should be like Asian food. Those who eat it shouldn’t try to shove it down other people’s throats. Instead, if it truly tastes good, those around you will notice and want to taste it.”The conversation was a great reminder to me of a tension we have to manage. We cannot neglect sharing our faith, nor should we force our faith upon others. Instead, we must invest in people. Through our genuine love for them, we are welcomed into their space and we earn the right to speak into their lives.In our busy culture, it’s easy to neglect investing in those who don’t know the Lord. One week turns into the next, while people all around us are left without hope.My challenge for you is this:

Find one hour this week to intentionally invest in a relationship with someone who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus.

You never know when they might ask to try a bite of your fried rice.