Be spiritually contagious

A lot of people ask me, Bo, please pray that my son (or daughter, or
husband, or uncle, or friend, or classmate, or officemate) find God.
Whats the best way to bring your family and friends to God?
Whats the best way to be spiritually contagious?
I propose three simple but powerful steps, which Ill share with you for the
next three weeks.
Step 1: Friend Them
Step 2: Serve Them
Step 3: Guide Them
At the end of this revolutionary series, I pray that youll be very spiritually
contagious!

God Still Uses Imperfect People

To Share His Perfect Love

Read what Jesus said

Matthew 28:19-20
Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to
the end of the age.
I have a very big announcement to make.
Your mission in life isnt to earn money.
Your mission isnt to enjoy life.
Your mission isnt to have a good time.
Your mission isnt even to be happy.

All those goals arent bad. Theyre good goals. (Yes, like any father, God
wants His children to be happy.)
But theyre not the sacred purpose of why you were born.
Your mission, my friend, is to make disciples.
I can hear you now. Bo, youre crazy! Im not a priest. Im not a nun. Im
not a preacher like you. Im an ordinary Catholic.
Ah, there lies your mistake.
Theres no such thing as an ordinary Catholic.
Every Catholic has a mission, and that mission is to make disciples. Your
mission is to bring others closer to God.
How?
Jesus is your model.
Jesus made disciples in a very special way

Step 1: Friend Them

Heres my big message for you today: The most powerful way of bringing
someone closer to God is through friendship.
Look at how Jesus did it
Mark 2:15-17
Later on Jesus was having a meal in Levis house. A large number of tax
collectors and other outcasts were following Jesus, and many of them joined
him and his disciples at the table. Some teachers of the Law, who were
Pharisees, saw that Jesus was eating with these outcasts and tax collectors,
so they asked his disciples, Why does he eat with such people? Jesus
heard them and answered, People who are well do not need a doctor, but
only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people, but
outcasts.

Are You A Friend Of Sinners?

I remember Anna telling me this story.

Anna said that the moment she joined Light of Jesus (my community), she
stopped having lunch with her regular lunch-mates, because they werent
spiritually renewed. She ate instead with another officemate who was a member of
Couples for Christ.
Anna said she lost interest in her usual lunch-mates because their discussion
was worldly. But with her new spiritual friend, they only talked about God. They
spoke the same language. They quoted the same verses. They shared the same
stories.
But after one year, she felt like God hit her on the head. She heard God tell
her, Go back to your former friends. Love them.
Anna realized she made a mistake. So she went with her former lunch-mates
again. And they told her, We felt hurt that you suddenly left us. That we were not
holy enough for you. She asked for forgiveness. And they welcomed her back.
Today, Anna is able to bring Gods Love to her friends. And some of them are
now attending the Feast, our weekly gathering.

Annoyance or Acceptance?
Let me tell you a sad fact: According to surveys, the longer a person attends
church, the more he isolates himself from the unchurched.
Christians like Anna stop attending civic organization. She stops hanging out
with her officemates. She stops joining the homeowners meetings. She stops
attending PTA meetings.
Instead, she meets only people from her church.
Because she gets annoyed at non-Christian behavior.
Examples?
o
o
o
o

I dont like their green jokes.

I cant stand their cursing.
They believe in New Age stuff.
My old friends smoke. I cant stand secondhand smoke. (Daniel and
his three friends were thrown in a burning furnace because of their
faith, and were afraid of secondhand smoke?)

Suddenly, the proof of spiritual growth is annoyance. How annoyed are

you at non-Christian behavior? The more annoyed you are, the more spiritual you
must be.
But this is nuts.
Jesus ate with prostitutes, tax-collectors, and drunkards. You can be sure there
was a lot more than cursing and green jokes when they gathered. But Jesus made
them his friends. Thats why religious people called him a friend of sinners
(Luke 7:34).
He ate in the house of Zacheus, the chief tax collector.
He allowed a prostitute to wash and anoint his feet.
The proof that youre spiritually growing isnt annoyance but
acceptance. Heres the real proof that youre spiritually growing: If you accept
sinners. If youre non-judgmental to sinners. If youre friends of sinners.
Just like Jesus.

My Wonderful Friends Today

Today, I enjoy friends who are unchurched.
Today, I regularly meet with people who would never enter a Church. I have a
woman friend whos never been to Sunday Mass for decades. Two of my friends
are lesbians. One friend is in an adulterous relationship. And then theres a New
Ager whos into the occult.
I love them. And I enjoy being with them.
I dont condemn them. Because I know that Jesus doesnt condemn them.
Guess what: Slowly, because of our friendship, theyre coming closer to God.
Oh, its exciting to see that happen!
Warning: Obviously, there are situations when you need to be careful. It may
not be wise for a recovering alcoholic to spend time with his drinking buddies
while theyre drinking. Or a recovering sex addict spending time with
prostitutes. Be prudent.

Whats Your Greatest Evangelistic Weapon?

John 13:34-35

And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will
know that you are my disciples.
How will people know that youre a disciple?
Not by how long you pray.
Not by how many Bible verses you know.
Not by how many scapulars hang around your neck.
Not by how many rosaries hang in your rear-view mirror.
People will know youre a disciple if you love like Jesus.
And surprise, surprise! This same love will be your most important tool in
winning someone to Jesus. I repeat: Your greatest way of bringing someone closer
to God is your friendship.

Eleven Years Later

When I was in college, I had a friend who I met for lunch almost everyday for
two years. Lets call him Bill.
During those lunches, I remember trying to share my faith with him.
But no matter how much I tried, I couldnt seem to convince Bill to follow
Jesus. He said he had a lot of doubts. He had many other problems and he wasnt
ready to commit. But even if we didnt agree about spiritual things, we enjoyed our
friendship a lot.
We couldnt talk about spiritual things (because we disagreed about them), but
we talked about everything else: sports, girls, cars, girls, music, and did I
mention girls? (After all, we were college guys!)
I dropped out of college and we lost touch.
And I never heard of Bill again.
Eleven years later, I was walking in a mall and guess who I sawBill! I asked
him how he was, and he gave me the shock of his life. He said he was a Christian
missionary!
I couldnt believe my ears.

He then said five words that made my heart leap for joy. Thanks for showing
me Jesus.
For those 2 years that I was having lunch with the guy, it seemed like nothing
was happening.
But it was true.
What showed him Jesus?
Our friendship.

Who Introduced Me To God?

When I was 12 years old, my father told me, Bo, lets go to the prayer
meeting.
I walked in, liked it, and never left. As a 12-year-old kid, I fell in love with
God, and my life has never been the same.
People ask me, One invitation from your parents and you said Yes?
Actually, I didnt get one invitation. All throughout my life, Dad was already
inviting mein a very silent wayto experience Gods Love.
How? By the power of relationship.
When I was a small boy, I remember that Dad treated me special. Everytime
he came home from work, hed look for me.
Dad would invite me to jog with him.
He wasnt a great jogger. We jogged around the car parked in our garage.
After the jog, hed sit down and make me sit on his lap. Hell read to me 4
comic strips in the paper: Tarzan, Blondie, Beetle Bailey, and Peanuts.
That happened every single night.
I remember how during the day, Id look forward to evenings. Evenings were
special to me. Because Dad came home and spent that precious one hour with me.
That wasnt all.
Every Saturday, my father would invite me out for a date. Hed bring me out
for pizza. Or watch a movie. Or go to a toy store.

By relating to me in a loving way, Dad gave me a glimpse of who God is. If

my father thought I was special, then perhaps my Father in Heaven thought I was
special too. If my father liked spending time with me, then perhaps my Father in
Heaven liked spending time with me too.
Note: Dad didnt talk much about God. He wasnt much of a talker. His
favorite word was Hmmph. Id greet him, Hi Dad! and hes grunt, Hmmph.
But by the loving relationship he had with me, I was slowly being
discipled.

Be Another Jesus In The World

You can bring your family and friends closer to God.
How do I know?

Because God gave you a mission: To make disciples.

You dont have to be a preacher, a writer, a singer.

All you need to do is be a loving friend. By your friendship, they will
experience Gods Love.