I once shared a classroom with a young woman teaching business classes. We often bumped into each other and chatted. She had a dream of designing a school for training young people in her country to work in international business. My teammate and I joined her for lunch one day and discovered she had two daughters, and that her sister lived in Australia. When their aunt visited, the girls loved her stories of a faraway place.  

“She often reads to them about Jesus. She’s like you — she believes in Him.” 

“And this is ok with you?” 

“It’s good. They should know about him. And I want them to hear English.” 

“What do you think about what your sister tells them?” 

“As a Buddhist I do good but I often wonder, is it enough? My sister says it will never be. She told me that only Jesus is enough.” 

“What do you say to that?” 

“I think I will keep working on my school.” 

And she began to describe the ingredients of the dishes before us. 

Unbelievers often shine flashlights on what we hold to be true. 

An antagonistic student to his believing classmate – “I’ve heard the Bible promises that God will change you – so how have you changed?”

An angry US talk show guest – “Christians are always trying to change people. Why? Because they have this mandate and their god promises to be with them as they go into all the world and spread their news.” 

A grad student after a visit to a church – “That priest makes me angry. He tells the people that Jesus promises to make them rich. He’s lying.” 

I hear these comments and I must admit, amongst the doubt and misunderstanding, there are grains of truth in each observation. Jesus does promise that His grace is sufficient and that He makes believers into a new creation. The wealth He talks of is so much more than money. I pray that they would meet and love the One who makes these claims and that my life would daily reveal that I already do.