Everyone needs to see Jesus. Too often, believers in Jesus like me distract others from seeing Him. I know—that probably does not make sense. I have written over a million words on biblical topics. I have reached hundreds of thousands of people with my writing—so how am I preventing others from seeing Jesus? Well, simply because I am a solution-oriented person.
I would say most humans are solution oriented: when you run low on fuel you go to the gas station; when you run out of groceries you go to the store; when your air conditioner breaks down you call someone to fix it. In my decades of marriage, ministry, raising kids, and being a chronic researcher, I have found solutions for all kinds of things. I have answers for raising children, tips for saving money, keys for solving political issues, natural cures for health issues, and techniques for fixing random things that break in life. When I encounter someone who is going through one of those issues in life, I tend to want to reach into my bag of tricks rather than let their circumstance play out its purpose: bring them to Jesus.
For Christians, Jesus is often the last resort. We have programs and events for a host of things. We have efficient people who can do everything or collectively solve dilemmas. We have gotten so good at so much, we don’t really need Jesus. I know that sounds odd, but if you were to ask a believer what Jesus has done in his life lately, you would probably hear, “Well, I got a raise at work,” or “We had a really good church service last Sunday.” We are more aware of the system than we are of the Person. Can we get back to seeing Jesus?

How we forgot about Jesus

This used to be all about seeing Jesus. Yes, this faith of ours started with a personal encounter with the Lord. If you ever had a true relationship with Jesus, you could not help thinking or talking about Him. Somewhere along the line, especially if you are ministry, you become more focused on the process than on the Person.
He is calling you back to Himself. He is calling you to lead others to that face-to-face relationship with Him. You cannot lead someone down a path you do not know.
Church growth techniques, soul-winning trainings, self-help sermons, and so much more have created a biosphere of church economy that is void of the life-giving presence of His Person. Does He talk to you? In a relationship you talk. Do you share your thoughts with Him and wait for His feedback? In a friendship you exchange ideas until both individual’s hearts are knit together.

Does He call me “friend”?

What distinguishes friends from acquaintances or colleagues? Sharing secrets. Caring for one another.
Friendship is not about hiding things from each other. Employees hide things from bosses—they do not tell them all the details of their lives. Bosses hide things from their employees—they do not share everything with them.
Jesus says, “I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything…” (John 15:15).
What is He revealing to you this past week? Is He being open with you? How close is that friendship? Let’s turn this around the other way. What have you revealed to Him lately? Are there some things you are hiding from Him? You just don’t want to talk about those details? You just want to make those decisions without asking Him what He thinks? Does that sound employee/boss to you? Or are you friends?
When Jesus reveals secrets, we call that “revelation.” He wants to open up our understanding on so many things. He showed you something new in prayer this week. He showed you a fresh insight to the Scriptures this week. Were you listening? Friends stop and listen to friends.
In a friendship with Jesus, you care about what matters to Him. He cares about what matters to you. When was the last time you changed what you were doing because it mattered to Him?

Seeing Jesus

I mentioned earlier that my wife and I are researchers. We love to study just about anything that has a practical value. The Lord has lead us to learn vital information about natural health care, raising godly children, reconnecting with basic life skills, spiritual growth principles, and useful information on a wide swath of many other topics. What I missed in this crazy fun journey of life was that most of this stuff that I have learned has been because of Jesus.
During times of stress and challenge, the Lord opened our understanding on several fronts. Just last week the Lord spoke to my wife about a health issue she was going through. He told her where her nutritional intake was lacking. She made the change and her health improved in two days. Now, I could write a post about this health concern, and someday we might do that. But rather than give people the solutions we found, I would rather see them come into close communication with the One who knows all the answers.
I started seeing Jesus in the Bible. The more I focused on Him there, the better I came to know Him in real life. Did you know you can open any book in the New Testament and learn more about Jesus? What would your life be like if each day you saw Jesus in the Scriptures and then looked for Him in person through prayer for that day?
Do you know people who just don’t get it in life? Know what you should be doing? Pray until Christ be formed in them. Pray that their eyes would be opened to see Jesus in all His fullness. You can talk and talk and talk about why they should get off drugs or leave that cult or work on their home life. But if you can just get them into a friendship with Jesus, He can fix all of that for them.

How to help others who need Jesus

You have two options for helping others get into a friendship with Jesus: talk to them about a Him, and talk to Him about them.
When you talk to others about Jesus, don’t be weird. It should be a natural conversation like you would have about a best friend. Don’t tell all His secrets; let Him do that. Tell about the sorrows He has turned into joy for you. Share stories about how He helped in your situation. Again, do not load the story with any more detail than necessary to keep it relevant to your listener.
When you talk to Jesus about your friend, you want to be specific. Tell their secrets, if you must, but most importantly, see Jesus in them. Pray until you see Jesus in their marriage—what does that look like? Then thank Him for it. Pray Him into their addiction until you see them sober—what will it look like to see them with hands lifted, praising Jesus? These are not religious prayers—these are effective prayers that accomplish much.
Like the writer of Ephesians, pray for your friends, thanking the Lord for them. Pray that the eyes of their understanding would be opened and that they would see Jesus in all His fullness—that they would be strengthened by His power—that they would be filled with His love—that they would see Jesus as more powerful than any force they face—that they would see themselves in Him, standing in victory over every struggle and battle they face (Ephesians 1:15-23).
Please share how Jesus went from religious story to personal friend for you. What has He been teaching you lately?

The purpose of the DiscipleMaker teaching series is to help others in seeing Jesus!