Impact 360 Fellows

I am eight weeks into being a Fellow, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is that growth happens when we step outside of our comfort zone. It is often the case that God likes to use experiences outside of our comfort zone to teach us the very things we would never learn by staying where we are comfortable. During our time in Utah, this truth settled in my heart a little deeper.

2 Timothy 1:9 really encapsulates what the Lord taught me in Utah. In it, Paul talks about how the Father has called us with a holy calling, not according to any of our own work, but according to His grace that we receive through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. I want to take you into a specific conversation that Tyler and I had in Utah, and I will attempt to give a picture of how the Lord brought these truths to life for me.

On day three, I found myself wandering Snow College with Tyler, eager for how the Lord could move, but equally as discouraged because the days prior had been more challenging than I had anticipated. Next we knew, we were sitting down across from an LDS member, who was exceptionally curious about what we had to say. We began to ask her questions about her faith, and quickly realized that she was very much questioning her beliefs and commitments to the LDS Church. The moment we told her we were “Evangelical Christians,” she began to ask us questions. “So, is tithing a requirement for Christianity?” she asked gently. We answered her question and shared with her the story of the Widow’s mite from Luke 21.

For the following hour, she asked questions, and we answered. We discussed the Christian teachings on everything from the afterlife, ordinances, and eternal families, eschatology, to simply what community looks like within Christianity.

At the end, she even asked to pray with us, to accept this Gospel of Grace that we were inviting her into. As powerfully and beautifully as our conversation ended, what struck me, and has not left my mind, was not actually how our conversation ended, but how we got to that beautiful ending.

Growing up in church, the idea of finding Freedom in Christ was not new to me, but until this conversation, I had yet to see it right in front of my eyes. In this conversation, as I earnestly tried to bring her to the understanding of this Freedom in Christianity that I was speaking of, I quickly realized that my words fell short in comparison to Gods. As we would begin to answer her question, the Holy Spirit would lead one of us to a verse or passage that brought truth to her curiosity. As we did this, I watched the Word of God be living and active, as her eyes lit up and her head lifted, each time I invited her into this Gospel of grace and freedom. This is what makes the Christian Gospel unique: we have freedom in Christ; there is nothing we can do to earn the Father’s love.

Weeks later, I come back to this conversation often, and as I reflect, I am reminded of the Holy call that the Lord has given each of us, but more than that, I am reminded that I am not dependent on my own ability or knowledge to bring others to see the Gospel, but I am dependent on the grace and power revealed in His living Word. That day at Snow College, I got to see these very things come alive. I am slowly understanding to depend less on myself and more on the Lord. What a beautiful gift it is to be a small part of God’s redemptive work. The Gospel is full of grace and freedom; it is true, and it changes everything.