Risk or Reward?

Photo credit: Jeremy Dourrough, Unsplash

We Take Risks in Relationships

I’m not a betting woman. I don’t like leaving things to chance. I’m what you’d call risk averse. But when I moved to Germany to share the Gospel with refugees, I found myself taking a lot of them. Some people might say some of the bigger risks were living in a foreign country. Counting on my ability to speak German to accomplish everything. Or putting my kids in German school. And no doubt, those things are hard. 

 But the thing that feels the riskiest is taking a chance on people. Because when you start sharing with people, there’s always the chance of that scary R word: Rejection. 

I meet a lot of people in Hamburg, including refugees from all over the world and Germans. Refugees and Germans have rather different reactions to meeting an American. German people will immediately ask what an American is doing in their country (because jobs are an important pillar of their culture). To that, I give a simple Shema statement like, “I work with refugees and share the love of Jesus. Would you like to know more about Him?” Which is often met with something like, “Yeah, I’m not religious, but thanks anyway.” In this situation, rejection doesn’t really feel that bad. I don’t have anything invested in a street conversation. 

When I meet refugees, my Shema statements are much bolder: “Can I pray for you?” Or “Do you know God loves you and cares for you?” I have to spend time building a relationship with them, and let them be reassured that they can trust me, because most everything they’ve heard about Americans is not good. In addition to all that, with the language barrier, I often don’t have what I feel would be the “perfect words” that I would in English. But they hear the Holy Spirit in my words just fine.  

But regardless if it’s a refugee or German, the longer I know someone and then share the Gospel, the worse it feels when they reject me. Or even if I haven’t shared the Gospel with them yet, and I’m pouring in emotional energy trying to build a relationship only to be rejected anyway? It’s exhausting. It’s tough. It feels personal. On some level, it is personal. And the hardest lesson I’ve learned here is that rejection is going to happen. I should probably even expect it.

And because I’m expecting it, sometimes I feel hesitation to try. I think to myself, They’re just going to say no. But those who sow sparingly, reap sparingly. I can’t ever let it stop me from trying. Even if they don’t realize it, unbelievers are longing for a relationship with someone who won’t reject them. And believers know there’s one Person who won’t ever reject us. And even though some consider it a risk to follow Him here on earth, there’s no safer person to love. “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later, “ (Romans 8:18).

Really, I should take a page from my six-year-old daughter’s book. Just a few weeks ago, we had a person of peace at our house--a German--who is not a believer but is a dear friend. And with no hesitation whatsoever, Rory invited her into prayer and worship with us. And she accepted! And it was a beautiful time together. She wasn’t afraid of our friend rejecting her. She was bold and confident in her invitation. 

And I know that even if I am bold and confident in my invitation to others to accept Jesus, some people can and will still reject it. But I don’t have to take it on my shoulders. I can give it to Jesus. He’s more than big enough to take it. I wipe the dust from my feet and move to the next person to whom G-d leads. Because He is most certainly leading.

What rewards are you seeing in your walk with Jesus to make Him known? I’d love to hear from you!

About the Author:

Calle Ferguson left her home in Oklahoma USA to serve as a field worker with refugees in Hamburg, Germany, with her husband, Jacob, and two children, Rory and Ian.

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reaching the neglected globally — the least, the last, and the lost