I've just finished reading Vince Antonucci's book, I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Near the end of the book, Vince points to a lesson he learned from his friend Dallas: "If we want to do something for Jesus, we need to touch the sick."Vince makes clear that there are all kinds of daily opportunities for us to touch the sick:
* Being the one person who befriends the socially awkward person everyone avoids.
* Treating your waitress (or your garbage man, or the clerk at the store) like a person who matters, rather than reducing her to someone who exists simply to serve you.
* Sitting next to the lonely. Perhaps you could make a commitment that you will not sit next to your friends in church each Sunday but will instead look for someone who is alone.
Vince wraps-up the book by listing questions which he indicates he's learning to ask himself. Here are a few of those questions:
1) If I feel most alive when I'm watching a movie or playing a video game or reading a book or watching sports, if those are consistently the best parts of my day, what does that say about my life? Shouldn't it be more exciting to live my life than to watch someone else live theirs?
2) In the Bible, Jesus led his followers into dangerous places. Do I often find myself in dangerous places? And, if not, what does that mean?
3) Despite being completely righteous, Jesus attracted the worst of sinners. Are sinful people drawn to me or are they put off by my so-called righteousness?
4) When Jesus came into contact with people, their lives were radically transformed. Are people's lives being changed by knowing me?
5) Why isn't Jesus enough for me?
Pretty good questions. Pretty good book.
