Tonight as my wife and I were trying to fall asleep, we heard voices out in the dark alley behind our apartment. My response to this was threefold. First, I didn’t really notice it. But I gradually started noticing it more. Then I thought about turning on a fan to avoid hearing their voices and to block them out. But after my already cold wife said no more fans, I had my third and final thought, and that was could call the police. (Now I didn’t consider this third option too serously, but…)

But this concept of dealing with unwanted noise is similar to how our attempts to evangelize can be. We are good intentioned Christians talking about Christ as best as we can in a dark world. And often we get the same response from the people who hear us as I responded to the unwanted hangout going on in my back alley tonight. They might not notice us at first, then they may try to block us out, and finally they migr try to stop us using whatever means they can. Can I share my faith in a way that is not unwanted noise in the alley, but instead the invited friend who’s been asked to visit, or who is being visited?