“The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” –1 Samuel 16:7
No Enemies in Flesh and Blood
What do you do when you’re trying not to surround yourself with like-minded believers?
We’ve all heard how important it is to surround yourself with people who encourage you, challenge you, and sharpen you in your faith—and this is so important! But we find ourselves facing a problem when we only surround ourselves with these kinds of people. How can we ever introduce someone to the saving grace of Jesus if everyone around us already knows Him?
A while ago, pastor and preacher Joakim Lundqvist decided to get creative in his efforts to meet people who might not know Jesus: he books a new hairdresser every time he needs a haircut. It’s a risky move—most of us hang on tight when we find a good hair stylist—but he decided a good conversation about Jesus is worth a half-decent haircut now and then. Hair grows back, after all.
Recently, he went to another new hairdresser in town—a girl in her mid-twenties completely covered in tattoos. He decided to strike up a conversation.
“So,” he said. “Where do you go to get a decent tattoo around here?”
She talked for 15 minutes about tattoos before she put her hand over her chest, signaling to some ink mostly hidden beneath her shirt. “But I’m going to remove the one I have here,” she said. “Or I’ll just cover it with a big, black brushstroke.’’
“What’s the tattoo?” Joakim asked.
“It’s the face of the devil,” she replied. “I did it when I was 18, but I’m not into that anymore.”
Love or Judgment?
He breathed a silent prayer. “Would you mind if I ask you why you were into it when you were 18?”
Tears began to flow as she shared her story growing up around Christians who were a hundred times quicker to judge and point fingers than to listen and love. It left her heartbroken, sad, and angry. In her pain, she decided to express her disgust at them, so she tattooed their main nemesis’ face across her chest.
When she realized the man sitting in her hairdresser chair was a pastor, she grew quiet. Joakim broke the silence in a way that surprised her. He asked her for forgiveness on behalf of all Christians—for any moment they had not lived as they taught and not loved as Jesus loved. The conversation opened again but this time it was deeper—and more broken.
Joakim began to tell her about the One who doesn’t need to cover our trauma with ink but instead washes it away and makes all things new. He invited her to Gateway Church, because there she would find broken people just like her who needed God’s healing touch.
An Invitation
As his appointment was ending, she told him she would go to church that weekend.
But afterward, Joakim had a thought: How easy it would have been for me to be just like all those Christians she had known and judged my tattooed hairdresser based on her appearance—especially the devil tattoo? And if I had, our conversation would have never become reality.
There are no enemies, only people who need Jesus. May we never forget that.
What does this mean for me?
The Bible often reminds us how important it is to surround ourselves with iron-sharpening-iron people (Proverbs 27:17), but we also find direct instructions to go into all the world and preach the good news of the gospel (Mark 16:15)! Take a moment to honestly assess the people in your life—can you think of anyone who doesn’t know the life-changing love of Jesus? If you can, be intentional to reach out to them this week and show them love in action! If you can’t, then prayerfully consider what “going into all the world” might look like for you to meet someone new and share Jesus’ love. Perhaps it’s time to find a new hairdresser.
This article is part of the Let’s Go Devotional, which is focused on fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission. Follow along with the devotional here.