This past week, I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with a very thoughtful Jew, who unfortunately doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah. As I reflect back on our conversation, I realize that too often we were talking about differences between Christians and Jews without talking enough about who is the main difference (Jesus). I think that this must happen to a lot of Christians – chasing rabbit trails in evangelistic conversations. Unfortunately, it happens too often with me.

To my shame, it was only in the last third of our hour and a half long conversation that something clicked in my mind to remind me that I needed to be encouraging my friend to consider Jesus. Jesus is, after all, the one we proclaim. While it’s good to be able to help folks wade through some questions on the Bible and epistemology, it’s crucial that we get to Christ and proclaim him in our conversations. Otherwise, they’re not really evangelistic conversations. So be aware of your tendency to travel down evangelistic rabbit trails and aim instead at proclaiming Christ. May God give us this grace and may he be pleased to work through us by his Spirit.