Blessing As 'Evangelism'

May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband. - Ruth 1:8-9

This week as we’ve been reflecting on what it means to bear witness to our God in ways like Naomi, we’ve found some approaches that are dissimilar to what is most often taught in our churches. On Monday we learned about sharing our despair with life and disappointment in God - and how winsome that is. On Tuesday we learned about being gracious to other religions.

Today, we think about the role of blessing. One way of thinking about the religious word ‘blessing’ is to think of it as intentional, agenda-free delight. Psychologists tell us that this type of delight is one of the crucial elements children need to grow up whole inside. And since our ultimate goal is to help others (and ourselves) be more whole inside (isn’t that what it means to become more like Christ, the most whole-human ever?), then delight plays a key role.

The disarming thing about delight is that it’s freely given and is intentionally non-persuasive. It has no motive other than just enjoying and being happy with the other person, and pronouncing over them goodness for their future. And pronouncing a blessing on someone was an invocation of God’s delight in them - and simultaneously a way to delight in them yourself.

Who do you delight in? How do you find things to delight in people you don’t know well? Is there a blessing you could pronounce on someone today? (it might just lead them to experience God’s favor…)