Out Of The Pew

Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Mark 16:15

My friend Phoebe O’Neal is an amazing woman. Married to a minister, Glenn, who went on to become the dean of Talbot Seminary, Phoebe was active in mentoring young seminary wives, me included. Over the years Phoebe shared many profound things, but one stands out. As a widow in her seventies, Phoebe was worried about one of her younger family members. So she began to spend time with him, share her faith with him, and love him, hoping to get him reconnected to God. What she didn’t expect was that her own connection to God would be strengthened.

After one conversation with this young man, he said, “If you really believe all this stuff about Jesus—like if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you won’t be in heaven—you should tell people.”

“I am. I am telling you.”

“But if you really think people are going to hell, you should be telling everyone, everywhere.”

Phoebe took this as a challenge, and she started looking for ways to tell everyone in her world. She held coffees at her home, worked in a crisis pregnancy clinic—she got out of the pew and into the world.

“Pam, his comment was a wake-up call. He said, ‘If you believe it, you should tell everyone you meet!’ That sounds a lot like Jesus when he said, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone, everywhere.’ So that’s what I am going to do.”

Have you gotten out of your pew?