25-1119wc - Detailed Summary

Del Tackett continues Tour 7, Part 2, emphasizing the biblical epoch of engagement after Jesus' ascension and the sending of the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). Believers are equipped as royal priests to advance the kingdom. Truth is non-optional; Jesus came to testify to it (John 18:37). Christians must fulfill the royal law through deep relationships and engagement marked by grace, wisdom, and truth. Key scriptures include preparing a defense with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15), gently instructing to lead others from Satan’s snare (2 Timothy 2:24-26), seasoning speech with salt and redeeming time (Colossians 4:5-6), and speaking truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) for the true good of others, not to win arguments.

Tackett warns against two extremes: blasting truth without love (like the clanging cymbal of 1 Corinthians 13:1) or withholding truth under a false cultural love. Both distort the gospel. Truth must never become the end goal but a means to restoration and shalom. In a skeptical culture, trust-built relationships enable truth to penetrate hearts.

The purpose of truth is rooted in agape love and sacrificial zeal for the other’s well-being. Highlight: Rosaria Butterfield’s testimony — a former militant lesbian feminist professor transformed through hundreds of meals with Pastor Ken Smith and his wife Floy. Rosaria noted the Lord sent a neighbor to "come and get her." Tackett challenges listeners: Would we invite someone like Rosaria even once? Believers have the Spirit, the Word, and community — everything needed for God to change hearts.

Part 2 begins with reassurance: no agendas, only ambassadors; we lack nothing for the mission.

Ken Smith modeled perfect relational engagement with no coercion or shortcuts. Notably, he never invited Rosaria to church early on — priority was authentic friendship, not recruitment. Forcing church attendance could have built walls. Rosaria observed: Ken wisely spoke truth only as deep as the relationship could bear; without relational depth, truth bounces off or wounds without healing.

Tackett addresses the "elephant" of evangelism. Many believers freeze or overstep because they turn people into projects with mental scripts steering every conversation toward "the pitch." This erodes authenticity.

Diagnostic question: If you knew your neighbor would never come to Christ, would you still love them? If love vanishes without conversion potential, it was never love — it was bait. True engagement mirrors God’s unconditional love for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8-10).

Sobering story: One Christian couple invested years building deep, non-preachy friendship with unbelieving neighbors. Another church couple visited once and aggressively declared "You’re going to hell without Jesus," instantly shattering years of trust and bridge-building. Agendas destroy what grace invites. Repentance belongs to God alone (2 Timothy 2:25; Acts 11:18); we cannot manufacture it through manipulation.

Research from "I Once Was Lost" by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp (surveying 2,000 converts from atheist, Muslim, and skeptic backgrounds) identifies five thresholds of conversion. The very first threshold, universal among all converts, was learning to trust a Christian. Every person entered significant relationship with a believer before believing. No "drive-by" evangelism succeeded in isolation.

This research affirms the royal vision: relationships are the gateway for grace, wisdom, and truth. Story of Ludmila, a joyful and fearless witness in communist-era Prague amid persecution.

Believers are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), representing a kingdom not of this world. Tackett suggests imaginatively affixing "Embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven" plaques to our doors — reframing homes as outposts of grace, open for meals, questions, and truth, with no agendas.

Application: Live agenda-free. Engagement is ambassadorship, not sales quota. Start with prayer for neighbors, then act — invite for coffee, help with yard work, listen without immediate rebuttal, build relational depth slowly. Speak truth gently and naturally when it arises, seasoned with salt.

Ken and Floy Smith prove ordinary believers can reach the seemingly unreachable. Rosaria Butterfield’s transformed life (now pastor’s wife, author, speaker) testifies to God’s power through faithful, loving presence.

The epoch of engagement awaits. Will we love freely, speak truthfully, and trust the Spirit? The world hangs in the balance — one relationship, one meal, one truthful word at a time. Believers are fully empowered; the only question is whether we will step forward.