Do they know God?

By Jessica Connor

Recently, my 5-year-old daughter, Avery, has become slightly obsessed with evangelism.

It s hard to blame her. After all, she loves God and is taught that she s a child of God. We pray heartfelt prayers and sing vacation Bible school songs in the car on the way to her preschool, and at school, her Christian teachers reinforce what I try to do at home. God and Jesus are a huge part of her life, as well they should be.

But now, as she s getting to that not-so-self-absorbed age where she is more aware of the people around her, she is curious.

Mom, do they know God? she ll whisper to me while we re strolling through the grocery store.

Do they know God? she wonders as we weave our way through traffic.

Do they know God? she asks during Wednesday church dinner.

What s a mom to say? Because, after all, I really don t know the answer to her question. I certainly hope my fellow church members know God and have as intimate and personal a relationship with Jesus Christ as I do, but that s just an assumption. People might have a dozens reasons for going to church, and sadly, perhaps God is not one of them.

Avery s questions have gotten me thinking lately about assumptions we all make in our daily lives. We assume our coworkers, our neighbors, random passersby here in the Bible belt, do indeed know all about God. But who knows the true nature of a person s heart except God himself? Should we ever assume? Isn t that assumption really just a self-imposed excuse to keep us from doing what Scripture implored us to do? Go and make fishers of men. Go and spread the Gospel. Go tell it on the mountain.

So I reply to my sweet-faced girl, Ask them. Tell them about God. And sometimes, she does.

Even a 5-year-old can bring someone to Christ.