Come and See

I’ve been sitting this week with the simplicity of Jesus’ words in John 1:39

Come and see

These words have been on our church sign for as long as I can remember driving past it.  It was Christ’s first recorded “Gospel” invitation. A gentle call to two curious men asking where He was staying.

Come and see

They did. And their lives were never the same.

It strikes me that somewhere along the way, we’ve made the gospel more complicated than Jesus did. We’ve turned it into debates, declarations, and sometimes demands. We’ve built systems and subcultures around it—often with good intentions—but sometimes at the expense of the raw, relational beauty of Jesus’ original call.

“Come and see” is disarming. It’s not pushy. It doesn’t assume superiority. It simply trusts that if people get close enough to Jesus, He will speak for Himself.

That’s a challenge to me. Because I like well-reasoned answers. I want to know that I am on the side of “right”. I want to be ready to explain, defend, and define my faith.

But maybe the better invitation is to slow down, open a door, and say: “You don’t need to have it figured out. Just come and see.”

We live in a world that’s suspicious of certainty but starving for beauty, and maybe some simplicity is all we really need.

Come and see what grace looks like.

Come and see how Jesus treats the broken.

Come and see how the Gospel tastes like mercy.

Come and see a kingdom not built on power, but on peace.

Come and see the One who is the Way.

I invite you to reflect with me:

Where in my life have I turned invitation into explanation?

Are there people in my world who might respond to a simple “come and see”?

What would it look like to let Jesus be the attraction, not my ability to explain Him?

“The gospel is not just the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven when you die, but the announcement of life now under the reign of God.” ~Dallas Willard

Come and See!