Jesus' final commandment to his disciples and to us today was to go and tell the world about him. "Go and make disciples," he said. If truth be told, witnessing, evangelism or whatever you want to call it is an uncomfortable topic for most of us.Maybe you're like me and the mere mention of these words bring on feelings of guilt, fear, and obligation. I'm not sure why I feel this way. Perhaps it comes as a result of many talks that have challenged me to share my faith and many attempts to do so that have generally failed. For quite some time now, this aspect of my Christian journey has been discouraging and disturbing to say the least. "What's wrong with me?" I've often asked, wondering why the God's powerful message of love carries so little punch when it comes from me. Lately I have been rethinking what it means for me to share the good news of Jesus with other people. Here are some things I've learned:
*There is something important that we all must think about before we go any further. Any conversation about faith must first start with a conversation or belief about the existence of god. Is there a creator? Can he be known? If so, what can we know about him/it? Most people agree in the existence of some type of creator god but what he's like and the role he plays in our world is highly disputed. If different religions believe different things about God and his role in the world what makes the Christian God any different or any more right than the God of any other faith? People from different parts of the world believe in their God just as passionately as lots of people believe in the Christian God. What makes us more right? Or are we even more right? I have been thinking lots about this and I will write about it soon but do realize that everything I mention from this point on is based on the assumption that the Christian God is the one true God. If that's not the case, then this is all hogwash anyway.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect." - 1 Peter 3:15
PREPARATION - Most of my discomfort associated with talking about my beliefs with others is rooted in the fear that I will be asked a question I don't know the answer to or will say something wrong. Most people I've talked to about this have said things like, "Don't worry the holy spirit will help you" or "God's word never comes back empty." While there is certainly truth in both these statements, the reality is they provide little comfort and even less in the way of helping me get better or more comfortable with sharing. If we're not careful this logic of everything resting on God and our unwillingness to prepare quickly breeds a mediocre attention to the defense of one's faith that traps us into thinking what we say about God doesn't really matter. God will use it anyway right? Our convenient study of what we believe and the casual comments regarding our faith have made our God out be mystical and irrelevant to the world. I'm afraid that most Christians today view the gospel, "As a kind of magic wand that we can wave over unbelievers and the the power of God will spring from it and automatically convert all of them." (Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life). So what exactly is our role in sharing our beliefs? Are we merely the wand waver whose mention of Jesus changes lives by God's power regardless of the logic, relevance, or intelligence behind what we say or believe. No way. Following Christ comes at a greater cost than ever before and the day is long gone in our society when people want to be a Christian because it's popular and advantageous. I think most of us stumble and stutter when faith comes up because we ourselves really don't know what or why we believe and we don't know how to answer people's questions - we aren't prepared.
Playing basketball in college I noticed there was a direct correlation between the number of extra shots I took after practice and the confidence with which I shot the ball during the game. Sharing our faith is no different. Rehearsing and practicing how you would answer a question about evolution for example is not cheating or showing a lack of faith in the power of the holy spirit, it's preparing and being a good steward of the opportunities the Lord wants to give you to talk about him. I've started doing this in my own life and have been amazed at the number of chances I've had to share the answers I've prepared. I think opportunities have been there all along but the problems was that I was not confident enough to take advantage of them. Preparation produced confidence. 2 Timothy 3:17 reminds us that, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Many answers to life's hard questions are found in God's word and I believe there is more evidence for the integrity and divine nature of the Bible than any other religions book. We need to study the Bible and use resources like the internet that are at our fingertips. There is no reason we should not be prepared.
A older friend of mine was very good at sharing his faith with people he came in contact with on a daily basis. I once asked him how he did this and his reply was, "Answer questions with questions." It has taken me a long time to understand what this means but I think I'm beginning to get it. The verse in 2 Peter at the top of the page says we should "be prepared to give and answer when asked" and we're instructed to "do this with gentleness and respect". Few people will ask explicitly why you are a Christian but they frequently ask more subtle questions of curiosity such as "Where you go to church?" or "What you did over the weekend?" Questions like these are chances to not only answer in a way that testifies to the important role of faith in your life but to ask another question in return. Ask that person back where they go to church or ask if they have any spiritual beliefs. Do this and I think you'll be surprised at how many spiritual conversations you find yourself in. Learning to answer questions with questions is a skill and like all things, takes practice. If you never practice, you'll never get better. God doesn't ask that we are experts on every topic before we speak on his behalf. He just asks that we work to be prepared and are always growing in our love and knowledge of him. As long as we are doing these things, he will use even our practice to change hearts and lives.
A good thing to remember when looking for chances to share with others is that timing is of utmost importance. How do you know when it's a good time to share? William Peel and Walt Larimore have written a great article on spiritual influence in the work place (you can read it under "articles" on this blog) and in it they suggest a few scenarios that are always good times to share:
1. It's fitting to talk about your faith when it arises out of the relationships naturally built around your work with another person.
2. It's appropriate to share you faith when it naturally fits into the topic of conversation.
These are great things to think about because bad timing will ruin even the best message. Failure to wait until people ask or show willingness to talk about spiritual things can and will come across as brash and insensitive. Christians have a reputation for being this way when it comes to sharing and this isn't a good thing. Ephesians 4:15 reminds us to "Speak the truth in love." Sometimes loving someone and being considerate means waiting to share until the time is right.
In the paragraph immediately following Donald Whitney's example of the magic wand as the wrong approach to take when talking about faith, he writes the following words: "In regards to sharing our faith, you and I are most like the postal service. Success is measured by the careful and accurate delivery of the message, not by the response of the recipient." These words remind us of the very important role that God's power and his spirit play when it comes to our sharing. Even the most prepared, intelligent, and understandable argument is 100% powerless to have any impact in a persons life in the spirit of God is not at work. Our responsibility is to simply share the message carefully and accurately which comes with preparation. God is responsible for changing hearts and he's the one that gets all the credit when that happens.
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