Question: “How can I talk to someone about my faith in Jesus Christ?”
I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately. A seminar several weeks ago talked about the necessity of getting out of our office and spending more time talking to people who we don’t see in church. We can join the Y, hang out at Starbucks, join a civic organization, attend high school sporting events or volunteer at the local library. We can take more walks around our neighborhood meeting our neighbors. We can be more intentional about talking to coworkers.
Should we be more concerned about sharing our faith with our family, friends and neighbors?
Peter wrote: “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” (1 Peter 4:7-11)
“The end of the world is coming…” One pastor described it this way: “You may not be able to stop the ship from sinking but you can point people to the lifeboats.”
“Be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.” Are you praying regularly for God to guide you as you learn to witness your faith to others?
“Continue to show deep love for each other.” Sometimes the best witness is for others to witness how you take care of your spouse, your kids, your friends.
“Cheerfully share your home with those who need…” Think of someone who should be in church. Ask them over to your house for dinner.
“God has given each of you a gift…” Everyone, yes everyone has a gift that can be used in service of God.
“Use them well to serve one another…” Everyone, yes everyone should be using their gift to help someone in need.
“Everything we do will bring glory to God…” Everything we do, from the trivial to the outrageous will bring glory to God.
C.S. Lewis wrote something interesting about people in general: “The world does not consist of 100 per cent Christians and 100 per cent non-Christians. There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergy. There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so. There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand.”
If there are people who are slowly ceasing to be Christians… a timely word from you could be helpful toward changing their minds.
If there are people who are slowly becoming Christians… a word of encouragement from you could help them make a needed commitment.
Sometimes it’s not the words we use as much as the passion we display.
Tim Tebow, quarterback in the NFL responded to a comment from someone who seemed upset about him constantly referring to Jesus Christ.
“If you’re married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife ‘I love her’ the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and and at every opportunity? That’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ in that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I’m gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after I give him the honor and glory, I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory. And that’s how it works because Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates. I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise, he is due for it.” (USA Today)
Now that is what I call passion.
My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life.
Any time I get an opportunity to express that love, I’m going to take that opportunity.
Right after I give God the honor and glory I will also try to give others honor and glory.
My priorities are Christ, family and others.
Anytime I can give praise, God is due for it.
How can I talk to some about my faith in Jesus Christ?
- Join a Y, hang out at Starbucks, walk around the neighborhood but do something different.
- Be earnest and disciplined in prayer, share our gifts, look for opportunities.
- A timely word can be just what is needed by someone struggling for answers.
- Be passionate about our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Most of all… Be bold. Trust in God for the rest.
Be bold.
Trust in God for the rest.
Amen.
