This past week, our Saturday morning men's group was assigned the task of sharing our faith with one other person. On the surface, it sounds easy enough - take what we've learned, with the burden that God places on our hearts to share the Gospel, and be led to someone you think looks willing to hear you.
But somehow, no matter how much book knowledge I acquire, no matter how many great and simple strategies or scriptures I come across, somehow here I am on Friday night and I haven't shared my faith with one single person! Why do you think that is? Am I afraid of the reactions I'll receive? Am I afraid of being rejected? Am I worried that the words I know are true won't escape past my lips?
I believe that there are two educational points in my procrastination this week (probably more, but two is enough). I could list a slew of excuses about how busy I was this week, but honestly — if I'm too busy to do what my God asks of me, I'm too busy. And, that's the kind of 'busy' that He won't give me rest from.
1. Just as the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, Satan is our prosecutor
When I accepted Christ as my Lord, I also submitted my body to Him. It is in this submissive state that He is able to live in and through me. Even when we aren't aware of what He's up to, people will take words I've said and things I've done and He will give those things a certain Jesus 'twist' on what I mean, so that He's seen and heard by others. He is extremely good at building others up — both inside the church and outside — when I allow Him the room to do this.
But, there is also one who used to be my lord, and he's furious that I no longer belong to him. He will at times tempt me, but it would be the same as if another employer asked me to do work for him. He can promise me great things (all temporary), but at the end of the day, the employer I have now is who sustains me and who I have to own up to tomorrow. If I try to play the field and work for both employers, work for one of them will suffer (and I'd probably be exhausted!). I can't serve both employers. Eventually my body of work will show for whom I really work.
So, Satan is furious not only because he no longer has me, but that I'm trying to pull others away from him. And, because of this, he will interfere with my efforts. This usually comes in the form of "alternate reality" thoughts of my experiences, witnessing to others. I think, "I'll probably seem like one of the mall vendors who try to pull people in with a "quick five minute survey" which turns into a two hour product demo. I tend to avoid people with clipboards like the plague. So the enemy puts an image of me with a clipboard into my head and...that's usually all it takes for me to go from super-jazzed to super-deflated.
2. Sharing my faith means being able to receive someone else's.
No, I don't mean we start believing whatever someone else tells us! What I mean is, so often we approach the task of witnessing to others as something that is either all about our experiences or all from the study materials we were given. Sure, we might ask, "Do you believe there is a God and that He has a plan for you?", but are we listening to their response or are we just waiting to get to the next question?
If you think about it, the clipboard carriers at the mall are like that. They're just waiting for you to get through all of the questions. Are they really interested in your preference for fizzy drinks? Would they enjoy your enlightened perspective on why lunch meat B tastes better on saltine crackers? Probably not. To them, you're just a name on a piece of paper.
But, God loves us and loves those we witness to so much more than that! He loves an honest conversation. He wants to know how we're feeling and why. He wants us to grow closer to Him, to rely more and more on Him.
So, when we share our faith, remember this: The ones we are speaking to are more important than the script we're trying to follow. They're more important than our fear of how they will respond. So, if we're going to share our faith, let's let that word be meaningful - let's be willing for them to share how they feel about the church, about Jesus, about their ability to believe or why they feel they can't. Our ability to listen may just make the difference between a saved soul and another excuse for why Jesus isn't for them.
What are your experiences sharing your faith or having others share their faith with you? What do you think helped you know your need for the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ? What didn't work well?
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