Dear Friends,
I am convinced that more Christians would share their faith if
they only knew how to do it.
If you were lost and wanted to get to my house and you called me
for directions, the first thing I would ask is, "Where are you now? That
is not only the first question I would ask someone who was lost geographically,
but it would be the first question I would ask of someone who was lost
spiritually, "Where are you?"
Many years ago, I traveled to Florida to take Evangelism
Explosion, a wonderful training program that teaches one how to share their
faith. Later on in my ministry I had the opportunity to serve on site of the
church where this program was first developed under the gifted leadership of
the late D. J. Kennedy. It is a wonderful program that has helped thousands of
people discover and easy and comfortable way of sharing their faith.
To find out where a person is spiritually, there are two
diagnostic questions that one can ask. The first is, ”Have you come to a point
in your spiritual life that if you were to die today, you would know for
certain that you were going to heaven?” This helps you understand where they
are in their faith. It tells you if they have an assurance of their salvation.
Most of the people to whom I witness will either say yes, or express some
uncertainty about their eternal destination, and this prepares me to ask a second
question to discover what they are trusting in for their salvation.
With the second question I ask, “If God were to way to you right
now, "Why should I let you into heaven, what would you say to Him?".
Here is where you discover whether they are basing their heavenly destination
on faith or works or a combination of both. Is their faith grounded in a
religion, their commitment to and their involvement in a church, or a
relationship based on their faith in Jesus Christ?
If their faith is built on their church involvement and their good
works, you will begin to hear the word I expressed a lot- "I go church, I
read by bible, I go to confession, I pray, I am a good person, I help
people...". As soon as I hear those answers, I know I have some
wonderful news to share about how to get to heaven.
I will then ask the person permission to share how I discovered
the way to heaven, and if they say yes, which most often they will, I will
share my testimony which leads into a presentation of the Gospel.
In sharing with them I am quick to point out that none of their
works, no matter their quality or quantity can save them. The bible says, “All
our good works are but filthy rags in the sight of God.” Jesus declares, “You
must be perfect even as my heavenly Father is perfect,” and no one I have ever
met is so prideful as to acknowledge they are perfect. The bible declares. “All
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and that “the wages of sin
is death, so hopefully there must be another way to heaven than through our
works, and there is. It is trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. It is
coming to the point in your life where you give up any idea that there is any
good work that is good enough to open the doorway to your salvation.
As the hymn says, “Nothing in my hands I bring simply, to the
cross I cling.” The doorway of heaven is not opened by a combination of
faith plus anything, for “It is by grace that you have been saved through
faith, it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” Ephesians
2:8-9.
And now here is the WHY. If you have a friend with a
terminal disease, wouldn’t you want to tell them the cure if you knew it. And
if you knew someone was going to hell, and you had the key heaven, wouldn’t you
want them to know it? You might say yes, but sadly according to statistics less
than 2 % of us are regularly engaged in sharing our faith and only 5 % have
ever led a soul to saving faith in Jesus. That can only improve as all of us as
Christians discover the how and why of sharing the Good News.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
Verses quoted, Isaiah 64:6, Matthew 5:48, Romans 3:23, and Romans
6:23
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