Leadership Thought: There Are  No Excuses for Not Sharing Your Faith

Dear Friends,

Augustine was right when he said, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee, O Lord." 

Pascal said it this way: There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that cannot be satisfied by anything but God."

Suppose you go to the Ford dealership today and see the new Ford Explorers all lined up gleaming in the sun. You can open the door of one, take your seat behind the wheel, shift the gears, and pump the brake, but you won't go anywhere because there's a hole in the car that must be filled. It's called the ignition. Did the Ford dealership mean to put those cars out on the lot with holes in them? 

No, they simply want a relationship with you. The hole in the car keeps you from cruising away because they want you to come into their showroom and to sit across the table from them so they can draw up papers for you to sign. New Testament Application Bible, John Courson, p. 1568

Our God has created a hole in our hearts, and our life won't work the way it was intended to unless that hole is filled with Jesus. He wants a relationship with us. He wants to fill the void in our life with His love. 

One Sunday in church I had the joy and privilege of praying with a visitor who wanted to fill the hole in his heart.  He had recognized that there was something missing in his life, and he wanted to fill it, so he invited Jesus to come into his life and now his life has been changed forever.

As I prayed for him, I reminded him that what he had received was not meant to be kept to himself but to be shared with others.

The Apostle Peter exhorts us as followers of Christ,  "To be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear" (1 Peter 3:15, The Promise Bible).

Although my friend was only minutes into his new life in Christ, and he did not know a lot of scriptures, or possess any real experience in sharing his faith, he was now equipped to do so.

Like the blind man who met Jesus, and suddenly received more than just his sight, he too had a message to share with any doubters who might question his experience, "I 'too' was once was blind but now I see." 

I once was empty, lonely, guilty, addicted, selfish, but now I 'see.' 

I am changed; I'm a new and different person, "for the old man has passed away and the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

We may feel inadequate when it comes to sharing our faith. We may not know a lot of scripture or possess a lot of witnessing experience, but the one thing we do have is a personal testimony of the difference Christ has made in our life.

A changed life is the greatest witnessing tool we could ever possess.

Each believer's testimony will be different for each one who accepts Jesus is different, but the message always remains the same: "I once was blind and now I see."

You may not be able to defend your salvation experience intellectually or express it theologically, but the changed life you now possess in Jesus cannot be argued or refuted.

You are changed, and you now have a wonderful story to tell of the One who transformed your life. It's called your personal testimony.

What I said to the person who just received Christ is what I would say to you. You are called to be a witness, and to share your faith with others, and the most important witnessing tool you possess is your testimony that points to the source of that change: the saving work of Jesus. 

One believer described evangelism in very simple terms: It's just "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread," and anyone can share that story.

Don't ever think you are off the hook when it comes to sharing your faith with others. If you have met Jesus, and He has changed your life, you have a testimony, and if you have a testimony, you have a "reason," and yes, and an obligation "to share the hope that is within you."

The command to witness is given to all followers of Christ. In Acts 1:8 we read, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse gives a command from the risen Lord to all his followers.

As John Stott argues, “We can no more restrict the command to witness than we can restrict the promise of the spirit.”

It is true that every Christian is called to be a gossiper of the gospel.

Unfortunately, it's sad but true that "today the biggest obstacle to evangelism is Christians who don't share the gospel." Albert Mohler. 

I urge each of us to avoid becoming a part of the silent majority when it comes to telling others about our Savior.

"Come and see" and then "go and tell" are gospel imperatives for every believer in Christ.

Your friend in faith and friendship,

Tom