In the past six months or so, I've been challenged to grow in sharing something of Jesus with the people that I meet and speak with. I mean, of course, sharing using my words. Sharing with my actions isn't really the point - it's been the silence that accompanied them that I'm not happy with. In the past I've justified my lack of willingness in this area with the phrase "evangelism isn't my gifting" but I've come to see that this isn't the issue. For me it's simply about the fact that I am really, really good at hiding the most important thing in my life. I was first challenged just by watching Laurie. Laurie is not someone who would describe himself as a natural evangelist. As a side note here, I don't think that the gifting of 'evangelist' as Paul describes it refers to an ability to share the gospel so much as an ability to equip others to share the gospel - so maybe Laurie is an evangelist in that regard. For ease of communication, I'm using the term 'evangelist' in its more commonly used and understood context.
Anyway, as I was saying. Laurie isn't an evangelist. He's just really passionate about Jesus and good at moving the conversation beyond sport and weather in a very natural way. I wanted to be like that. It wasn't about gifting. It was about my willingness to take a risk and overcome fear. It wasn't that I was looking to become a street evangelist (though at least you can tell that - to those guys - Jesus really matters) but rather that when I kept silent I wanted it to be because it was the right thing to do in that situation rather than because I was afraid. I was suffering from 'Spectatorism'. I was willing to sit back and criticise those who did it badly, but at least they were playing the game. I wasn't even on the field.
So this is something I've been thinking about and praying about recently. Something I've been trying to develop in myself. It's strange. This year marks the "I've officially been a Christian for half my life" stage, and God has done some amazing things over the years. I've grown in so many areas, but in the realm of sharing my faith I feel like I'm still very new to it. Sometime I wonder if I've actually gone backwards. As a new Christian I was full of zeal and willing to share things with my friends and teachers. I cringe a bit now at some of the things I used to say and do, but at least I was having a go. Nowadays I don't even try.
One of the things that I've thought about it is why I find it so hard; so frightening to share something that's so important to me and of significance to everyone who's ever lived. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I've come to realise that one of them is because I'm not sure that I really believed I had something worth sharing. I felt a bit like a traveling salesman who didn't really believe in his product.
One of the reasons for this is because, as a good Evangelical, although I called the gospel 'Good News', I didn't really feel like it
was good news. Like a doctor who has to break the bad news before he can begin discussing treatments, I felt like genuinely sharing my faith couldn't really go in any direction other than convincing the recipient of my verbage that they were Sinners in need of a Saviour. Until we got to that point, there was nothing that could be done. That's even before we got on to the ramifications of seriously acknowledging Jesus as Lord (though that's the bit I
could get excited about). However, my time in Cornerstone has introduced me to a different way of thinking about this.
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And from then on no-one dared ask him any more questions.Mark 12:34
Peter and Paul, in Acts, take an interesting approach to sharing the gospel. They simply tell the history of the people that they're talking to, and show them where Jesus fits into their story. To the Jews, Jesus is the promised Messiah. To the Greeks, Jesus makes known what their own stories hint at. It's not a tall order to then have this approach with the people that we meet in our lives. Listen to and learn their personal stories and then show them where Jesus is at work in their lives. It's not easy. It requires real discernment and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, but if you can do it then mission simply becomes a case of making clear what God is already saying to someone.
So far, so good. But
how can we do this? Well, that's why we need to listen to the Spirit. However, what it does mean is that sometimes "all our righteousness is like filthy rags" is not the right place to start. Maybe that's not what God is saying to that individual or group of individuals. Maybe, sometimes, you get to share some real, bona-fide good news. Rather than "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," you get to say "Well done. You're not far from the Kingdom of God".
In other words, sometimes the right thing to do is to encourage or congratulate someone on the good things that are happening in their life. But I'm not just talking about "Hey, that sounds good." or "Well done." I'm talking about "You're not far from the Kingdom of God." I'm talking about listening hard to the Spirit, and then sticking your neck out and not just offering
your opinion on a situation, but God's. I'm talking about phrases like "I think that God would be really pleased with what you're doing." Neither Peter nor Paul seemed to embarrassed to interpret the stories of others in the context of Jesus, so why should I be? I had paid lip service to the notion that God was at work in the lives of myself and others, but I didn't believe it enough to attempt to try and voice that belief in my dealings with people. Whatever would people think of me if it became apparent that Christ was the focal point for all of my dealings with the world? Oh, the horror!
Sarcasm aside, I've tried this 'positive evangelism' a few times. I've suggested to non-Christians that God might respond positively to an action or a career choice. I've offered to pray there and then when something bad has been shared. It's not been easy, but it's been worthwhile. Not every response has been encouraging, but it's been real. Sometimes I wonder if I could have done it differently, but I've never regretted doing it.I know that I've missed opportunities to do this because I've been afraid at the moment of crisis, but I also know that when I've done it I've felt like I was living adventurously, as God intended me to live. In other words, I don't regret taking those risks and I don't believe that God would hold those stumbling errors against me. I'm absolutely convinced that He prefers people to have a go rather than keep quiet for fear of getting it wrong. After all, in the Parable of the Talents the guy who does nothing for fear of getting it wrong is given short shrift.
So those are my thoughts. I've still got a long way to go before I think that I'm competent or even obedient in this area, but I'm also excited about where I could end up. For me, it's a way of letting God know that I'm expecting Him to work. A kind of "OK God, if You claim to be at work in the hearts of men, then I'm going to hold you to that..." challenge. It's also a way of making my faith an adventure to be lived rather than an opinion to be protected. As I said, I'm still an infant in this field but everyone's got to start somewhere.
Maybe I'll share some more thoughts on this later in the year, but for now I'd be interested in any feedback. It'll help me in my reflections on how to improve in this area.
