Have you ever felt the internal tug-of-war between what you know you should do—even what you want to do—and the struggle to actually do it? I think we all have. That’s why we laugh at the memes that say, “I really want to have abs. But I also want pizza.” The struggle is real in so many ways in our lives.
We know we should cut down on our drive-thru trips and eat more meals at home, but…
We want to spend less time on social media, but FOMO (fear of missing out) keeps us going back for more, and more, and more…
We agree when our dental hygienist tells us how important flossing is, but it seems so inconvenient (plus we won’t see her again for six months)…
If you are a Christian, one of the biggest of those tensions is sharing our faith with the people around us. This has been called witnessing, evangelism, proselytizing, or other terms, but basically it comes down to telling other people about our faith in Jesus and helping them take their own next step towards Christ. Someone once said that prayer is the most talked about but least practiced activity in the church, and if that is true, sharing our faith probably runs a close second.
While there is something inside us that believes it is important to do, and something we would like to do, most of us find it hard to do. Why? We’re worried it might damage our relationship with that person. We don’t know the answers to all the questions they might ask. We don’t want to be laughed at or looked down upon. Or maybe we’re not even sure where to start.
Over the last few weeks, we have shared blog posts on how to read and understand the Bible, how to pray, and how to fast. This week I want to talk about how to share our faith. We will be reinforcing these principles and how to apply them in our Influencer series on Sunday mornings in March.
Why Share Your Faith
Before we talk about HOW to share our faith with our friends, let’s take a second and talk about WHY we should share our faith with our friends. If you’ve been around the church or a group of Christians for a while, you’ve heard you should share your faith, but why? Here are a few key reasons:
Because eternity hangs in the balance.
Jesus Himself spoke often in the Gospels about eternity. He said that all people would spend eternity either with God (Heaven) or separated from God (Hell). Our motivation for sharing our faith should begin with the reality of eternity.
Because knowing Christ gives people hope in the here and now.
Pastor and author Andy Stanley says it this way, “Following Jesus makes your life better and makes you better at life.” Every year the Gallup organization does a poll asking Americans about their mental health and wellbeing. In 2020 every demographic they studied reported a decrease in their mental health. They divided people by gender, age, race, political party, income, and educational level – and every group was anywhere from -1 to -15% when it came to their mental health from 2019 to 2020. Except for one group. That group was: “People who attend church weekly.” That group was a +4%. When we share our faith we give people the hope they need.
Because we are God’s strategy for helping people find faith in Him.
The plan Jesus has for people becoming His followers is for His current followers to reach them and share His message. He’s not planning a viral social media campaign or miraculous voices coming out of the sky. He told his followers to, “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:9) If you are a Christian, you are Jesus’ Plan A (and B and C…)
How To Share Your Faith
So, if we are in on the “why” of sharing our faith, how can we do it? I want to suggest three basic step or levels to helping other people find their way to God. You can think of it like a pyramid with three levels.
INVITING
At the base of the pyramid is inviting. It’s the base because it is the biggest and broadest way we can share our faith. The Gospels in the New Testament are full of examples of people bringing people to Jesus. Some of Jesus’ closest followers became his disciples because their brothers brought them to meet Jesus. When Jesus changed the life of a woman with a shady reputation, she ran back to her village and brought people to meet Him. When a guy named Matthew became one of Jesus’ disciples, he threw a party and invited Jesus and the disciples along with all his old sinner buddies. He wanted them to meet Jesus like he had.
One of the biggest and easiest ways we can share our faith is to invite someone to come to church with us. Or our small group. Or a church event. By giving them the chance to hear the message and meet other Christians we help them be exposed to the life-changing message of Jesus. It also opens the door to spiritual conversations.
Telling
The next level on the pyramid is a little smaller and requires a little bit more commitment. It’s the telling level. This is telling someone your faith story.
What is your faith story? It’s the story of how you became a follower of Jesus. It really has three parts: What your life was like before you were a Christian, how you became a Christian, and what your life is like now. People may not agree with your beliefs. They may doubt the Bible. They may have a lot of questions about God. But it is hard for people to argue with your story. When you tell them about how God has changed your life, you give them a personal example of God’s goodness. It takes some courage and practice, but taking five minutes to share your story when the conversation is right, can change someone else’s story.
Sharing
The top of the pyramid is the smallest but vital part of sharing our faith, sharing. Specifically, sharing the Gospel.
What is the Gospel? It is the message of how people can be forgiven of their sin and reconciled to God. The word Gospel means, “Good news.” It is the good news that Jesus came into our world, lived a perfect and sinless life, was crucified for our sin, and after three days in the grave, he rose from the dead. Sharing the Gospel means sharing the key ideas and Bible passages that help people understand their need for Christ. It is based on these key thoughts:
God created humanity to enjoy relationship with Him.
Because of sin, humanity rejected God and pursued life apart from God.
God sent Jesus into this world to pay for humanity’s sin and make a way for relationship to be restored.
We can be reconciled to God by putting confessing our sin, our need for him, and putting our faith in Jesus.
There is obviously more detail to it, and several great Scriptures passages that help to illustrate those points, but that is the basic “Good news” in a nutshell.
You can also join us on Sunday mornings in March as we talk about being influencers for Christ and unpack how to invite, tell, and share.
If you would like to learn more about sharing your faith and discover some tools to help you to do so, check out the “6S” page on our website.