Start sharing your Faith effectively..

It seems clear from Scripture that we serve a God whose desire is that all men should be saved, Jn 6:37; 1 Tim 2:4; Titus 2:11; 2 Pt 3:9. This desire is motivated by His great love for this world and its people, His creation. Jn 3:16 reveals this to us and something of God’s plan for man’s redemption. It is also clear that we have a part to play in His plans to see this fulfilled. In Mark 16:15 He commanded His disciples to, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel (Good News) to all creation”
The question is how are we to do that? Well there are many methods outlined in Scripture that will help us to gain an insight as to how we can fulfil this commission. I want to focus on four.

The first is found in Matt 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world”. Here Jesus compares what has happened to us in becoming Christians to someone lighting a lamp, having done that He says they would not then hide it so that it didn’t give any light. The first way we can preach the Good News is to live our lives so that we reflect the light of the glory of God to all those who live and work around us. Billy Graham said, “Preach the gospel at all times but sometimes use words”. The most powerful witness we have to the saving power of God is our lives displaying the fruits of being lead by the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Mark Mittelberg put it this way - “We need to be good news before we can bring good news”.
Clearly our lifestyle can lay a foundation in the lives of those we live, work and play with for the good news. But there will always come a time when we will be required to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Pet 3:15). Have you ever walked away from a conversation and thought “O, I wish I had said this or that”? Maybe that was because you were not as prepared as you might have been.

One of the most powerful things we can do to help our friends, family and colleagues come to know Jesus is to share with them our own experiences (Jn 1:40-42, Jn 4:28-30, Jn 9:25). What attracted us to Jesus, why we became a Christian and what it means to you to be a Christian?

It’s good to think these things through and to write them out in a way that you think someone who has no Christian background will understand. When doing this it’s important to try to keep your reasons as succinct as possible, just one or two sentences. You can always say more if the opportunity is given but if not you want to try to get over what are the most important and helpful facts. Paul encourages us to make the most of every opportunity (Col 4:5-6). If we are to do this we will not only need to be prepared so that we know what to say, we will also need to be ready to listen to what we are being told. Someone once said God gave us two ears and one mouth ~ perhaps we should listen twice as much as we talk. People will often tell you things that will help you share your faith with them more effectively. Peter tells us to do this with gentleness and respect, it’s not about winning or losing a discussion, it’s about leading people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thirdly we need to pray for the people we come into contact with on a regular basis. At the end of the decade of evangelism a survey showed that 80% of people who made a commitment during that time had been in regular contact with a Christian for three months or more before they came into a relationship with Christ. So let’s pray for them. In addition to this we should also pray that God would give us boldness to share the good news with them. The New Testament shows us that the disciples spent much of their time praying, praying for boldness to share the good news (Acts 4:9, Eph 6:19). It’s not wrong to be apprehensive about sharing our faith, it’s wrong to allow that to stop us. We need to pray that we will have wisdom as how to share our faith most effectively (Col 1:9-10, Col 1:28).

Finally, to be effective in sharing our faith we will need to be like Jesus and be anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38). For the gospel is not just preached by the use of persuasive words It is preached with a demonstration of power (1 Cor 2:4-5, 1 Thess 1:5). Be bold and take the opportunities that God gives you to speak of your faith and expect Him to move in power when you pray for those who are in need. Never miss an opportunity to invite someone to invite Jesus to come into his or her life as Lord and Saviour. You might be surprised by how many will respond positively to the good news!