For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.1 Corinthians 1:26 - 29
One of the things that I struggled with as a young Christian was how to share my faith and beliefs with others. I am not an intelligent person by any standards and had low self-esteem when I surrendered my life to live with Christ. Before I became a Christ follower, I thought that I was a failure in many ways. I was a construction worker and would always be just a construction worker. I was intimidated and embarrassed to speak around others and desperately wanted their approval.
However, God had revealed Himself to me and my life was radically transformed. I believe that I would be dead today if it were not for God’s grace on my life. Knowing this, gave me the passion and motivation to repay God and glorify Him even if it meant embarrassing myself. I was no longer intimidated by others or afraid of rejection or humiliation. I would rather be rejected by others than separated from God.
“We are fools for Christ sake, but you are wise in Christ.”
1 corinthians 4:10 ESV
I was cool with being a fool to glorify God
I became bold in my speaking and started sharing with everyone. I did this not because of my worldly knowledge or even my Biblical understanding because I had not even read the Bible yet, but through the thoughts God had revealed to me. After reading the Bible and praying daily, I became bold in my faith and sharing with others was exciting.
In North America, some treat evangelism as a negative word. When Christians think about evangelism; they think of the crazy guy on the street corner shouting “turn or burn! ”. Others may think of the annoying people who come to our door and interrupt our personal family time to talk about their church. Some churches think that the best way is to shower people with love and give them a gift that comes with a card or letter about their church. If we can just get them in the church, they will have a chance to receive and accept the Good News.
I do not condemn these strategies and believe that they do work at the proper time and encourage everyone to learn how to do them effectively. In fact, I have used all of these methods when the time or moment is appropriate. Everyone has a different story about how they surrendered their life. I pray that I do not dis-credit their way.
I found God in a contemporary church because the music was nice and the service was over in time to watch football. God can reveal Himself to others in traditional settings with hymnal music and reformed preaching or in spirit led churches through the Holy Spirit. In fact, we practice different methods of evangelism depending on the culture we are in. For example people in India are saved through miracles, in the Middle East, it is through dreams, South America, it is through personal interaction.
Witnessing techniques are like ab exercise equipment, there are a lot to choose from, but essentially they all do the same thing. It is not about the ab machine; its about the person using the machine. The same can be said for witnessing. It is not about the technique, but about your heart and motivation for doing so. Here are some basic questions I ask myself before sharing with someone:
- Is my heart and mind clean and focused on God?
- What are my intentions? Am I doing this because I am supposed to or because I want to.
- What is my motivation? Someone else eternity Ezekiel 3:17
- When I am not witnessing(or using my ab machine), am I doing everything I can to sustain my relationship with God(great abs) or am I doing things that could cause me to stumble(going to the ice cream shop)
The life we live around our ministry will affect the way we witness to others. In fact, we will soon learn that intentional evangelism is not an event or a curriculum, but rather a way of living. It becomes a part or our daily life. Thats called living a missional life or as Jesus said, “Going and making disciples”.
We share because we love God and understand the grace He has given to us. This inspires us to love others and share with them so that they can also have a personal relationship with God. We do not share for our personal gain, but out of love and conviction.
Am I focused on a success story about how I helped save someone and I am such an awesome evangelizer or am I simply just wanting to glorify God by sharing the Good News with others because of my love for Him.
If our hearts and intentions are God focused and God centered, we will always be spiritually successful even during persecution or rejection.
I want to challenge my heart and intentions each day.
- Why do I want to glorify God?
- Am I expecting a reward for witnessing?
- Why am I moving to another country? For my own pleasures or because I see a need and want to fulfill it?
- Will I glorify God if it cost me my life or put my family in harms way?
- If I am sick, my wife leaves me, my daughter hates me, my friends despise me, my team looses, I loose everything… Will I still glorify God?
“ I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome”.
Romans 1:14
Once we challenge our hearts, minds, and intentions and understand how great God is; we now see the desperate need for us to witness to others and it is no longer an option, but our obligation. If we believe in God and understand His grace that He has given us through His Son Jesus, we no longer wonder or worry about how we will share with others; we understand that we must share with others and God will speak through us to reach them. The consequences for their life is too great not to share!
But how?
Pray and prepare for every interaction by reading God’s word and mediating on His glorious works
- Read God’s word daily so that we can be nourished and strengthened in our faith before we enter the world
- Find our quiet place and meditate in His word and on all of His glory that surrounds us.
- Pray each morning for the people God will put in our life today and that we will not hesitate in sharing the love of Christ with them.
- We may be intelligent by human standards and great at selling people stuff or even debating people about right and wrong, but if we are not in the word, meditating on His glory and praying to Him; WE HAVE NO CHANCE TO SUCEED IN LEADING OTHERS TO CHRIST! we cannot do it with out Him
Look for opportunities during our daily interactions.
It is easier to share with someone that you are already talking with. As a Contractor, I meet people every day at Home Depot or Lowe’s who I have to interact with. I also meet many sub-contractors, laborers, people looking for work, and customers who have different back grounds and beliefs. I pray each morning for God to be working in the people He places in my life and that He will use me to glorify His name.
Understand the person and your purpose
For the average person, it takes about 9 encounters for before they accept Christ. We could be their first encounter and just show them the love that God has revealed to us or we could be the one who prays with them and gets to witness them surrendering their life for glorifying God.
It is not about us, it is about their walk
We share out of love and then we make disciples
Resist the urge to teach people or counsel others until they ask. We often like to share all of the amazing things we are doing and talk about our testimony. Then we try to tell people how they could be living a life like us if they receive Christ. However, if we are not careful, this could feel condemning to others and their bitterness towards Christians will grow(speaking from experience). There is a proper time to share all of our thoughts when they are ready to be mentored or discipled.
ASK QUESTIONS
I am convinced that if our hearts and intentions are focused on glorifying God, He will be revealed to others through basic conversations. The easiest way to start a conversation is simply by asking them questions about their life. There are no specific questions, just be authentic. I enjoy watching people out in public trying to witness to others(street evangelism) by memorizing what they are supposed to say. It is not a play! We are not acting! It should be natural to us to share the love of Christ with others. If our heart is focused on glorifying God, every conversation will be centered on God even if we are not specifically talking about the Good News. I can start a conversation about football and transition it into a story about my mission experiences or my testimony.
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