How and why I should tell others? - Alpha Course 12
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Talk: How and why I should tell others?
Some things are just hard to talk about. When I was growing up, the most challenging thing for me was asking a girl out, which I may have done occasionally. I felt self-conscious about it, and I just was clumsy in that whole arena, as I'm sure you can appreciate, right? We also never really talked about politics growing up. I always remember what my aunt said to me, “We British people never speak about religion and politics”.
And when I was growing up, that was my experience. You don't talk about hard things. You don't talk about things that could cause angst or arguments. Now, when you're talking to people, if you pick a topic that they don't want to talk about, you see the look of absolute horror descend on their faces. It's the same look of horror that would come upon our kids' faces whenever we broached the topic of sex.
Before I was a Christian, I never really understood why Christians wanted to talk about their faith all the time. It was religion, and we didn't talk about religion. We called these guys Bible bashers when I was growing up, and I think that name has stuck throughout the years. Isn't the best kind of Christian, the one that lives it out but doesn't talk about it? You know, the guys who don't force their opinions upon you?
Now, clumsy and offensive Christians aside, should we tell others about our faith? And if so, why?
Why tell?
Well, first of all, Jesus told us to. There's a pretty good reason right there. The word "Go" appears in the Bible over 1500 times. Jesus was always telling people to go, go and tell them, go and invite; this is such fantastic news. John 10:10 tells us,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Go and tell people about it, go and make disciples. These were things that you would often hear Jesus say.
I asked a friend of mine, a beautiful lady called June, who has spent a good chunk of her life church planting around the world, about this. Why does she tell others about Jesus? And does she find it easy?
“Because of my personality and how I'm wired, I find it quite easy to strike up conversations with people. And so, in that sense, sharing my faith isn't so difficult. But I have become more aware and intentional to invite the Holy Spirit when I meet strangers, people who have yet to know Jesus.
And the reason I am passionate about this is because I've experienced my own life and the amazing love of the Father. And what doing life with Jesus is. It's not a religion. It's a dynamic relationship that changes one's whole life. And because I found that relationship, when I meet someone, it's like, wow, you know, let me introduce you to someone who absolutely radically loves you, and will make a massive difference in your life, and understanding the heart of the Father for every one of his sons and daughters to know him."
- June
Great, isn't she? June tells people about Jesus because of what she has experienced in her own life, what she called the amazing love of the Father. You can hear the passion in her voice because of the experience of God that she has had.
When Sharon, my wife, was pregnant for the first time, I called my mum to tell her. And I just said to her, congratulations, grandma. I didn't need to say anything else to her—those two words communicated an entire message. And I can tell you this, as soon as my mum was able, she told everyone she knew that she would be a grandma. She was excited and told people the good news; you couldn't stop her from telling people. Of course, she didn't know what to say when I called the other day and said to her, congratulations, great-grandma. It was a joke. I found it funny. Mum didn't. But I found it funny, but that's another story. But Mum was keen to tell people.
Is it always easy to talk about Jesus?
So is it always that easy to talk about Jesus? Should everyone be like June or my mum? I don't have June's personality. I don't find it as easy as she does. So I asked another friend of mine the same question. Here's Mark, talking about his experience.
Have you always found it easy to tell people about Jesus? The answer is no. I've never found it easy to tell people about Jesus. I've always found it very hard, very self-conscious about it, very embarrassed, challenging, even when opportunities come along, to get over that feeling of self-consciousness. So no, I don't find it easy at all.
- Mark
So Mark finds it hard too. But that doesn't seem to stop him.
I want to spend my life serving God and being an ambassador for Jesus. So telling others about Jesus is just a different twist on that. That's not really how I see my gift. My gift is to live as a light to Jesus, point people to him, and share his love in other ways. I think there are many ways that you can be involved in the mission of Jesus in this world. And evangelism or proclamation is one of those, but that's not necessarily mine.
- Mark
I love that! Mark has found ways to be involved with the mission of Jesus in a way that works well for him.
How do we get involved with Jesus’ mission?
So what are some of these different ways that we can be involved with the mission of Jesus?
#1 - Be the light
Well, first and foremost, let's look at what Jesus said in Matthew's gospel. He said this,
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
You are the light of the world. So let your light shine. Jesus, what are you talking about here? Well, Martin Luther King said this,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
You are the light of the world!
The story of William Wilberforce
There was a man called William Wilberforce. William was 27 years of age when he looked at his world in the 18th century, and he saw this terrible evil of slavery. We all now know that slavery is evil, but they didn't think of it like that at the time. They thought of it as a great boon for the economy. And very, very few people thought it was a good idea to abolish slavery. But he saw how inhumane it was, how degrading it was, what an abomination it was. And he was determined, at age 27, to give his life to seeing this terrible evil removed from our society.
To do that, he got himself elected as an MP, a member of the British Parliament. He put down numerous bills or laws in Parliament, and they were all defeated. It was such an unpopular course of action to take. But he was so passionate that he kept going. His faith in Christ drove him, and he believed, to put it in his own words, that the Almighty would give him success. And you know what? He did. But it took him 45 years.
It wasn't until 1833 that the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in Parliament. Just three days later, he died. And he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, in national recognition of those 45 years of persevering struggle on behalf of enslaved Africans. That was his light shining.
Modern-day scenario
But what about today? Today we have massive needs out there. Look at the poverty out there. At least a billion people in this world are living on less than $1 a day, going to bed hungry every night. Do you know, if you and I were to live on bread and water for the rest of our lives, we would be better off than them? Every four seconds, poverty takes a child's life.
And actually, slavery hasn't gone away. Despite Wilberforce, modern-day slavery is far greater than it was all those years ago. Far more people in slavery today than there have ever been. Every 30 seconds, another person becomes a victim of human trafficking. These are horrible stats. But they are real issues that we as Christians can and should get involved with. We should be the light of the world to those fleeing Afghanistan at the moment. We can let our light shine.
Let me say this is about more than just complaining on social media. That's not letting your light shine. That doesn't cut it. It's about understanding where God wants you to be. Where like Wilberforce, is it as an MP, whether it's helping refugees and asylum seekers or protecting those that have been trafficked, whether it's in business, or in education, or medicine, wherever it is, you represent Jesus, so represent him well. Let your light shine.
#2 - Invite people to come and see
We can also talk about Jesus and invite people to come to him and see. That's what we're trying to do here at Crowd. There's almost an infinite variety of ways to communicate the message of Jesus to other people. And so we've just chosen this particular medium.
In the New Testament, people say this great phrase, Come and see. That's what Jesus did. He said to the people, if you're interested, come and see. And then the crowds of people would gather around Jesus. That's actually why we are called Crowd church. We're part of the crowd. I feel like I'm part of that crowd that gathered around Jesus to see the things that Jesus did and hear the things that Jesus said. And I don't think there's a greater privilege than introducing someone to Jesus!
Andrew & Peter
At the beginning of John's gospel, we read about a guy called Andrew, and he has an encounter with Jesus. And it says this - the first thing that Andrew did was find his brother Simon and tell him; we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ.
Now, we don't know much about Andrew, except that he was just there, met Jesus, and invited Simon, who was later called Simon Peter, and Peter was probably one of the greatest influencers in world history. There are very few people that have influenced humankind, as Peter has. You just need to go to Rome, to St. Peters and see the influence that he has had on human history.
So we don't always have to preach to the large crowds as Peter did. We can be like Andrew and just invite people one at a time. And let Jesus do the rest. We can invite people; we found the Christ, come and see.
#3 - Pray for people
The other thing that we can do is pray for people. Paul said,
“because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”
That's an incredible Bible verse. With power and deep conviction. Again, here at crowd every week, you will notice one of the things that we do is we ask, is there anything that we can pray for? Because we know that God hears our prayers and answers them? Not always, in a way that we expect. But God does some amazing stuff. Here's June again. Read her story.
One year ago, we moved to Montenegro. And we initially lived in a block of apartments. And we didn't know anyone. But I always felt that there was someone in this apartment building that God wanted to touch and reach through me. And it was our neighbour, a young mother with two young kids. And God just laid on my heart to bless her with a bag of groceries. And so I did that. I knocked on her door, and there began our friendship.
And I would just go over for coffee. With the limited language we had, we just became good friends. And we got on very well. And I shared, in simple language, who Jesus was, and she was very open. And so she decided to receive him. And a little while later, one day, she woke up with horrible back pain. And she told me my back hurts terribly. I can't stand; I can't sit. And so I went over that evening to her apartment, and she was in great agony. And I just said, Okay, let's pray for you. And her two sons were watching. And honestly, I must confess, I thought, Okay, I'll lay hands and pray. And let's see what happens. And all I can say is, she got instantly healed, and she jumped off the couch, and she went around the room, and she could not believe what had happened. And I just said, You know what, God's healed you. This Jesus, whom you now are beginning to understand, has done a miracle for you. That incident marked her life. It's her own story, her testimony. She can't deny it.
- June
Isn't it a fantastic story? I have found that sharing my faith is a complex process, mainly because I make it complex; if I'm honest with you, I've experienced different emotions about it, I've got it wrong, I've said the wrong thing. I've often been insensitive and come across as a bit of a lunatic.
But you know what, despite it all, I still think we have the most amazing message that can be found in the known world. It's a message of hope, love and forgiveness, acceptance and redemption and power and encounter. I don't have to be ashamed of Jesus because he's not ashamed of me. I might not get it right all the time or have all the answers. And you know what, that's okay. God, I think, can handle it!
CONVERSATION STREET
Questions we ask this week
Conversation Street is part of our live stream, where the hosts (in this case, James & Anna) chat through Matt’s talk and answer questions that were sent in through the live stream. You can watch the conversation in the video, it starts at 34 min 43 seconds into the live stream, or you can go straight there by clicking the button below. This week’s questions and topics of conversation are:
Does talking about the Christian faith make you uncomfortable?
Have you had any experiences of Christians sharing about their faith? What did you think of it?
What is the best way you’ve been able to share the good news with others?
Have you ever felt God lead you in a certain direction while sharing the good news with someone?
Do you think it’s important to listen to others when trying to share the gospel with them?
