Many Christ-followers freak out when called upon to share Jesus with others. Add a pandemic and you might see these same followers flip out. But in a world that has become increasingly fearful, Christ-followers need not fear.
When it comes to sharing your faith, there’s no need to make things harder on yourself than they already are. You can skip the mental gymnastics because the message has not changed! In other words, don’t worry about what to say; think more about how you’re going to share Jesus and if it’s the right time.
Some of you may say that it’s always the right time to share the gospel. I would politely disagree. We should do our best to live out the gospel at all times, but sharing the gospel may not be the appropriate action in and for every given situation. For example, let’s say an unbelieving friend calls you to tell you that their mother just died from COVID-19. This is probably not the best time to respond, “Well, let me tell you about Jesus.” There may indeed come a time for sharing Jesus and very soon at that, but in this one moment, your friend is most likely just looking to you for sympathy and or a loving touch. Hopefully, you would say something like, “Where are you at? Can I pray for you? When can we talk in-person?”
Remember, conversations are key in sharing Jesus with others! Why is this? Because conversations lead to relationships. Remember Jesus and the woman at the well! And don’t forget that in your conversations, you are to look for shared passions and pains between you and the person you are conversing with. Sometimes you will get both!
The other day I met a stranger in a coffee shop wearing a cowboy hat. Because I am an avid Georgia Bulldogs football fan (my passion), I couldn’t resist from asking the man if his hat (his passion) was a Stetson. I made an instant connection with the man through steering our conversation to the Georgia Bulldogs new starting quarterback, Stetson Bennett. The man went on to share with me his pain. The man had someone in his past do something terrible to him that he said he could never forgive.
Rather than say, “Well, let me tell you about Jesus,” I said to the man “you’ll never forget what happened to you.” As I walked out of the coffee shop, I told the man “God Bless You” as he opened the door for me and patted me on the back. Remember, sharing the gospel is more grand narrative conversation than it is polished presentation. What I did in the span of less than three minutes is set myself up for a possible second encounter with this man whereby now I can share the gospel! If not me, then maybe you! The seed was planted and the man is now open to hearing the good news.
What does the man need to hear next? He needs to hear that first he can be forgiven of his own sins by Jesus and second, that only when this happens will he be able to forgive those that have hurt him in his past. Pre-pandemic or post-pandemic, have no fear! Jesus is here! Let the Holy Spirit guide you in conversation and be in prayer for what you should say and next steps that you should take. Worry less about the results and more about being faithful. Who knows? It may be me who gets to lead someone to the Lord whom you first planted the gospel seed in!
Creation, Fall, Rescue, Restoration—Share the Story!