Sharing My Faith

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

The Great Commission. This is the call for all those who believe in Christ Jesus, for all Christians. Our everyday purpose should revolve around this premise and should be the lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105). However, I can certainly confess on my part that this isn’t always my mindset. I can get dragged into the futile belief that my life’s ‘issues’ are important and so life threatening that my eyes can easily shift off the goal that is allowing the Good News to be heard and taking as many souls to heaven as possible.

Do Not Worry

I am reminded of Matthew 6:33. I believe a lot of our issues as a Christian boil down to a lack of simply following the instructions of this scripture. The solution to all the issues that stop us from sharing the Good News is to share the Good News. A patronising solution though it may seem, it is the truth. Doing what is righteous, leaves all the elementary things such as money, food and shelter that are out of our control, to God. As the verses succeeding it state, we don’t gain anything by focusing energy on the things we have bit power to change. All we are doing is wasting time, whilst nearly two people die every second not certain of their eternal destination.

Multi-Tasking

So should we drop everything we are doing so we aren’t wrapped up in life’s demands and spend all day making disciples? Of course not. That is zeal without knowledge. Whilst some people are called into ministry, many of us aren’t. Many of us are going work professional jobs till the day we die - a glum thought I know. But that doesn’t mean putting our purpose on the back burner. As disciples we have a saying ‘you aren't a ______ (insert profession here) and disciple on the side, you are a disciple who is a ______’, therefore your calling comes before your occupation. The profession is just a pathway that is being used to glorify God’s dream of world evangelism. For that reason, you have to multitask and fit your schedule around sharing, not the opposite way around. You can incorporate sharing into your work hours by sharing with those in your workplace or using your breaks as a time to fish for open souls. There are 24 hours in the beautiful days God provides us with, there is ample amount of time

Therefore if time isn’t the core issue, what is? Predominantly, selfishness. As disciples we understand the beauty of what it is to be taken from the darkness into God’s glorious light (1 Peter 2:9) and we know the gravity of how narrow the narrow road truly is. Yet still we live in such a Godless society and evangelism isn’t a part of our daily walk. It is an afterthought or a thought we reject. I acknowledge that for myself, the biggest issue is selfishness. There are many occasions when I know I ought to share my faith but allow self focused feelings of fear and self-consciousness dictate my response to the Spirit. I let people walk straight past me and detach myself from the guilt of my responsibility as an ambassador of Christ. Rejection and fear become gods in my eyes as I worship the feelings I allow them riddle me with. Those feelings come from Satan, because as much as God wants all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), Satan is working just as hard to make sure many do not. Galatians 6 informs us that our fight is not against the man or woman who will boldly reject you, it is against Satan and his evil schemes. Those feelings become so real that I am not able to see the gravity of walking away from that person who desperately needs God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to commit those feelings to God as they are not from Him and deny those emotions by sharing my faith regardless.

Hard-Heartedness

Finally, the most inhumane reason why we don’t share our faith is a derivative of selfishness - hard-heartedness. Simply not caring. Seeing the responsibility and not even being stung by the knowledge of many going to Hell. I cannot feign and say I haven’t been there a few times. The cause always boils down to a lack of love for God and appreciation of His sacrifice for me. I don’t value His sacrifice for me any more so consequently don’t value the power of the cross could have in the lives of others. This is a detrimental place to find oneself but can be reversed. God determines in Deuteronomy 30:6 that He is the only one that can change our hearts from their callously state to a place of loving Him and subsequently His people. When you get to this point, the most critical thing is to reconnect to The Source and pray for a soft heart at the mercy of God. Then begin once again to do what is righteous in the eyes of God.