The Great Commission

Witnessing. Sharing the Gospel. The Great Commission. Whatever you happen to call it, we're all as Christians called to do it. Ironically, this is the one thing that most of us find ourselves failing to do. I'm in that boat too. Often it's not that we intentionally set out NOT to tell people about Christ. We get too busy and miss opportunities; we aren't quite sure how to bring it up; we don't want to make the converstation awkward, etc. Whatever the reason, we leave the situation with that feeling like "I really should have said something." or "OH! I totally could have said_____!"

Sometimes I find that it is hardest to talk to family members and close friends about the Gospel. My Bible study group discussed this issue a few weeks ago - how many times we would much rather talk about Jesus to people we don't know and will likely never see again. The contradiction here never fails to baffle me, even though I often feel the same way. How is it that we feel comfortable telling complete strangers about God's love and the fact that they need salvation, but not our friends and family, whom we claim to love? Is it loving to dance around the truth, talking about things that don't really matter at all? Sometimes this hesitaition comes from fear - if the conversation gets tense, these are people we have to talk to again soon!

What I have also found to be true in my own life is that I am afraid that my friend or family member will ask me a question I don't know the answer to, and I will look like a fool. I know many other Christians feel the same way. I was talking to a friend of mine about this very issue, and he said to me "I'm just afraid I'm gonna talk to someone who knows more about the Bible than I do! What if they ask me a hard question and I can't answer?" This is a legitimate fear! This is a fear that paralyzes. I wasn't sure what to say, and all I can tell you is that what I said came from God, because I needed the reassurance too.

I told him, "It's okay if you don't know all the answers to every question. You are telling them about Jesus - you know him! Beloved brothers and sisters, God is not going to kick you out of His family just beacuse you don't have all the right answers. You have THE answer - the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can tell people you don't know everything - but you know the One who does! Give the world Jesus; He is the one who died to set the world free. If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living within you, and you know Jesus.

So, I guess all I'm trying to say is this: be bold. Most of the original 12 apostles were mere fishermen from Galilee. They had no formal seminary training. They weren't learned about all the questions every religion had about Jesus. But they changed the world through their testimony. They testified to what Jesus had done, and GOD CHANGED LIVES! Remember, you are called to sow the seed; God is the One who makes that seed grow.(I Cor 3:5-8).

Questions, comments (if for some reason you find you can't post here), or prayer requests, feel free to e-mail me. Theologynerd330@gmail.com