We are good at passing on new recipes, restaurants, family news, travels, etc., but why are we not good at passing on our faith? Perhaps like me, faith sharing has been organic in your life, but not always intentional. In other words, the person you’re talking to is in the middle of their muck and they just want to tell their story; which in return gives you the opportunity to share your story. In life, stories can bring healing, inspiration, encouragement, etc.; which makes me wonder why we don’t tell stories more often. Why is talking about a God who has blessed our lives not been something we’ve wanted to talk about or shout from a mountain about? Honestly, every faith moment in my life has been a life-giving moment, so, why do we hesitate from designing and implementing an intentional plan to share God’s story?
If you’ve battled this question and challenge, then admittedly you have your own fabricated list of questions and excuses similar to mine. Excuses such as being afraid of being labeled the door to door evangelist who always gets a bad rap, fear of going against the grain of work policies and getting reprimanded, or fear of offending someone. All items sounding convincing, but are they a reality? Plus, are we required to be a door to door evangelist to share the gospel? Other questions or negative talk can enter our minds such as: Do we think about sharing our faith often enough? Most likely the answer is no, but what can we do to change our priorities or are we ok with status quo? Are we content with letting life go by and giving up life-giving, life-changing moments if not for ourselves for others? Are we afraid people will ask questions we can’t answer? Most likely yes, but again should this be a show-stopper? If you’re like me it could be a multitude of reasons why we don’t share our faith, but none appear to be the light bulb response which hits the mark. If we are honest, each response is one excuse after the other.
The question is why share our faith if we have our faith? The gift of sharing faith comes in many packages. First, you should want to share your faith because you’re excited. Next, think about your own faith-journey and the stories you’ve heard over time especially the stories which have been life-changing for you. Thirdly, it is not the trend right now to be faithful, so, the more you can share your story and blessings – the more you can show it is a cool thing to love your God. Fourthly, God wants us to bring as many people as we can to having a relationship with him and stories can help foster this relationship. Last, but not least, it can help open doors and relationships you never imagined could be opened.
If you relate to this post, the challenge is to become more intentional, but how can we do this? How can we be more intentional and not make sharing our faith so big, scary, and robotic? Well, below are some starter ideas, but please respond to this post if there are additional ideas which have worked for you:
1) Join a volunteer group who incorporates sharing their faith as part of their mission. This way you’ll have a team of other faith-followers to lean on.
2) Don’t jump into discussing your faith, but ask the person you’re talking to what is going on in their lives and then proceed to discuss your story
3) Make it a point to ask a few people a day if they have anything they’d like you to pray about for them. This can be at a grocery store, the library, a restaurant, etc. Most people are open to prayer no matter what religion they follow.
4) Have fun with it. Perhaps go to a book store and leave little notes of God’s love within several books, stand on a corner with a sign saying “Need prayers?”, or make it a family gathering where you give out hamburgers or $1 bills and notes letting people know God loves them or bible verses to help them through the darkness.
5) Ask organizations, groups, or churches if you can tell your story. Everyone has a story to tell and who knows who will relate to yours.
6) Volunteer at places where people are in pain such as homeless shelters, hospice, prison, etc. The key is to first show your love through the act of volunteering and then share your faith.
What if you’re afraid to share? My advice is to pray for God’s wisdom, go with a group who can help you, or start with small goals which are doable and as you become more comfortable then expand your goals. Remember you don’t need to have all of the answers to talk to people about God. God knows what to say. When contemplating the conversation, think what has been important to you in building your relationship with God and rely on God because God does have the answers and if you’re willing he can help you “pass it” on.
