Sharing Your Faith

Do you know what your purpose here on earth is? It might surprise you, but it’s sharing your faith!

Wait, what???

You mean it’s not about the American dream – make lots of money, buy a big house, get lots of stuff, have kids, retire early, travel the world, and die having lived a long and happy life?

That’s not my purpose??

No my friend, you’ve been tricked.

You have probably heard of the Great Commission before, but maybe have never really reflected on how this should change your whole life.

Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission)

¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told you what your purpose is.

Did you catch it?

Jesus said GO, MAKE disciples, BAPTIZE them, and TEACH them!

Now say you don’t believe in God and maybe you’ve never even heard of Jesus. This article isn’t directed at you.

I’m not trying to be mean or exclude you, I just want you to keep in mind as you read this post that it is for people who already have a relationship with Jesus.

If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, PLEASE check out my post on Will You Choose God?

So What Holds You Back from Sharing Your Faith?

Jesus commissioned you before He ascended into heaven to make disciples of ALL nations.

So then, what’s holding you back?

What keeps you from having conversations about Christ with others?

Why is it so hard to open your mouth to share the good news of Jesus, but it’s really easy to spread gossip?

There could be a multitude of reasons that hold people back from sharing their faith, but below are the main things that hold us back.

See if one of these resonates with you, and then keep reading to the bottom of the post to see how to pray to overcome these mindsets.

1. You think that someone else will take care of the “gospel sharing”

Guilty as charged here.

I don’t know what church you attend or what size it is, but mega-churches in America have created this idea of comfort.

They have created the idea that you can just attend once a week, hear some great music, listen to a person say some words, and then go home and check church off of our to-do list.  

We let those working in the church do all the heavy lifting. 

Instead of telling your neighbors and co-workers about Christ, you keep things to convenient conversations like the weather.

Nothing could be further from what we see when we read the book of Acts and watch how people operated in the early church.  

Check out how the church in Acts operated:

Acts 2:44-47

⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Do you see that?!?

EVERY DAY they met together, and DAILY the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved.

How were they growing so quickly?

I guarantee you it was not just the apostles telling people about Jesus, but EVERY BELIEVER was telling people about Jesus!

You don’t have to be a pastor or work in a church to tell people about Jesus.

We are all more than enough to bring someone to Jesus. 

Loving, serving, putting others first – these things cross all barriers. 

Do everything you can to show someone God’s love and don’t be timid to tell someone about Jesus if the opportunity arises! 

2. You let fear hold you back

This is where I think I struggle the most. 

I let the fear of an awkward conversation hold me back from saying a lot of things, and sharing my faith is one of those things.

BUT, God works through our moments of tension, in moments of awkwardness.

He builds His kingdom through tension!

And God builds your faith through sharing your faith.

Maybe you just don’t know how to start that type of a conversation.

God promises that the Spirit will give you the words to say when you step out boldly for Him.

Check this out:

Luke 12:11-12

¹¹ “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

So when Satan is attacking your minds with fear and doubt about your ability to share the gospel with others, you need to shoot him down with this verse.

You need to practice wearing your armor, especially the shield of faith to prevent Satan from holding you back from fear!

3. You don’t think that people deserve what God offers

This one is tough!

In fact, I might make some people upset by telling you about this one.

It requires you to lay down your pride and judgmental attitude, which is really hard (or at least it is for me).

Before you rush past this point and think “I don’t struggle with this one”, let me give you an example of what I mean.

Have you ever been at the stoplight where there is a homeless person asking for money?

Do you try to avoid eye contact and sit there wishing for the light to hurry up and change?

Why is that?

Why are you passing on the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to that person?

Is it because you are judging them by their outward appearance and writing them off as a drug addict that you shouldn’t help?

Why do you get to judge if that person deserves grace or not?

And this isn’t the only example!

Do you ever avoid certain people because they annoy you and you don’t want to deal with them?

Have you ever turned down helping a coworker because you have judged them as a slacker or because they never help you?

Do you retaliate against others when they tick you off and you purposefully withhold help from them or do something to spite them?

In all of these cases, your mind has judged that person and your actions are saying “you don’t deserve the grace of Jesus, so I’m going to take a pass on showing you Jesus”.

Check out this passage from Matthew:

Matthew 7:1-5

¹“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Let us not judge others for having more obvious or LOUD sins. 

Remember where you have come from and remember your own short comings.

EVERYONE sins and if you are a Christian, you KNOW what God expects of you – grace, humility, and the giving of ourselves for others.

Think about it – how can you expect someone to look and act like a Christian when they don’t know the Bible and don’t have the Holy Spirit within them to help them be the person God desires for them to be! 

It’s unrealistic! 

Think back on the struggles and sin that you had and still have in your life (c’mon now – we all struggle with sin EVERY DAY so don’t be thinking about how “great” your life looks compared to your neighbor – be honest here).

Without Jesus, ALL OF US would be eternally separated from God. 

So ponder this: what in your mindset needs to change to prevent you from passing by people and not working to change someone else’s eternal future? 

Who Should You Be Sharing Your Faith With?

In short, EVERYONE!

God wants ALL people in His Kingdom. 

The cashier checking out your groceries at the store.

The homeless man you race by on the sidewalk.

Even that coworker you find super annoying.

God isn’t calling you to only share Jesus with the people who are nice to you.

He is calling you to share Jesus with EVERYONE!

Check out this passage:

Acts 10:34-48

The Gentiles Hear the Good News 

³⁴Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. ³⁵ In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶ This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. ³⁸ And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

 ³⁹ “And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰ but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear,⁴¹ not to the general public,  but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. ⁴³ He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit 

⁴⁴ Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵ The Jewish believers  who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.

Then Peter asked, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”  ⁴⁸ So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

What’s going on here?  

Gentiles (non-Jews) were considered by the Jews to be “unclean” people.

This meant that Jewish people would avoid talking and interacting with Gentiles.

Some even thought it scandalous to think of interacting with the Gentiles.

Do you see how counter-cultural Peter was being by even going to talk to these people?  

Why did he do it in the first place? 

Back up a few verses and read the first half of Acts 10. 

Peter was praying on the roof and God revealed to him that he should not call something unclean that God has called clean.

God was preparing Peter for this interaction with the Gentiles and revealing to Peter that there’s no person on earth that is outside of God’s love and grace.

There is no person and group of people that is inferior to anyone else in God’s eyes.  

God wants EVERYONE in His kingdom.  

We should not allow race, age, status, language, culture, geography, education level, or anything else to keep us from sharing the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection with someone. 

Boldness for Sharing Your Faith

So maybe now you have an idea of what’s holding you back from sharing your faith.

How do you overcome that barrier?

It’s not enough to just be “nice” to other people and hope that they will catch on to the fact that they need Jesus and you have the answer.

There are plenty of “nice” people who do it for reasons other than Jesus.  

So what steps can you take to actually be bold for the Gospel?

Step 1: Pray for boldness from the Spirit

Prayer is so powerful!

God stands ready to help you and give you boldness, but you can bolster your own confidence by asking the Spirit for boldness.

You can also ask the Spirit to give you the words to say as you read above in Luke 12:11-12.

Not sure how to ask for the Spirit’s help?

Keep reading for a prayer for boldness at the end of the post.

Step 2: Stop and pray out loud with someone else

When someone tells you about something crazy going on in their life, once they finish telling you about it, ask them if you can pray over that situation right then and there.

It’s so easy to think “wow that person needs prayer”, and leave that thought in your head.

Or sometimes you might throw out “wow I will pray be praying about that”. 

But let’s be MORE BOLD!

Don’t just say you will pray about it and move on, ACTUALLY PRAY RIGHT THEN. 

And don’t let Satan hold you back in fear.

If you hear Satan speaking words of doubt like “what will I say?”, you throw Luke 12:11-12 right back at him.

Tell Satan that you don’t have to have the words because the Spirit will give you the words.

And God is faithful. He will not leave you without words to say.

Trust me – it’s actually amazing how sometimes I will pray for someone and then have no idea what I just prayed because it wasn’t really me talking – it was the Spirit talking through me!

Step 3: Do what the Spirit is calling you to do

Next time you feel that nudge to pray over someone, don’t stay quiet.

When you feel the Spirit prompting you to text someone out of the blue, do it.

If you have the sense that you should call and check in with someone, call them!

God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us live the life He is calling us to!

John 14:26

²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

But to hear the call of the Spirit, you have to be quiet enough to listen.

You need to be in tune with the Spirit in order to know when you are being prompted to do something.

So pray that your heart will hear what the Spirit wants you to do!

Step 4: Invite someone to church 

Why is it so hard to invite someone to come to church?

I don’t know about you, but I seem to clam up when it comes to asking people to come to church.

Perhaps you are afraid of being judged as one of those “Bible thumping Jesus lovers”.

Or maybe you are afraid of rejection.

Don’t take someone’s “no” personally.

And don’t take their “no” as “don’t ever invite me again”.

If the Spirit has laid someone on your heart to invite to church, continue to do so when prompted.

The Spirit might be using your continual requests as a way to soften their heart.

Remain faithful to what the Spirit is prompting you to do.

And if someone keeps saying no, cover that person in prayer and ask God to let next time be a “YES”!

Step 5: Actually tell someone about how Jesus is their Lord and Savior. 

I’m not saying your first attempt to share the good news about Jesus will be smooth sailing, but you need to be sharing your faith!

Don’t keep the good news to yourself!

And don’t over-complicate it!

Sometimes it’s as simple as asking someone what they think about Jesus.

Just start the conversation and let the Spirit guide it!

Don’t hold back from telling someone about Jesus just because you don’t think you have all of the right answers.

Satan is going to try to tell you that you don’t know enough, don’t have the right words, and that it would be easier to just stay quiet.

He is going to tell you these things because the last thing in the world Satan wants is for someone to know Jesus!!

DON’T LET SATAN WIN.

These are your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors we are talking about.

Other people, just like you, who need the hope and redemption of Jesus.

This is GOOD NEWS we are sharing.

Sometimes it seems like we approach sharing the news of Jesus like it’s bad news.

We beat around the bush and seem bashful about it.

But WHY?

Why be shy about the best news a person could ever hear?!

The news of Jesus can bring others hope in the midst of their greatest pain.

It can give people freedom from addictions.

Coming to know Jesus can change the trajectory of someone’s life, or start generational change in their family.

This is the BEST NEWS EVER and we all know at least one person who needs to hear it!

Reality Check

I don’t want you to get some unrealistic idea that I’m the perfect picture of sharing my faith.

Do I share Jesus with someone every day? No.

Every week? No.

Every month? Maybe.

So obviously I’m not being INTENTIONAL about the mission Jesus left me with.

In fact, I’m writing this post more so for me than for you, in all honesty.

Now that I’ve written this, I have some accountability to write a post in the future where I will be able to tell you about how I led someone to Jesus and got to see them get baptized. 

THAT’S THE GOAL! 

A Prayer to Ask for God’s Help Sharing Your Faith:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that You will give me boldness to share my faith with others.

I know that {insert person’s name} doesn’t know Jesus. Spirit, give me boldness to invite {insert person’s name} to church.

Help me dive into difficult conversations where I don’t have all the words and use my willing heart to win others to Jesus.

God, I know I have been given such an incredible gift through the blood and sacrifice of Christ – eternal life in heaven.

Help me not to keep that to myself!

I pray that You would put a fire in my spirit to win as many people to Christ as possible with the fleeting moments that I have here on earth.

Help me to not waste time.

Give me urgency instead of complacency.

Jesus, thank you for coming and for redeeming me.

I am sorry that I am not a better ambassador for You – help me become one.

Give me a chance today to follow through on this desire to share the Good News with someone.

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Personal Reflection

Take a moment to really reflect here – what do you think is holding you back from sharing the news of Jesus?

Comment below if you have a different reason that’s holding you back.

Let’s work through this together and figure out how to overcome these obstacles!