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Nothing makes us feel more inadequate, more uncomfortable than sharing the gospel with non-believers. We don’t know what to say, when to say it, how to say it, etc. We’ve seen the preacher on TV tell us the words to use, and it feels unnatural. We’ve been trained in evangelism courses to ask awkward/judgmental questions and then like a Bible ninja, use Scripture to lead them to repentance. I mean we’ve even worn our Jesus shirts to school and put our “Honk if you want to go to heaven” sticker on our cars, and nobody even honks! It feels like we must be doing something wrong...
I’m obviously exaggerating; at least I hope these aren’t real situations. But maybe? We have such an awkward, incomplete understanding of what “sharing our faith” means, which sometimes we think that’s what it looks like - that it’s all about the words we say, the invitation we give, and that’s it.
But I think Paul gives us a different glimpse into how he shared his faith in his letter to the Thessalonians.
He comes to them boldly, yet gently. Not with flattering speech or seeking glory for men, not arrogantly, but like a “nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.” Paul ministered to these lost people with the gospel of truth on his tongue and compassion in his heart.
Paul not only shares the gospel with them, but he shares his life.
"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." – 1 Thessalonians 2:8
This is profound.
These people are so dear to him; he knows them and has great affection for them. They are not strangers, but friends. He doesn’t just share truth; he shares his love and his life. No bait and switch, no tricks up his sleeve, no “turn or burn” sign on the corner, but the gospel of God and his life.
Maybe we don’t know how to share our faith with people because we think it’s about sharing 5 points of truth rather than sharing our lives.
Maybe sharing our faith is so uncomfortable and scary because we’re approaching it like a door-to-door salesman rather than a friend we have affection for and relational trust with.
Do you have affection for non-believers, for others in your life? Do you love them, care for them and have a relationship with them?
Do you share not only the gospel of God but also your life with non-believers? Do they see the ordinary, messy, practical, human parts of your life?
Are the people you are inviting to share in the gospel dear to you? Or are they a project?
Maybe we can recognize a huge deficiency in our evangelism today. It’s one-sided. We offer all knowledge, tell people, even strangers, what to believe, and when they look at us confused, we turn away.
What if we started to share our faith this way? What if we started inviting others to our dinner table before we invite them to our church? What if we actually spent time with unbelievers, that they became so dear to us, that when share our lives with them we could offer them the gospel too?
Let’s learn from Paul, that we would share our lives with others, that they would become so dear to us, that we would be given space to offer the gospel of God.