Effective Witnessing
By: Mike Wallace, Congregational Vice President
If you’re anything like me or even most people, when you have opportunities to share your faith with friends, you probably feel unqualified or unsure of how to express it without jeopardizing your friendship. Sometimes I wonder as a lot of people do if “sharing my faith” is even what we should be concerned about. We should, because if you read a story about a Jesus healing a non-Jewish man oppressed by demons (in Luke 8:26-39), you will see the importance Jesus places on sharing the faith with others.
Jesus and his disciples come by this man, and Jesus not only approached him, which would have violated a bunch of religious codes and laws, but He also healed him out of His love and compassion. But the next part is what should really get the attention to share and witness what Jesus has done.
After He healed him, this man begged Jesus to let him follow Him and learn from Him, but Jesus refused, telling him to go and “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” (v. 39).
This man had no religious training, no history of doing what was right to measure up to God or the Jewish religious standards and laws. Jesus is sending this man off as a missionary, “in spite of” his lack of qualifications!
Maybe perhaps what Jesus is demonstrating here is that it is because he had no religious background or formal training, that he was ready to tell his personal story of what God had done. He was loved and healed by Jesus, and that was more than enough to prompt him witness and share his faith.
Why does this Matter?
When it comes to sharing your faith, perhaps you should let go of the idea of not having the “right answer” or “best way of saying it.” Instead, just share the love, forgiveness, and healing that we have received from Jesus. Don’t do it out of a desire to win others over, but rather out of the true love and compassion that Jesus placed in our hearts that overflows into the world around us.
Pray
Lord Jesus give me the strength and the spirit to witness and tell everyone what You have done for me and for all of us. Let me share proudly and boldly Your love, grace, and mercy that You Lord have given to me. This my story of Your love, I Your name I pray. Amen
