Text: Acts 17:22-31; I Peter 3:13-22
I have a friend who is newly come to faith in Christ. And he gave me permission to share this story. His job is with adults who struggle with mental illness or emotional handicaps. A middle-aged client was noted by the staff of this agency to be doing uncharacteristically well. The emotional roller-coaster characteristic of this person’s life had dramatically leveled off. People were beginning to notice – it wasn’t just a good day, or a good week. This individual was having good months. My friend – the new believer – had some inside information regarding this individual – he had been attending a church.
During the process of this meeting with staff and the client, several factors were referenced as having contributed positively to his current state of well-being: meds had been reorganized; a therapist had taken a new tack. But of course, there could be no mention of faith, or God. My friend was aware, as the meeting was coming to a close, that it would be extremely difficult for this client to share with this staff anything about his faith. But with wisdom and restraint uncharacteristic of new believers, my friend wanted to provide an on-ramp for this client to share, so he said: Tom (not his real name), we are all so glad for you – and proud of all your work. Before we finish up here, is there anything else you want to share about how it is you are feeling so much better about your life?
My friend sat back and prayed. And there was a long quiet…Then Tom looked up and said, Yes! There is something else… I’ve been going to church, and it’s been wonderful!
The Bible doesn’t give us “Option A” or “Option B” regarding what it means to be a Christ-follower. We don’t have an ‘either / or’ – either share your faith verbally, or live obediently to the teachings of Jesus. To be a follower of Jesus is always the marriage of the two. There is no doubt that most Christians are more comfortable with one than the other. We more naturally do one or the other – tell people about Christ, or live a less overt Christian witness. Both camps have sufficient scripture to point to to justify either tendency. But this tendency to prioritize which of the two we are most comfortable with undermines our fruitfulness.
I want to issue a challenge, and offer encouragement.
The challenge is to Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
I am not ashamed to introduce anyone to my wife. I’m not embarrassed to introduce them to her, nor am I timid to do so. If someone inquires as to my marital status, I am happy to tell them I’m married, and to whom. In like manner, if people ask us what we believe, we must be more than happy to tell them not what, but Whom we believe. One cannot be a Christian and be embarrassed to say so. We are Christians, and were that not so, we would not be configured as we are today. – I’m a Christian, one striving to follow Jesus.
And of course, there is that next phrase in the text from I Peter – But do this with gentleness and respect… When I’m walking down the street with Jan I don’t thrust myself in front of every passerby and insist on introducing them to my wife! Not only would that be an inconvenience to passersby; it would not honor Jan! But that tag line does not remove the responsibility from us – all of us – to be prepared to speak of the One whose vision compels us, whose life inspires us, whose death assures us of unconditional love. That’s the challenge: Always be prepared to share your faith in Jesus with others.
Here is the encouragement – We don’t have to force the opportunity. The genius of St. Paul in Athens is that he recognized the opportunity; he did not have to create it. The ‘altar to the unknown god’ was custom made for Paul, a perfect ‘on ramp’ for the message he wanted to proclaim.
My friend did not force anyone to say anything; he simply recognized an opportunity and, in his case, it wasn’t him that had to seize it – it was the client who had to recognize it. Many of us today work in environments that lie somewhere on the spectrum between discouraging to downright hostile when it comes to openly sharing our relationship with Jesus. I don’t think God expects us to be so overtly verbal about our faith that we get ourselves fired; nor does Scripture say it’s OK to be so subtle about our faith that no one knows the reason for our hope.
The Challenge: Be ready to share the good news about Jesus – who he is and what his kingdom of God vision is for the world.
The encouragement: You don’t need to force Christ on anyone; just don’t miss the opportunities to share him with others.
And seeing as how this is a church founded upon Christ as our Rock, and given the possibility there may be someone here who doesn’t know him yet, I’d be pleased to introduce you to Jesus of Nazareth, one whose love for you knows no bounds, whose forgiveness knows no end, and whose vision for our world is truly worthy of us dedicating our lives to bring it to pass!
Leave a Reply