Eternity > The Temporary

Another week has passed and the Holy Spirit has, again, clearly convicted me in a specific area of my pursuit of Christ. When I think of growth, my mind does not immediately leap to conviction. But, the deeper that God pulls me into His desires for my life, the more I am realizing that these two things are inherently connected when it comes to the Christian faith.

Growth requires movement -- movement toward Christ that results in equal movement away from the things of this world. As God convicts us in specific areas of our lives, He creates space for change and reform that may then lead to growth.

For the past month, God has been convicting me in the area of witnessing. From the moment I accepted Christ as the Lord of my life, I have wrestled with my inability to faithfully and effectively witness to non-believers that I encounter throughout my every-day life. I am embarrassed to admit this, but witnessing is hard.

Sharing your faith with non-believers can be intimidating. What if you don't say the right thing? What if talking about your faith hurts a friendship? What if speaking up for Jesus causes your classmates or professor to think less of you? All of these questions have, at one time or another, creeped inside of my mind and waged war against the urge to share my faith with others.

Through the first month of 2018, God has continually been reminding me of the absolute necessity to share my faith, speaking to me through His Word, and urging me to pursue a life of unapologetic Gospel-sharing.

"Then He said to His disciples, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

A few weeks ago, I read an article from desiring God, written by Steven Lee. The article was titled "Four Reasons We Don't Share the Gospel", and proceeded to offer some sort of explanation as to why we (Christ followers) fail to share the truth of the Gospel with others. Lee contends that apathy and fear are both partly responsible. As I reflected on my own efforts to witness, I found that I agreed that both apathy and fear are key contributors to my struggle. However, this time of reflection also led me to uncover another hurdle that often rises up to prevent me from witnessing. That hurdle is pride. So, I dove back into the Word to look at how each of these things keeps me from being an effective sharer of the Gospel, and how I might overcome these obstacles through Christ.

APATHY

Matthew 13:3-23 tells a well known parable of a sower. This sower is scattering his seed with the end goal of producing crops. In Jesus' parable, the sower spreads the seed in four places: a path, a rocky area, a thorny area, and an area filled with good soil. Jesus goes on to explain how each of these places represents a type of person, and how that person will respond to hearing the Gospel (verses 18-33).

What I found most interesting when reading this passage recently, is that 75% of the seed that the sower scattered did not end up producing a crop. The sower intentionally offers seed to three areas that are unlikely to respond productively and ultimately find growth.

As I reflect on this passage, I realize that there are times I avoid sharing the Gospel with others because I think I know how they will respond -- I don't expect them to be interested in what I have to say about Christ. If I'm being honest with myself, sometimes I just don't care enough to put in the effort and try.

Apathy is an enemy of the Gospel. When we make the decision to not share our faith with others, we're saying that we don't see those people as a priority. Why does the sower throw seeds in environments that he knows won't allow for growth?

It's not up to us to determine how someone will respond to the Gospel, that's up to God. Christ had this mindset of existing for the lost. I want that. I want to mirror that lifestyle. I don't want apathy to overtake the necessity to share what Christ has done in my life.

Are you more focused on the growth of the Kingdom, or the growth of yourself? Focusing on Kingdom growth automatically leads you to individual growth; but the opposite is not always true.

FEAR

I don't find it coincidental that Jesus follows the "Parable of the Sower" with a somewhat worrisome story about weeds being burned. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus uses a parable to describe how, in the end, unbelievers will experience the pain of eternal separation from God. Among other important truths, Jesus is showing us -- Christ followers -- the cost of ignoring the call to witness.

It's so incredibly easy to allow fear to prevent us from sharing the Gospel. Our popularity, respect, how we are viewed -- it's all on the line when we choose to talk about our relationship with God. But, do you know what's more terrifying than that? -- Eternal separation from God.

This month, God has been constantly reminding me of what's really at stake in this battle: the eternal future of the people I come in contact with. This may seem overdramatic or extreme, but in truth, it's maybe not dramatic enough. I don't want to continue to let what's temporary outweigh whats eternal. I want to care less about my momentary popularity, and more about someone else's eternity.

PRIDE

I recently spent some time in Grand Rapids with one of my brothers, and while we were there we went to a service at Crossroads Bible Church. In his message, the pastor gave some incredible insight regarding the life and ministry of the apostle Paul.

He explained that Saul (soon to be "Paul") knew the Scriptures and committed his life to pursuing what he believed to be the truth of the Word of God long before He encountered Christ. The one thing that changed when Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus was that he became the message: Christ crucified.

What he was saying is that we as Christ-followers are meant to come to the same point of humility, weakness, and end-of-self that Christ experienced when He took our place on the cross. The pastor went on to share a passage from 2 Corinthians that I know well, having clung to it a few years ago when I experienced a difficult season of my own. In this passage Paul says,

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

You see, God is often willing to do the most through us, when we come to the end of ourselves. When we are willing to admit our inability and weakness, and humbly lean on the strength of our heavenly Father -- that is when our testimony is the strongest. Not only will a lifestyle of humility attract the curiosity of non-believers, but it will also lead you to willingly share the story of what Christ has done for you personally.

Giving a testimony of the work that God has done in your life almost always involves admitting an area of weakness or a moment of inability that you've experienced. When we humbly pick up our cross on a daily basis, we're able to share with others about how God's strength outweighed our own weakness.

THE FIRST STEP

I believe that each of these issues -- apathy, fear, and pride -- must be mentioned when the Church talks about witnessing. But, even more importantly, I believe that we need to talk about how to witness despite the steady stream of apathy, fear, and pride that float to the surface when we're given opportunities to share our faith. Sometimes it's good to start with a simple step.

I go to a public university where, every day, I come in contact with people who have yet to experience fellowship with God. I have conversed with quite a few classmates and instructors about my beliefs, and have included hints of the Gospel in some of my writing assignments throughout the past year. Up to this point, I haven't had any experiences where someone has responded with overt agreement, joy, or understanding when I mention what I believe about God. At Western Michigan University, my testimony might not popular, but it's needed.

I have come to the conclusion that many people do not know God because they have yet to receive the love of God from people in their lives who claim to know Jesus. This breaks my heart. Sometimes I need to ask myself this question, "How is my lifestyle affecting the power of my testimony?" As someone who is trying to pursue Jesus (though I fail OFTEN) my number one desire is for believers and non-believers who I cross paths with to see and feel the love of Christ in my attitudes, actions, and words.

So start with action. Start with your attitude.

The greatest opportunities that God has given me to share my faith in public have come after I have gained rapport with the person or group that I am talking to. I had many opportunities to speak up about my walk with God at the end of this past school semester, and the words that God spoke through me had an impact because I had first shown my classmates love, respect, and acceptance with my actions and attitude. I was far from perfect, but they knew that my efforts to listen, care, and form friendships were sincere -- and that's what mattered to them.

One of my favorite musical artists, Mike Mains, wrote a song called "Matches" that speaks volumes on this topic. He sings,

"Nobody cares what you believe until they see what you do. So take a step off of the porch, there's a dream to walk through. It's only when you die to yourself that you're made new."

I couldn't have asked him to write a better set of lyrics specifically for this post. People don't tend to care what you have to say if it doesn't line up with what you do. What's the old saying -- "Actions speak louder than words"? But when your words match your actions, your attitude, and your effort -- that's even louder.

This week, I realized that there are still plenty of areas in my life where my actions and attitude aren't pointing to Christ. God is pushing me (and you) to first take a look at how our actions are affecting our testimony, and then to push through our apathy, fear, and pride and speak up for what we believe in. There has never been a time that I have shared my faith with someone and gone on to regret it. My hope for my life, and yours, is that we would live in such a way that eternity -- not popularity, comfort, or ease -- would be the motivator of everything we do. The harvest is plentiful... are you ready to work?

"Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done." Psalm 105:1 (NIV)