I have always been jealous of
people who have a dramatic conversion story. Some people, like the apostle
Paul, have a very clear "before and after" testimony of how Jesus Christ
has made a difference in their lives.
The apostle Paul, known as Saul in this
story, did not start out as a fan of Jesus. He thought Jesus and his followers
were heretics that needed to be run out of town. But after Jesus appeared to
Paul, everything changed. When Ananias put his hands over Paul’s eyes, a whole
new world opened for Paul.
Suddenly, Paul saw grace. He saw freedom. He saw forgiveness. He saw a whole world of people who needed
God’s love through this Jesus.
Paul’s new faith in Christ sent his life
in a brand new direction. Instead of being an enemy of Jesus, he was now an
envoy for Jesus. He told crowds of people about this good news. He wrote most
of our New Testament. He was a new man. Paul knew what a difference it made in
his life to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus.
It's not necessarily so clear to most of
us who have grown up in church. Asking us what difference being a Christian
makes in our lives is like asking us what it means to us to be able to eat
three meals a day. Christian faith is that natural to us. Trying to talk about
it is difficult because for many of us, there's not a definitive before and
after. It's been with us all our lives.
Most of us can't remember the first time
we knew God loved us. We can't
recall the first time we heard
about Jesus. We've always known about baby Jesus in
the manger. For us, the smell of
Easter lilies isn't just a beautiful smell in the florist shop. It's the holy
smell of Easter morning with dad sitting next to us in the pew and Mom next to
him in her beautiful new dress. It’s hard to articulate what we've always been
and what we've always known.
Those of us who have grown up in church
may feel somewhat inferior to people like Paul who have a dramatic testimony to
tell. It makes sense that we rarely share what our faith means to us. We don't
know what we would say! We have the “Paul Problem.”
We think that we have to have a story like
Paul’s to have a “real” testimony. We
think to be able to tell someone about our faith, we need a riveting “I was
lost, but now I’m found” kind of story to tell. Since we don’t have a powerful
before and after story, we think we don’t have a faith story at all!
So we clam up about our faith. We don’t say anything.
Even pastors have a hard time with this.
In Unbinding your Heart, author Martha Grace Reese writes about a group of
pastors she took on a retreat. She asked these pastors what difference being a
Christian made to them. She says it was extremely painfully quiet for a l-o-n-g
time. Just silence for a very l-o-n-g time. Finally, one pastor said, hesitantly,
"Because it makes me a better person
???" - Surely there’s more we can say than that! But putting words to
our faith is hard for many of us.
Would you use your imagination with me?
Imagine that you do not go to church on Sundays. Ever. Imagine that you do not know any hymns or
Christian songs at all. Imagine that you
do not know any Scripture . . .You don’t know even the simplest Bible stories .
. .Imagine that you are not sure if God hears you when you pray, or what words
you should use to pray.
Imagine that you don’t know who to call to
pray for you . . .Imagine that you don't know how God feels towards you. What
if you didn’t have a church family? What
if you didn’t even know that God exists?
Imagine.
Now I ask you, What does being a Christian
mean to you?
Judy Norris, a member of our church has
graciously offered to share her answer to this very important question. Judy, come share with us.
.
Photos
of children and grandchildren, vacations, and pets. Surprises, desserts, meals, favorite movies,
books, playlists. Most of us take
pleasure in sharing things we care about and enjoy. When Robert asked me to speak about what
motivates me to communicate my faith with others, a wave of panic swept over
me. What knowledge or skill could I
share with you? Why would anyone listen to me?
The fear of "what ifs" bombarded me. And then I realized this is why so many of us
are reluctant to share with others what
God is doing for us. If I felt apprehension
speaking in the security of my church home, how much harder is it in the so
called real world?
We
are more than happy to share photos of loved ones and fun times. We're more than willing to split a dessert
over coffee and even share a secret desire of our heart with a friend. But we're not afraid of rejection or ridicule
in these situations. In an age where we
can "friend" someone a world away with a single keystroke and share a
good read on our eBooks with a simple touch of a screen, we're accustomed to
easily sharing things we enjoy with people we sometimes don't even know. But when it comes to communicating our faith
face to face with friends and loved ones, it's harder. Fear clamps one hand around our heart and secures
its other hand over our mouth. We risk
being thought of as " one of those people" or we're afraid people
will blatantly reject or mock us. It's
hard.
I'm
a person who grew up in a church. My parents took my 2 brothers and me to
church almost every week. I had
wonderful Sunday School teachers who freely shared their love of God with the
squirmy, loud children they taught for 45 minutes or so once a week. We sang, watched flannel board presentations
of Bible stories, created many works of art, and learned about God's love for
all his children. I continued with
church and Sunday School during my teen and young adult years due to the
dedication of a pastor who recognized the need to offer activities in our small
church for people in this age range. And
yet, even with church having played such a major role in my life, it's often hard to
share my faith with others. Realizing that many people have been hurt by the
church, or have never even been in a church except for maybe weddings or
funerals, I hesitate to share what living in faith can mean. My fear is real
and sometimes crippling.
But
the message to convey is just too
exciting not to share. God's grace is so
much more thrilling to reveal than the plot of the last great movie. God's love is so much more inspiring than the
eBook just sent to e-reader
friends. The significance of God's
forgiveness and salvation is so much more vital than the dessert and coffee
just shared over conversation with a friend.
I share my faith with others because the desire to share something I love with people I care about is
more powerful than the fear. It's my joy
to tell others about God's grace because God's stories always make me happy.
People were, and still are, willing to
pass along God's love to me, and quite honestly, I want to experience the
obvious delight they experience when they share with me. The looks on the faces
of those who love God when they talk about him is one of pure serenity, total love,
complete joy. I want that feeling for
others and I want it for myself.
I share my faith because I want others to know
that when my heart is broken I have hope because of God's reassuring grace. I share my faith because I want others to
know that when anger envelopes me, God's peace that passes all understanding
calms me. I share my faith because I
want others to know that living with God as the center of my life doesn't mean
life will be carefree and easy. We all
have speed bumps and road blocks around which we must detour, but the security
of knowing God's will is unfolding despite any barriers reminds me that I am
unconditionally loved by a caring, compassionate God. And finally, I share my faith because like any exciting news, like any undeserved,
surprising gift, I just have to share! I
have to tell others about God. God's message cannot be contained. It overflows all around us. Quite simply, I have to relay the message of God's love and forgiveness. That's the thing about good
news. It has to be shared with others..
Thank you, Judy. Once we get clear about what being a
Christian means to us, it's more natural to share our faith with others. We can
tell our friends who don’t go to church about our faith because we know what it
means to us. Think of our motivation for sharing our faith like filling up this
glass pitcher.
[Goes over to a empty pitcher of water and a water cup for dipping.]
Many Christians are highly motivated to
share their faith because they believe you must be a Christian to go to heaven.
But surely this isn’t the only motivation for sharing our faith! Going to
heaven is a big motivation for being a Christian, but it doesn’t have to be our
only one. As one new Christian said, "Okay,
my soul is saved for when I die, but what do I do about my life now?"
You’ve just heard Judy share some pretty
powerful motivations in sharing her faith with others. And maybe you’re aware of some of your own
motivations.
Motivations like, "I have comfort
from my church." [Fill up pitcher a little.] "I feel a purpose in my
life.” [Fill it up a little more.] "I get direction from the Bible."
[Fill up more] "I don't ever feel alone." [Fill up a little more.]
"I have hope that everything will turn out alright one day." [Fill up
again.] “I am a part of God’s work in the world.” [Fill up to the top]
All of these fill us up so that we are
overflowing. We are motivated
to share with others because we
know what a difference Jesus Christ makes
in our own lives, right here and
right now!
There are a whole lot of people living in
various kinds of hell right here on earth. People like Saul, who had just lost
his eyesight. He had been sitting in total darkness for three days. He is so
distraught he can't eat or drink. He's probably wondering if God was about to zap
him for how he had been rejecting Jesus and his followers.
Meanwhile, Jesus is working on a guy named
Ananias. Ananias was a reluctant evangelist if there ever was one. He had every
right to be. Saul was the last person he would have ever tried to tell about
Jesus. Saul had been a part of the killing of Stephen, who was the first
Christian martyr.
Christians were running scared because
"Saul was breathing threats against them." Saul was an unlikely
candidate for evangelism.
But do you know what? So were the prostitutes that loitered on the
corner of First Church in Florida. Most people in the congregation were
upper-middle class, African-Americans who had been in church all their lives.
They weren’t happy that the neighborhood
was changing. They were really not happy about the prostitution that was
creeping into their parking lot. They grumbled over the cigarette butts by the
sanctuary steps. They worried about the "bad P.R." the church was
getting.
It never would have occurred to anyone
that the women hanging out on the corners were candidates for evangelism.
Candidates for jail, maybe, but certainly not candidates for evangelism! Not in
their beloved church!
But one day, a faithful church member, a
retired school teacher, left choir practice on a Wednesday evening. She saw one
of the prostitutes, leaning against a lamppost, singing, and right by this
church member’s parked Camry. She felt pushed by the Spirit. She couldn’t find other words for it but she
felt led to go talk to this woman in the pink leather hot pants.
“Hi.
My name is Mary. I was just singing with my choir in there. You have a
beautiful
voice.” “Yeah, I love singin’,” the young woman
mumbled. “I’m Sheena.” “Sheena, you ought
to be singing for the Lord. You want to
come to sing with me in my choir?” That sweet church member almost fainted
as she heard the words come out of her own mouth! But Sheena finally said yes.
She showed up on the corner the next Wednesday before choir practice. Mary took
her in. Sheena did have a beautiful voice.
With the encouragement of the church and with
tutoring from Mary, her dear new retired school teacher friend, Sheena got her
GED. She went to college! She finished medical school. Now, that former
prostitute runs a medical clinic. Out of her church.
What motivated Mary to talk to Sheena?
What possessed her to go into that prostitute's personal hell and walk her out?
Maybe it was what motivated Ananias to go talk to Saul.
We don’t know anything about Ananias’
conversion story. Maybe he led a pretty ordinary existence up to this point.
Maybe, like us, he didn’t have a dramatic story to tell about his faith. At
least, not until now! The Lord Jesus appears to Ananias in a vision and tells
him to go visit Saul. This is a powerful moment of truth for Ananias. Will he
go talk to Paul? Why would he? Think with me about Acts chapter 9 and verse 15.
Why does Ananias go talk to Paul about
Jesus? First, Jesus told him to go. Obedience to Christ is a major
motivation. I don’t like to admit it, but
sometimes, I need more than just knowing that Jesus wants me to do something.
Just because I know I should do something doesn’t mean that I will actually do
it.
Look at the 15th verse again. Jesus gives
Ananias another motivation. Something besides “because I said so.” Jesus says, "Saul is an instrument I have
chosen." Jesus had plans for Saul. Jesus needed Saul for the ministry
of God. And Jesus needed Ananias to reach Saul. Ananias gets to be a part of
what God is doing in the world. He is a key player in God’s plan to get the
gospel outside so that others can hear and receive it.
He gets to be the domino that tips another
person into God’s love. He gets to be
the hands of God that heal someone’s pain.
He gets to be the light that shines on Saul’s dim path. He gets to do something for God that only he
can do. He gets to be a part of God’s
redemption of the world.
Now, that’s some motivation! Not guilt . . . Not, “because I should” . . . Not, “because it makes me a better person
???” Not some begrudging obedience . .
.Just a sheer, passionate desire to be a part of what God wants to do in the
world. Ananias had the opportunity to make a difference in the world by going
where God sent him. Verse 17 tells us, "So
Ananias went."
The Paul Problem has an Ananias Answer. No
extraordinary born again story is needed in order to share your faith with
others. If you have an extraordinary story of how God came into your life,
that’s wonderful. But really, all you and
I really need to do is to claim how we have come to faith in Christ. Just be you.
And like Ananias, to then willingly and
lovingly share what God means to us with others.
That’s all there is to it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Based on the resource, "Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism," Chalice Press, 2008
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