Share My Faith

The book of Acts records the story of how the ‘Good News’ began to spread, opening the first chapter with the words of Jesus: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).

Jesus told the disciples to start in Jerusalem, precisely because that was where they were. Jerusalem was where they had all deserted Jesus before he was crucified; one of their bleakest moments. It was also the place where they felt most threatened and where they wanted to conceal their presence.

So what does ‘Jerusalem’ mean to us? It is symbolic of our home – our immediate family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. As it was for the disciples, it might also be the place of our greatest failings and fears. But unless we start there – in Jerusalem – our own mission to spread the Good News will never get off the ground.

It’s time to identify those in our ‘Jerusalem’ who we haven’t yet told about the Good News of Jesus Christ. If you keep a journal spend a few minutes writing down the names of those people you know well, who you haven’t told about Jesus. You may want to download our free Natural Evangelism Journal to help you structure your list and focus your prayers.

Ask God to guide you to five people and share their names with another Christian. Commit to pray for them either daily or weekly. Hold each other accountable and provide encouragement in the coming days and weeks by recording the ways in which your prayers are being answered.

Sometimes the most important things we say are the things that we do for people, such as being concerned about the concerns of others, loving and caring for those who are different to us and helping the marginalised and powerless. It is in doing these things that we become true witnesses.

Social justice can go before evangelism in the sense that it can open closed doors, break down prejudice and become a bridge over which the gospel can pass. It has been said that people don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.

However, we do not engage in social action as a means to evangelism, because that would introduce an ulterior motive or even make the help conditional on the person’s eventual acceptance of the gospel. Loving acts are unconditional, neither demanding nor expecting anything in return.

Yet even if we don’t manage to create that bridge, we must act with a social conscience regardless. The book of James (2:14, NLT) says, ‘What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?’

What are we already doing – as individuals, as a home-group, as a church – to ensure that our faith finds expression in social justice? Contemplate opportunities for doing more. Don’t dismiss an idea on whether it’s good or whether it’s practical or not. Every idea is a possibility.

We should never separate words, works and wonders. After all, there is no competition between lighthouse keepers and lifeboat savers.

And we must not forget that those things we do for God we must also do with God.

The key point is this: how can I care about someone and not share the most important fact in my life? Remember, we are not to preach at them. We are not to give a sermon, but to plant seeds of the grace of God. If we do this generously, the Bible says God is able to water the seed and make it grow.

Think for a few moments about who you could invite around to your home for a drinks evening. Perhaps it’s the people on your ‘Jerusalem’ lists. It may, on the other hand, be your next-door neighbours – three to the left, three to the right and those opposite. Remember, the gospel spread originally ‘from house to house’.

You could plan to do this at a special occasion such as Easter or Christmas. And there’s no pressure to force the gospel down their throats in one go – instead, use the time to get to know them better and genuinely be interested in who they are and what makes them tick.

Simply be prepared to sow one seed: perhaps by giving them an invitation to a carol service or giving them a copy of a giveaway booklet as a gift. A girl became a Christian through a very timid and shy Christian. At her baptism, she shared her testimony and said, ‘My friend built a bridge from her life to mine – and Christ walked over it.’

Have you ever stopped to wonder why people who aren’t yet Christians come to church? Here are some fascinating statistics:

• 1 per cent come because they were visited by Christians.
• 2 per cent come because of the church programme – they’ve come along to a holiday club, a senior citizens’ lunch, toddler group, and so on.
• 3 per cent come because of bereavement.
• 3 per cent come because of Sunday school.
• 6 per cent walk through the door because they see some publicity.
• 8 per cent come because of some personal contact they’ve had with the minister or church staff.
• And 77 per cent come because friends or relatives invited them.
  

It’s easy enough to read statistics, but this one is worth stopping to think about for a moment: 77 per cent of people come to church because friends or relatives invite them. Have you contributed to this statistic?