Taking our faith in Jesus to the world is an intimidating thing. We are considered weak for believing in Jesus, and we get confronted with tough questions. People want to know why a “loving” God allows starvation or massive earthquakes in poor countries or a gunman killing six-year-old kids at school. They consider us arrogant and intolerant for believing that Christianity is the only way to God. We can validate their questions and exhibit Jesus’ sympathetic and understanding heart, but we must avoid the devil’s trap of allowing those questions to intimidate us and prevent us from proclaiming the truth. Peter tells us this in (1 Peter 3:14-16) So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.

 

So how do we avoid that fear and share our faith? Point them to Jesus! Jesus is not a religion—He’s a person. That makes all the difference. He is the foundational cornerstone of salvation that must be addressed before any other
issues are talked about. As any builder knows, the foundation is the most important thing to get right. It does no good to discuss finishing features in a home until the foundation is squared away.

 

People must decide who Jesus is. They must be given the chance to examine His life and ministry so that they can decide if He is C.S. Lewis put it “a liar, a lunatic, or Lord of the universe”. If other people reject the claims of Jesus,
then discussing God or anything spiritual with them is a waste of time. If they come to accept Jesus as Lord, then the tough issues are put into context of a loving Lord who gave His life for us. If the hub of a wheel is true to form, the whole wheel performs correctly. When we take our faith to the streets, we must take our searching world to meet the risen Lord. Everything else will fall into place once they get the cornerstone in the right place!

 

In His Service,
Eric Barnes