“And God has given us the task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself….This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others.”
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
“Dad, guess what!!”
As a parent, when your 16 year old daughter calls and begins a phone call like that you’re mind, in a nano-second, is trying to decide, “Is this going to be good, or bad?”
This was going to be good.
But, let me back up a little to the night before that phone call.
Kelsie came into my bedroom and asked, “Dad, what do you say to someone who says, ‘Prove to me there’s a God.” On a daily basis, both at school and at work, she’s surrounded by skeptics, cynics, and people who, for one reason or another, are simply not interested in talking religion, Christianity, etc. But she knows God’s placed her there strategically, on purpose. So we visited and prayed.
Fast-forward about 18 hours to her phone call: “Dad, guess what?!!”
She talked so fast I could hardly keep up. She told me of how God provided an opportunity for her to share her faith with an individual at the mall only minutes before. As Kelsie put it, “Dad, I got to witness to this guy hard core!” She went on. “I got to talk about the crucifixion and resurrection! Dad, I got to ask them, ‘Have you ever really investigated the claims of Christ?” She added, “Dad, it was awesome. We had a great visit. I think I planted some seeds!”
Indeed you did, Kelsie.
When’s the last time you had the privilege of sharing your faith?
Doug Fields, Youth Pastor at Saddleback Church in southern California wrote this statement years ago in a devotional about this very topic: “Evangelism is all about love and I did a good job of loving the churched kids, I just didn’t love the lost.…I lost sight of the lost.”
One last thing: it appears that “sharing our faith” is “God’s grace & power at work” on several levels. Paul wrote, “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6
Sharing our faith blesses not only the listener, but the “sharer”, as well.
Soli Deo Gloria, nw