Tips for Learning to Share Our Faith
By Rev. Philip Stonhouse
When it comes to sharing your faith this is something we all need to continue to grow in. It is not like there is one way to do this, but there are some guiding principles that help me:
Read Scripture - the more I do this the more I understand God's self-revelation to us through history, the more His hope and love will be firmly implanted in me to respond.
a) Learn the language of Scripture - what hope/direction does it offer to parents, to those who are tired, to your experiences or questions, and so on. This
can then help you speak God’s word (Scripture) into everyday experiences and questions.
Be genuine - we don't need to have the perfect words or always quote Scripture, though when we can reference it can help. When we are honest about our hopes, our views, even our struggles they can have a profound way of reaching home. In fact, one of the greatest things we can do is to invite others on this faith journey with us. My sermons are often just as much directed to me as they are to anyone else.
Know your own story - God has revealed himself to you. Sometimes this is miraculous, sometimes it is simple, sometimes it comes in our own weakness or sin (Scripture can help us understand our story too). In today's world, our story is one of the only things people can't argue with and yet it has the ability to speak into other people's stories as well. For some of us, we may think that we know our faith journey and story. Whether it is the people God has brought into your life, the gifts, the interests, the doors he has opened or closed, there is always more to dig into.
Don't feel like you need to do everything. I was told this a lot when I was starting out. If we can just do one or two things to point people in the right direction that can make a big difference, but every person needs to do the work themselves. Sometimes we need to gently challenge people to get them pointed in the right direction. (A great book on this is Evangelism for Normal People, by John Bowen). In this, it is important to note that we need to speak Christ and his good news; it is not enough to just be kind, as sharing Christ is truly loving someone. As Scripture says, “Unless someone tells them, how will they ever know”. I have heard many people say that there are a lot of good people out there. One of the things is that a lot of those good people have not been clear that they are doing things “in the name of Christ”
Don't get bogged down with less consequential questions. There are many things that modern society is very concerned about that are important, but that debate can often pull away from the truth and what is good. Rather use that question to point back to the love and hope of Christ (look at what Jesus does with the woman at the well).
This all takes practice, just like any sport or muscle, we get better the more we do it.
