Telling the Story, Part 3: A Strategy You Can Use

Photo credit:  solidgoldcreativity.com

We're called to be ambassadors for Christ.  Here's an eight-point stategy we can use.

1.      Lighten up.  Your job is to be a messenger who shares the Good News, not a scold who puts people off.  The Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting:  ultimately it’s the Spirit’s job to open minds and then to convict people’s hearts.  We should take advantage of opportunities - which we can help create - in fulfilling our mission.

2.      Pick your spot.  Wait for an opportunity to have a quiet conversation.  It may be over a cup of coffee, during a time when you’re traveling, or another informal setting   There are usually lulls in conversation when you could ask, “What do you think about spiritual things?” 

3.      Listen.  Humans innately know there’s something going on and everyone has an opinion. Secular people dismiss Christianity and are stuck with other options:  New Age nostrums like pyramid power or magic crystals, self-improvement gurus with manufactured theories, or belief in aliens (think of the crop circle mania).  Some will have “their own” faith.  Listen and you’ll learn some interesting and amusing things.  Ask them why they believe what they do – and if they profess not to believe in anything, ask “why not?”  Most people haven’t thought deeply about this and you may be surprised at how shallow their “beliefs” are.

4.      Ask permission.  When they’re done, don’t dispute them but ask if it’s OK if you explained what you believe. Once you’ve got their permission you’re free to discuss Christianity without imposing it with a heavy hand.  If they don’t offer it, don’t violate their decision. They’ve demonstrated a boorish, unfair closed-mindedness that you probably won’t penetrate anyway.

5.      Share your story. If they give you permission, talk about yourself and your personal faith experience.  This has two advantages:  (1) People like stories and (2) since it’s about you it can’t be disputed.  Mention how your life has changed and gets better as you understand more.  If you’ve had a miracle happen to you, talk about it. If you were ever skeptical about Jesus tell them why – and then tell them how you overcame it.

6.      Share your faith.  Since the Bible is the source of Christian teaching you may explain how specific lessons have affected you (staying out of debt, not being envious, strengthening your marriage, helping you through an illness or death, etc.).  Mention that the promise of eternal life – which you have every reason to believe is true – puts life’s problems in a whole new positive perspective.

7.      Remember it’s a dialogue.  Our faith will stand on its own merits and you should welcome questions or comments.  The answers you give will help clarify our faith for the listener. If you don't have an answer, don't wing it.  Tell them you'd like to know, too, and you'll get back to them.

8.      Ask to meet again.  If it’s been a pleasant, informative, non-confrontational and intriguing discussion the answer should be “sure.”   The creaking you’ll hear is the sound of a door opening.

Over the next several Christian Standpoint articles we’ll look at each of these steps in more detail.

Telling the Story, Part 2: What We're Up Against

Ever meet someone new and discovered they were Christian?  Remember the instant kinship you both felt?  It’s a marvelous thing that transcends race, age, sex, health, wealth and every other category that typically separates us.  Christians from all walks of life are brothers and sisters because we’re bonded by a faith we know to be rich and true.

But unbelievers see our faith as foolish, naive and even childish.  One guy actually said “God is like Santa Claus – you give it up when you grow up.”  Uneasy about encountering attitudes like this, it’s no wonder Christians can be shy about sharing their faith with others.

Let’s look at some reasons non-Christians think this way.  We’ve had at least two generations of parents who don’t attend church and don’t send their kids, either.  Millions of people have minimal knowledge of faith and little contact with a church community.

Life can be hard, and with no spiritual guidance it’s easy to disbelieve in a “good” God who, as far as they’re concerned, should be providing for them but isn’t.

Others have been “educated” and buy into Karl Marx’s notion that “religion is the opiate of the masses.”  In fact, the quotation itself is an opiate that endows “sophisticated” people with a misguided sense of superiority.

Child abuse scandals, hateful “Christians” picketing military funerals, pastors threatening to burn Qur’ans, and headlines proclaiming apocalyptic deadlines have all tainted  Christianity’s image.

TV shows, movies, edited news stories, comedy routines, contemporary music and other biased influences permeate the culture.  Skepticism is understandably rampant. 

It’s a hostile environment for American Christians but it’s easy compared to much of the modern world.  We're free to share our faith and should relish the opportunity to do so.   We can succeed by proceeding in a sensible, biblical way.

Our first job is to open minds.  In the parable of the four soils Jesus taught that only seed sowed on good soil would produce a crop.  People tend to be rocky, thorny and shallow regarding faith, just like the unproductive soils.  We need to find good soils and improve the condition of the others so the things we say will take root instead of being ignored. 

We can do this  in part by addressing the individual’s reasons for skepticism, showing the shallowness of disbelief and then sharing the sensible answers provided by faith.

The first step is to open a dialogue.  We know the ultimate truth is in the Bible but others don't, so we should speak in everyday terms in order to find out why the person is skeptical. Then we should address the issues. The process is biblical.  For example, when Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well he told her, “you Samaritans worship what you do not know.” He knew her wrong-headed beliefs were barriers to her understanding the truth. We need to understand this, too.

This takes time and patience, but if we can awaken people one at a time we may be able to change the momentum.

The next Christian Standpoint article will discuss finding opportunities to share faith and how to open the conversation.

Image credit: sundaymorningcontemplation.blogspot