Rev. David Holwick Z
First Baptist Church [highlight positiveness of sharing gospel]
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 24, 1997
1 Peter 3:13-16
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I. Mom, the Jehovah's Witnesses are here!
A. Strikes fear into all our hearts.
1) Pushy religious person.
2) Highlights our ignorance of Bible, confuses us with
obscure beliefs.
B. Surprisingly, they are highly successful and growing.
II. Are Christians supposed to be pushy like this?
A. Jesus commands us to share our faith.
1) He says we are witnesses of his power.
2) He says he'll be ashamed of anyone who is ashamed to
stand up for him.
B. We hate to do it.
1) We don't feel competent.
Researcher George Barna asked Christians about
their witnessing experiences.
He found that 9 out of 10 individuals who attempt
to explain their beliefs and theology to other people
come away from those experiences feeling as if
they had failed.
The reality of human behavior is that most people avoid
those activities in which they perceive themselves
to be failures.
#1263
2) Typical to believe in heart, but be timid.
C. If you really believe something, you'll want to share it.
1) Not pushy, but honest sharing.
a) Early Christians had to be put in jail to stop witnessing.
b) Our motivation is not to "sell" something or impose our
beliefs on outsiders.
The primary motivation for evangelism for evangelism is
generosity.
There is a basic human concern to share the good things
of life with those we love.
It does not reflect a desire to sell or dominate; it
arises from love and compassion.
We have found something wonderful and want others to
share in its joy.
Evangelism is, as the old adage has it, like one beggar
telling another where to find bread.
#3550
2) My sharing Christ with a drug-user in Heidelberg.
a) I didn't want to, but felt compelled to.
b) Another young kid prays to receive Jesus, flies to
States the next day.
III. Getting over fear.
A. Original thrust is fear of opposition from pagans. 3:13
1) Christians then - and in third world today - are in danger
when they stick their necks out.
2) Our fear is different in magnitude only - we don't want to
be rejected.
a) We have a hard message to sell.
1> Non-believers don't want to admit sin.
2> They don't want to admit weakness, need for a
Higher Power.
3> Our only positive part is that gospel is true.
A> (Liberals water it down, are dying.)
b) We are by nature cowards.
B. "He who is in us is greater than he who is in world." 1 Jn 4:4
1) Don't be afraid. 3:14
2) God will look out for his own.
IV. The main consideration.
A. Christian faith can be a hobby or a commitment.
1) Hobbyists won't risk anything.
2) They also gain nothing.
a) Sitting in a church doesn't make you a Christian anymore
than sitting in a garage will make you a car.
B. Is Jesus Christ your lord? 3:15
1) Debate over lordship salvation....
2) Real Christianity is discipleship.
C. Honor him in every area of your life.
1) "Set him apart" refers to conscious action.
V. Be prepared to answer people.
A. Non-believers are naturally curious.
1) Israeli guide, Uri, asking me why I became a Christian.
2) Doesn't mean we have to wait for them to ask, however.
a) Dangers of "silent witnessing."
Moshe Rosen became a Christian at a high cost.
He converted from Judaism to Christianity and his own
parents disowned him.
His father said to him, "You are never to mention Christ,
the Bible, or your religion to your mother or to me,
or to any of the family."
A deacon in his church told him to be a "silent witness,"
and that a time would come when they would ask about his
faith.
Seventeen years after he accepted the reconciliation with
his parents, his mother died without ever believing.
His father followed in another decade.
"They never asked."
There is no such thing as a "silent witness."
Being a silent witness doesn't work because the focus is
on whether we can be good and righteous.
Our message should not be who we are but who He is.
#1798
B. They deserve a reasonable answer.
1) Alister McGrath says a central task of evangelism is to make
Christianity credible in the modern world.
In seminary they call this APOLOGETICS - the "defense of
the faith," to give a rough translation of the Greek word
apologia, used in 1 Peter 3:15.
#3550
2) You should be able to tell people what a Christian is,
and why you are one.
a) "Four Spiritual Laws," etc.
b) Witnessing=being a witness that God has done something
(...in my life).
VI. Give them a reason for your hope.
A. Christians have something to look forward to.
1) Do you??
a) If you died right now, would you be satisfied with the
life you have lived?
b) If you died right now, do you know with certainty what
would happen to you?
2) "Faith must be a first-hand discovery and not a second-hand
story."
B. Be positive in witnessing.
1) Hellfire may motivate some, but hope is better.
Christian writer Mrs. Robbie Castleman heard a Christian
physics professor defend Christianity on a state university
campus a few years ago.
He had been nominated for the Nobel Prize more than once, had
pages of academic accolades, and became a Christian well
into his faculty career.
After listening to his brilliant multi-point presentation of
why he found Christianity credible, Castleman spoke to
this professor and his wife.
She asked him what first got him to consider the Christian
faith.
His answer was very different from what he had shared that
night.
His journey to faith began after the death of his child.
He noticed that his wife's grief began to give way to some
hope and healing that he could not understand nor
experience.
When he asked her about it, she confessed that she had been
attending a Bible study with friends and had become a
Christian.
He was surprised, intrigued, and open to anything that would
comfort his pain and emptiness.
He, too, began to share his grief within his new circle of
friends.
They opened their hearts and their Bibles to this professor
and his wife.
The professor felt free to ask questions, seek the truth of
the Christian faith, and express doubts.
He finally trusted in the Lord, because his feelings of grief
were accepted and shared.
Compassion preceded answers.
His evangelists were first listeners.
After the professor finished, Castleman thanked him for this
personal story of faith.
And she suggested that this part of his life's story be
included in what he shared with others about the Christian
faith.
She encouraged him to remember that grace opened the door of
truth for him.
This is true in the hearts and lives of most people who need
to hear the gospel.
#3376
C. Be gentle and respectful.
1) Harsh Christians (I have the TRUTH) turn people off.
2) Discern the real needs of people.
For example, someone may say, "Well, I don't understand how
you can say 'God loves us' when the world is in
such a mess."
There are five possible responses from Christians:
1. Launch into an earnest sermonette on the existence of God and
the reality of original sin. [apologetics]
2. Mumble an ambivalent argument and change the subject. [mumble]
3. Speak slowly and loudly on the blessing of justification, sanctification
and the glorification of the Christian. Talk down to them.
[religious language]
*4. Ask about "the mess." Where is this person's unhappiness with the
messy world?
Listen for hints or confessions of an inner, personal mess.
*5. Just keep listening as the person continues to talk.
The last two are the best responses.
Information is not what people usually look for first when they are
hurting, vulnerable, or sharing feelings.
They want to know you care for them, and God does too.
#3263
VII. Words must be backed up by your character. (consistent love)
A. Lack of consistency in life may be greatest hurdle to
witnessing.
B. Rather than not witnessing, clean up life first.
Joseph Aldrich says that God's evangelistic strategy is beauty.
He desires to build into us the beauty of own character, and
then put us on display.
Many training programs concentrate on the words, the tools
(i.e., 4 Spiritual Laws).
Few teach us how to play the music: that beauty of character
God wants to suffuse through our lives.
Basically, evangelism is less something we do - a project -
than something we are.
Others need to see us as people of integrity.
#1255
C. Converts earn us a crown in heaven. 1 Thessalonians 2:19
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