Why we share

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get the church out witnessing?  Reaching the lost is one of our main purposes, but it seems like pulling teeth to try and get people out there.  I found this as a common theme among the churches I’ve been to;  I even understand the since I am often one of those that’s been difficult to get out.

How do we respond to this?  First we decide that our church just needs to be.  We preach sermons about witnessing. We use logic to show them what the Bible says about it.  We attempt to motivate them into reaching to others who are dying.  Eventually we resort to guilt that they aren’t living in what they are told to do.

Next we think, maybe the problem is not motivation, but knowledge.  Perhaps they are timid because they don’t know how.  So we give them workshop and training groups.  We teach them the Roman Road, Evangelism Explosion, and the four spiritual laws.  We send them out in groups to get experience from those who have done it more.

Next we decide that they are motivated, but like any good salesman, they need to be more excited.  So we make our church better.  We build nicer buildings, have contemporary services, and build up their pride.  We make the members proud of their church and encourage them to bring others in to such a wonderful place.

Many of these things can be useful, beneficial, and often they’ll help, but they all bypass the core of our problem.

“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” – 2 Peter 1:16

The early apostles shook the world.  When the Spirit came upon them, they couldn’t resist sharing this faith, for they were sharing what they had seen.  They witnessed our Lord Jesus Christ walk this earth, perform countless miracles, and change lives.  How could they not declare the wonders they had seen.  Yet the one who authored so much of the New Testament was not there to follow Jesus as one of His disciples.  Paul said:

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. - (Galatians 1:11-12)

The gospel Paul preached was not written by man.  His words were not a well-crafted pamphlet.  Paul spoke of what was revealed to Him by Jesus.  He did not follow Jesus around with the disciples, and yet the gospel he preached was by revelation from Jesus, not the teaching of man.  Things have not changed for:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – Hebrews 13:8

Our witness cannot be from our knowledge of the word or our scripted conversations.  The simple truth is that our witness is our experience.  Until you have experienced God for yourself, you won’t want to share with others. 

In the earlier part of my career I had to intend a set of sales classes.  The most important lesson I learned from them is that I’m not a salesman.  We would do these mock sales calls where I would pretend I’m meeting with a new customer and attempting to sell my products to them.  I quickly learned that I couldn’t try to sell to a person something I don’t believe in or that isn’t actually real.  It reminded me a lot of some evangelism training experiences I had been through.

What are we in fact trying to share with those around us?  We all know John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Yet I believe many of us don’t have a handle on what eternal life is.  You see it’s not about being in Heaven after you die.  Yes, that’s a result of it, but I don’t believe that is the main purpose of it all.  If you don’t want to believe me, then listen to Jesus.

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. – John 17:3

This whole thing is about knowing God.  I’m not meaning that we know God because He has saved.  That’s like saying I know the president because he leads the country that protects my freedom.  I don’t know the president.  Now let’s say he invited me to a dinner, set a table before me and we spent time together.  If we were to do this regularly, I would come to know him.  That’s what God has done for those who are available.  

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. – Revelation 3:20

We’ve missed so much of the point about salvation; of course we’re not exuberant about it.  Jesus came and brought us back into a relationship with God.  We can talk to Him, hear Him, and come to know Him.  

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. – Matthew 13:44

Are you like this man?  Willing to give up all you had to find the Kingdom?  Until we see the Kingdom as this man does, willing to sell all we had to gain it, we haven’t really grasped the gospel.  We can know the God who created it all, and He wants to have a relationship with us.  Until we can see this as a simple truth and grasp it rather than using it as a token phrase of our doctrines, we cannot witness for what we do not have.