Explain yourself

At the beginning of the year we asked God through a week of prayer and fasting to speak to us about what we have been called to do. One of the promises we felt he gave us was that we could expect to gather 70 people to the Vineyard in the coming year.

 

So we need to get to work and so we have talked about getting near to those who are far; about the importance of prayer in sharing our faith and last week I talked about how the compassion for other people that naturally rises in us can be squashed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever been pigeon-holed in the kitchen at a party, or over coffee at work in between meetings? Someone turns round to you and says, “Why do you go to church then?” We want to know what to say but words fail us sometimes.

 

I would like to recommend two rather different books about sharing your faith. How to be a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels (for the structured, ordered mind, using helpful summaries and formulas) and Speaking of Jesus by Carl Medearis (for the more relationally minded and liberal thinker).

 

John 3:1-21

v.1-3: People must come to Jesus recognising their need. He doesn’t come begging. He is the king, the one with all the power and the answers.

v.1-3: There is something in all of us that is seeking the Kingdom of God though we may not yet understand it, or may ignore it. It is hard to see without spiritual eyes. We have many questions.

v.4-7: There is a point of change, a transition into new life (Shania Twain). A supernatural exchange – being born again. Yes, we talk about being on a journey but there comes a time. Cp getting engaged – sometimes an event, sometimes just happens but there is a point at which you talk about your fiancée rather than your girlfriend.

v.8-11: Truth has been revealed, are we listening and understanding?

v.12-15: Jesus is the connection between the natural and the supernatural. His place of residence is in Heaven but His place of activity is also on earth. He came “down” and he ascends back “up”.

v.16-18: God has taken the action – He loves the whole world and has done what is needed for man to reconcile with Him. Sent His son – messenger, authority, commission, charge, message.

v.16-18: All that is needed is for man to believe, turn to Jesus and try and follow Him.

v.19-21: Light and darkness.

 

What can we do to gather and help people understand the story of Jesus?

1. Get near to those who are far – not to convert or evangelise them but in order to serve and help them in any way you can with the aim of showing God’s love and perhaps becoming friends.
2. Pray for the people God puts on your heart: for those you have known for many years; for those you live and work with now; for those who have yet to become friends.
3. Think about what holds you back from being more compassionate and ask the Lord to help you grow in that area.
4. Ensure that the community into which we invite people is a welcoming one.
5. Explain yourself.

So how do we go about explaining ourselves?

At some point, a friend will be in a place where they are coming for help like Nicodemus.

They may be struggling with tragedy or a difficult circumstance. They may simply have realised there is more to life than what they have at the moment. They may have watched you for some time and realised that they would love to have what you have got. Or they may have had a supernatural encounter with God – completely independently.

 

What do you say?

 

2 things – your story and the story of Jesus.

 

Your story

What is your story? How did you end up trying to follow Jesus? I recommend writing it down. Do several versions – a one minute one, a 5 minute one and a longer one. A 1 minute story takes 100 words.

 

Here are some examples.

Most stories are made up of a past, a change and a future. At some point in the story there arose a question to which Jesus is the answer.

 

So let’s stop a moment and think about our own story.

 

Jesus’ story

What we do is to point people to Jesus – he doesn’t need defending. He can speak for himself.

Yes it is good for us to know what we believe and why, but all that discussion and argument and study is simply the supporting cast to the real celebrity act which is Jesus himself. It is all about Him.

Jesus astounded the elders, teachers and priests in the temple when He hadn’t even hit puberty yet. We forget that Jesus confounded the wise, humbled the intellectuals, and left the educated rocking on their heels with something to think about. Jesus could outwit and outmanoeuvre any egghead or philosopher and the fact that He was born 2000 years ago does not mean that He was simpler than us … If Jesus were to drop into my study at home to talk, He would completely outwit me. (Medearis).

 

At the same time he was an entrancing personality, thousands walked for days to see Him in action. He captivated people with his radical take on life and the world. He exuded compassion like no other – reaching out to touch the untouchable and bring healing and comfort to those in pain and distress. He fed the hungry, confronted the proud, encouraged the doubting, challenged the wealthy, forgave the sinner.

 

If he were here today in bodily form we would drop all our plans to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and just hang round Him, just to be in His company. And if the Queen found out she would cancel her engagements and tell her chauffer to take her to Leeds.

 

We would listen to His every word, watch His body language, bask in His presence, begin to understand what love meant, experience forgiveness and grace from someone who doesn’t need us but loves us the most.

 

However He isn’t here in bodily form just yet – He chooses to be here through the presence of His Holy Spirit in the lives of those who choose to believe and follow Him.

 

So what does it look like when we point people to Jesus?

Think back to John 3. Three things happen to you when you become a follower of Jesus:

1. You have looked at Jesus and chosen to believe in Him and the salvation that comes from His sacrifice for us.
2. You are born again – in other words you are given a new, spiritual life, by the power of Jesus’ Holy Spirit.
3. You are living in the light.

All three are compelling to others who are searching – salvation through belief, new life, living in the light. I don’t mean that someone’s salvation is reliant upon you being the best example - but you will point the way through your belief, your new life, through the way that you live.

 

We all operate in different ways according to our personality and temperament. God made you and knows which way of sharing your faith suits you best. So just be you:

 

Different ways to explain

1. Prayer – you love to pray for people, wherever they are. You pray for healing and for relationships and for blessing. Whether you know them very well or not, whether you are on the street or in a house your default is to offer to pray for them. Peter & John in Acts 3:6
2. Confrontational – you don’t beat about the bush. When the subject of faith comes up you go for it with facts and information and give people a challenge to face Jesus. Peter in Acts 2 - "Repent and be baptised."
3. Intellectual – you know your stuff and can present rational and reasoned explanations. Confident in thinking and debate. I recommend Reason for God by Tim Keller if you like reading up on apologetics and for a more demanding read correcting untruths you often hear about Christianity, Atheist Delusion by David Bentley-Hart. Paul in Romans and throughout Acts.
4. Testimony – you don’t know the intellectual stuff and you don’t like arguing but you do know what Jesus did for you. I was blind, now I see and He did it. The blind man in John 9.
5. Networking – you are good at getting people to together. You organise parties and make friends with all sorts of different people. You put the right people in the room with others. Have a party. Matthew the tax collector threw parties with all sorts of wild people and then brought along Jesus.
6. Invitational – something has happened in your life, you are not entirely sure what but you know that Jesus is the man. So you invite people to Him. It is important for you to be part of a welcoming community so you can invite people in. John 4 and the woman at the well.
7. Servant – you love to serve others. Compassion is high in your personality and you make meals, give lifts, visit, fix problems. You do acts of kindness all the time. Dorca Acts 9.

So be yourself, don’t try and confront people if that is not your style and you are better off making them a cup of tea. Don’t offer to pray for someone if it is going to turn you into a nervous wreck, just invite them to a party or your housegroup (same thing?).

 

Be yourself. 

 

What do I say?

It is good to have mastered some illustrations to explain the gospel – especially if you are the type of person who is looking for the opportunity to walk people through the decision process. Contagious Christian has some good tools for this.

 

Check that you really know what they are asking – listen carefully.

 

If someone says, “What about the church” or “Why do Christians do this” or “What does the bible mean by that” or “What do you think about gay people or about divorce”, it is OK to say I don’t know but I do know Jesus loves me and you and accepts me and you and that He is helping me to understand all this stuff. Speaking of Jesus is helpful on this.

 

Think of different ways of explaining your faith.

• Instead of, “I am a Christian” – which immediately puts you on the defensive of having to explain why Christians behave in this or that way, depending upon the experience of the person with whom you are talking – “I am trying to follow Jesus”.
• Instead of, “I am going to church” – which immediately puts you on the defensive of trying to explain why the church has done these things to Galileo or the Spanish Inquisition or gay bishops – “I am getting together with some others to learn about Jesus”.
• Instead of, “the bible says” – which immediately puts you on the defensive of trying to explain the historicity of the gospel accounts or the Genesis account of creation in 6 days – “In His book, Jesus says…”

Let’s just think about what is actually going on when someone gets to a point of decision. As we see in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus there is something very simple but hugely profound happening.

 

Simple

In that you are invited to believe. You are not expected to understand everything, to have all the loose ends tied up, for everything to be perfect. You are just presented with the life-saving opportunity to believe in Jesus as He reaches across the divide with love and mercy to rescue.

 

Profound

In that it is as big a change as being born – but it is a supernatural birth, a spiritual one. If you have witnessed a baby being born it takes your breath away. The incredible creative act of a new person coming into being. Someone coming to faith in Jesus is going through an equally astounding transformation. A new spiritual life. A person now made new for ever. The Holy Spirit of God dwelling in a human body. A soul which will live free for ever in the presence of its creator.

 

To have the priviledge of being part of that is incredible. But we can’t make it happen, it is a miracle of new creation that God does in someone’s life when they turn toward Him and accept their need in humility.

We can act like a spiritual midwife, being there to hold their hand as this miraculous event takes place. The conversation might go something like this:

1. Where are you in relation to Jesus? What do you think about Him?
2. 2.Are you ready to try and follow Him? To receive His forgiveness and give Him your life? Do you want to make that decision?
3. Coach them through a prayer of confession, repentance, receiving forgiveness, inviting the Holy Spirit, committing to follow Him. Amazing Exchange booklet.
   1. Encourage them to pray out loud;
   2. Coach them through the stages;
   3. Pray a thanksgiving prayer at the end.
4. Post prayer counsel – encourage to pray, read the bible, join a small group, worship on Sundays.
5. Follow up - make sure someone accompanies them through the first few months of their new life, ideally a housegroup leader. Checking in with them, talking through ongoing questions, reminding them about their salvation.

We are so convinced about how wonderful Jesus is, and how He is the answer, that we have committed ourselves to growing a community which gathers those who are far away from Him. Will you join with me?

1. We will get near to those who are far,
2. We will pray for our friends,
3. We will seek to grow in compassion,
4. We will commit to growing a welcoming community,
5. We will also learn to explain ourselves by pointing to Jesus and helping people along their journey to faith in Him.