Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sharing Your Faith: Step 3: Simple Paper



There is a commercial on right now about changing your car insurance. They put forth a question: “How are you saving me money?” If you were to ask, you would have fidgeting on the other end of the line. No one knows for sure. You know, I know the answer. ABC Insurance Co. charges you monthly policy of 63.06. Acme Insurance charges 56.06. Acme saved you $7 per month by charging you $7 less. It really isn’t something that is hard to understand, but people tend to over think things.
Sometimes we look for our favorite parable to have many meanings. Everything must stand for something. Take the parable of the planting the seeds. Jesus gives us the meanings of the soil types that would receive the seed, or the Good News. Then we look to other parables and try to find what each element stands represents. Sometimes an element is just part of the story. Theology in general is that way. For example, we will get into debates about what the interim time between physical death and the resurrection will be like. Does it matter when people are around us hurting, needing Jesus’ compassion, God’s grace. Don’t over think it. Look to the mission, share the gospel.
And that is something else we over think: sharing our faith. We somewhere along the way, bought into the lie that if we are not Billy Graham, then we will not be able to share our faith. Or we believe that only the preachers and church leaders are called to share the faith. Does God only call people like Billy Graham to share their faith? Does a person have to be so eloquent when speaking?
Truth is, often God uses simple means, and expects simple compliance. Naaman is one such example. He was the general for the army of King Aram. Now as mighty as he was, he had a skin disease. It kept him uncomfortable to the point that a servant girl told her mistress what he should do. So he travels in pomp and circumstance to be healed. Does Elisha see him? Nope. Gahazi, tell him to dip seven times in the Jordan River.  Look at verse 11. Clearly he was over thinking.  His servants reason with him and then he complied and was healed.
Our step that we do not need to over think is to use tracts or notes. I did have a few timely tracts to use, to show, but this week I found out that my former mission had a system failure so my order won’t be here until next week. So let’s do something simple. Write a note, Dear Son, or Dear Daughter, or better, dear Joe or Susannah. Leave this someplace in public, some place where someone will read it. When they see it’s a note to someone, they will read it. We all tend to like the gossip.
Once you become used to leaving a note laying on a table, the next step is to target a person, or people. These are the same people you should be praying for daily. Leave it on their cars where they will not be blinded by it’s presence, because its annoying to see something blocking my view. Now if most of it is under the wiper, then when I get to my destination, I will pull it out, and more likely, I’ll read it.
Now here is where the promise of God, the prayer and the preparation comes in. God’s word, in Isaiah 55 that as God’s word goes out, it will not return void. Leave a tract, or note, specifically for your waiter/waitress. This means that sometimes you may need to carry a pad of paper. Not a big pad like this, but the size of your wallet. Give them encouragement that God knows what they are struggling with, and God can work it out for their good, if they let Him.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve become a timid people. We are a people of purpose and privilege. We are sons and daughters of the King. He is always with us. So in this light, we need to once again start exercising our boldness. No, not taking an all out offense to sharing the faith, but with humility and gentleness and love. Remember, we really are no different than those around us, except that we are now clothed in Christ. We now have the hope of fellowship with the Father that the world knows it’s missing. Joshua encourages the people that they need to be brave for God is with them. Jesus offered comfort to the disciples by reminding them that God will always be with them, with us, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Take time this week to share simple paper within your world. Use notes. Next week, look over the tracts and use them. Be open to God’s guidance. You may be the only source of good news a person will ever encounter. And as far as being able? Moses had a stutter. God provided him a voice to deliver Israel. Jesus called 12 working stiffs, regular people. He ignored the polished prim and proper. He wants to use you and me. From those 12, no kingdom has come close to the size of God’s kingdom in Christ. Will you let him use you as we stand and sing?

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