Simple Witnessing

By Dave Lewis
Posted on February 13, 2006

The number one reason Christians don’t share their faith is fear. Where does that fear come from? It doesn’t come from God. Let me Free your mind. We CANNOT fail. I’ll say it again. WE cannot fail. That is the truth. And the reason we cannot fail is that it is not us who brings people to Christ in the first place. The Holy Spirit of God brings people to Christ. It is God’s work. For me, realizing this takes the pressure off.

Many Scriptures remind us of the fact that it is God who works in people’s lives and convicts them of sin. They have a choice to accept it or not. God offers the gift of His grace.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8

“I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” 1 Cor. 2:3-4

“No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” John 6:44

“That is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” John 6:65

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” 2 Cor. 5:20

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty.” Isaiah 59:11

We see that it is God who does the work of bring a soul to Himself. God uses YOU and ME to bring the good news of Christ to others. We are “Christ’s Ambassadors” in spreading the grace and love of God to a lost world. The only way we can fail is if we fail to allow God to use us when we see Him at work in someone’s life. Francis of Assisi said, “Be a witness for Christ and sometimes use words.” This is true, our actions speak louder than words, but we still need to use words to communicate God’s word to people. God still uses us to do that. Francis was actually a great example of this. In his day, he was one of the few disciples for Christ that believed in spending a majority of his time going out into the community and preaching the good news of Jesus. The rest of the time he spend serving others in practical ways, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and downcast people of his day, and listening to those who needed someone to talk to. But he recognized the need to tell the good news of Jesus to everyone he met.

Another great truth for us is that not only can we not fail, we have God’s power with us. Jesus said to his disciples, and we are his disciples today, he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” - Acts 1:8

The call to be God’s witness is still ringing to Christians today. If you claim to be a follower of Christ, a disciple of Jesus, then God still calls you to be His witness. How are you doing with that? Are you a witness for Jesus?

I believe it is simple and can be done in a couple of simple ways. First, give people the chance to talk to you. You might be talking about something in everyday life and then you say, “do you have any spiritual beliefs?” Then, be prepared to listen. Even if it goes on for hours! Listening means you don’t say a word. No advice, not even the littlest thought that comes to your mind. No simple answers, not even an attempt to answer anything! When they are done talking, then, you can share what God has done in your life (briefly). Give them an invitation to talk about salvation and how Jesus comes into a persons life. Don't do this at work. If it comes up at work, invite them over for dinner, or out for coffee after work or to talk during lunch.

The Second simple way that every Christian can do is simply invite people to the Church worship gathering. Invite people to Church. Many studies tell us that people are open to church IF someone invites them. Say, “I’ll sit by you,” “We can go together.” If they say, "the church is full of hypocrites," tell them, "we have room for one more." We are all hypocrites. That is why we need Jesus.

Be open to the Holy Spirit in your life. If you are, you will see opportunities to talk to people and invite them. You will have something inside you that says, “don’t do it” “ that person doesn’t want to be bothered.” If you are open to the Holy Spirit, you will also hear, “that person need you,” “invite that person.”

People have asked, “what is the first step in talking to someone about Christ?” Or “How do I invite someone to Church?” The first step is to say “Hi.” Then, let God use you. You have nothing to fear. Be yourself and let God do the work. If they say “no”, they are not saying no to you. Keep inviting those that say no. Keep letting them know that you care. Even if they put a restraining order on you. Shout it from a hundred yards away. Just joking. The point is don’t give up. I have made a commitment that I will invite someone to church everyday.

Does it seem simple and less frightening? It should. It is who you are. You are a believer and follower of Jesus. You have nothing to fear. You are simply being who you were made to be. It is natural for me and you do be the disciples that God called us to be.

No fear, no pressure, no worries! God is in the business of drawing people to Himself. We allow him to use us because of our gratitude toward him for the grace He gave us.

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If you are using this in a group setting....
-Read through the scriptures together.
-Discuss the points of the article.
-Pray for people that you come in contact with every day. Make a list of names to pray for.
-Pray for people that you can strike up conversations with.
-Pray that God will give you the courage to be a witness every day for Him.
-Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His guidance.

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