The last six blog posts have been about the Essentials–those things that God has made us thrive on–and without which we cannot live spiritually. I have received some interesting feedback–including a desire that I talk more about my own situation. So, let me cover the last of the Essentials–Sharing Faith–by giving you an example:-).
First, let me be clear. By sharing faith I do not mean presenting the gospel, or following a canned approach to evangelism. In my experience, the latter is almost never useful, and the first should be a natural product of sharing our faith. In other words, being willing to talk to people about what God is doing in our lives. We don’t need to know whether they are Christian or not. We don’t need to make them respond. We don’t even have to tell them everything–we only need to be as open about our faith experience with the Lord as any other aspect of our life.
In my case, that means being willing to talk about something that has overshadowed everything else in my life in the past month–my diagnosis with a rare form of bone marrow cancer.
People ask me “How are you doing?” When I say, “I’m doing good (Yes, I know it should be “well”)”, they frequently look at me as if to say, “Really, I don’t believe you. You can tell me what’s really happening.”
But I really am doing well. You see, I have faith. Not in medicine, or in my own strength. I have faith in my Lord. I trust him. I know that, whatever happens to me, he is good, and I will be with him. So, I’m doing well.
When I tell people this I get a lot of interesting responses. Some nod and agree. Some shake their heads. Some assure me I am a good man and so will be just fine (I correct them on both points as gently but firmly as possible). Others want to know why I can trust God when I have a strange disease nobody even knew existed. And when they ask that question (in sharing faith, you never want to overwhelm people. So, it is best to tell them something and then wait until they ask a question and answer that question) I am able to tell them how my Lord forgave me, cleaned me up, changed me, gave me my wife and family, gave me the opportunity to serve him for all these years–gave me a life that has been an amazing adventure–and all for someone who is a sinner and deserves whatever punishment God gives. So, I am able to trust him, because he has proven his love and faithfulness many times over.
It is all true, and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to share this with anyone who will listen:-). I have more by the way of update, and will post it tomorrow. For now, let this be an example of something Essential to any Christian–our faith is to be shared!
If you have been following the posts on the Essentials, I invite you to look closely at each of the Essentials and decide which is most in need of shoring up. Choose that Essential and begin to strengthen it, continuing until you are stable in that Essential. Then, choose the next. Only when we are strong, balanced and stable in the Essentials are we able to face whatever happens in the world with peace.
God is Faithful. We can be too!
Leave a Reply