“ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

 

Colossians 2:6-7
 

 

How can you tell someone about Jesus if they don’t give a scoobies for what you have to say?

 

If Jesus is your Lord and saviour then you’ll have a real desire to tell others about him.  

So it can be really tough when you have this awesome thing to share but the person doesn’t care about what you’re saying.  

It’s the same when you have just come back from holiday in Mexico and you want to tell all your mates about the amazing sombrero you bought, the huge taco you ate and the giant cactus you walked into…but none of them are listening, they couldn’t give a scoobies because they are thinking about something else, or they are intentionally ignoring you because they are a wee bit jealous!  In both the above circumstances you have to stop and realise that maybe they are not ready to hear.  Not to call our friends pigs, but Jesus did say it’s foolish to throw your precious pearls in front of pigs (Matthew Ch 7 v6) because they just ain’t interested, they want food not jewelry – they’ll just trample your precious pearls into the dirt.

In the same way if one of our friends is clearly not interested at that time it is maybe wise not to launch into an exposition of John 3:16.

The following are useful principles from the Bible in how we should share our faith:

1) IN DEED - Unlike this target driven world we live in, where unless you see results then there are no results, Christians walk a very different road.  God can use what we do in our lives to be a witness to others, even if we have no idea of the slow but powerful impact our lives are having – it’s because he’s changed us so we are actually salt and light.  That’s what we are!  When people see the light and also taste the flavour they will want to know more.  

So we must remember that walking obediently with Jesus can be the most incredible witness that we will ever give our friends.  You could say to your friend, “Jesus has saved me from relying on alcohol to give my life meaning” but what may be even more powerful is when you actually refuse to get wasted even though people make fun of you.  That’s when your friend who doesn’t give a scoobies might sit up and take notice.

2) IN WORD – ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect…’ 1 Peter Ch 3 v 15.

3) IN HUMILITY - We must do it in humility, not because we think we’re better than others: ‘…in humility consider others better than yourselves.’ Philippians Ch 2 v3.  We do it out of love, all the time remembering that it is purely by grace (a free gift) that we are saved.

4) IN PRAYER – ‘…by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ Philippians Ch 4 v 6.  As someone has said this is evangelism with everything stripped away!  We cannot save someone – only by God’s grace and power can they be saved and so we cry out to him to save.