One of the recent stories that came across my desk for my Defending the Faith Review newsletter was about an Atheist (Penn of Penn and Teller) who asked why Christians wouldn't share their faith with him if they really believed his eternal soul was at risk.  It makes perfect sense.  If we really believe that Jesus is Lord, that He commands us to share the Good News with others so their eternal soul is not lost in the Lake of Fire...why wouldn't we speak up? 

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1Peter 3:15

There are several reasons why Christians are afraid to speak up and share their faith. 1) they don't know what to say, 2) they don't know how to say it, and 3) they are afraid of the consequences of speaking up. However, when Christians understand how to approach an unbeliever effectively about the Lord and become comfortable, all of those issues disappear. 

When you know what to say and how to say it, practice makes you more comfortable in doing so.  Any negative consequences of sharing your faith are drastically reduced and you realize that any negative impact is far outweighed by the magnitude of what you are doing for the Kingdom of God.  Further, if you understand the next concept, you will drastically reduce any negative responses and increase your effectiveness 100 fold!  Here's why:

There are several popular programs and methods for sharing the faith available today but most of them teach a sort of one-size-fits-all approach.  Now that does, indeed, work some of the time.  However, most of the time it can cause more damage.  Approaching someone about a controversial topic such as salvation and religion the wrong way can result in that person making a sweeping generalization about Jesus, Christianity and all those who share the faith.  I have seen it many times up close and personal in my own family.  It can build a wall around an unbeliever that will not allow Jesus in or anyone who comes along after they were initially "offended" or "turned off".

God didn’t make cookie-cutter people and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sharing the faith. Folks have questions and misconceptions that need to be addressed on an individual basis. 

Paul knew this and he talks about how important it was for him to approach people a way that would be most effective in allowing him to save as many souls as possible: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (KJV)

"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

One of the reasons why there have been more negative responses to evangelists is that folks were simply approached in the wrong way.  This lead to another recent issue: the world is increasingly more secular and intolerant of Jesus! This means that sharing our faith now requires even more communication skill today than in years past!

If you have felt the Lord leading you to become more involved in sharing and defending the faith, I would like to encourage you to take the steps necessary that will lead you more effectively in that direction. One very important step you can take is to get a copy of Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith. This is the most important communication study I have ever written!

These are the lessons I have learned about sharing the faith having grown up in an Atheist home and being the only Christian in my family.  These are the lessons I have taught my own children and the lessons we have used successfully with others as we share.    

We have received such amazing feedback about this study.

"This is such a needed class and I can see how easily both boys are learning some of the ways to respond (and ways not to respond) to some of the common things people say. I can see how they are understanding their faith in new, deeper ways and making their faith their own. This class has also helped to facilitate discussion in our family around the dinner table. You have a way of presenting things in a straight forward way that is so understandable.Thank you JoJo" -Marcie, Homeschooling mom of two

And...this coming January we are going to begin offering ongoing online classes teaching this study. We will be going through the study one week at a time and then starting over again.  You can join the class at any time and take the class over and over as often as you like. We will begin with Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith, but soon we will be adding lessons from our upcoming More Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith and Even More Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith!  Because there are so many questions and misconceptions the world has about the Lord and the Christian faith.

This year, let's make a renewed commitment to read God's Word, to listen to His leading for our lives and to share His love and His free gift of salvation with others.  Make 2009 the Christian year of action.  Let's speak up effectively to share and defend the faith!



From JoJo's Purple Crayon