|
2001-08-01 - Sharing Our Faith With
Family
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
The Question
"I believe my Dad may have cancer & is dying, and I am the
only one in my family who attends church, reads the Bible, etc. On occasion
with my Dad, I bring up God, but not to him as much as to the rest of my
family. He is not as easy to talk to. Now more than ever I need to approach
this topic for his sake, and I'm unsure how to start. I have the courage, I believe
but he has a way of stopping a conversation dead in its tracks if he doesn't
want to hear it."
The Answer
Sharing the love of Christ with family members is a great challenge for many
Christians. We feel the burden to share with them the joy we have experienced,
but we fear the rejection that our attempts might bring. We know the positive
encouragement's to tell others about our faith and even the command given
by Christ in the Great Commission. However, this doesn't make it easy. I
would like to try to get practical here and suggest some ways we can show
the love of Christ in a nonconfrontational way.
-
You have to be walking closely with Christ. We see in the Bible that people
were drawn to Christ. Many didn't like His message, but they still came out
to hear it. Walking closely with Christ will transform you more and more
to His image and that will only cause people to wonder what it is that makes
you stand out. When they ask, then the opportunity to share is right there
for the taking. I'm not saying this is easy with family. With family, it
is the hardest because they "really" know you. However, a close walk with
Christ will cause at least two other things.
- A close walk with Christ will mean that you have a decent prayer life.
This means you will be praying for your family, and prayer is one of those
great Christian graces that we have that will move the hand of God. David
says in Psalm 4:3, "The Lord hears when I call to Him." Prayer for your family
is a great way to be sharing with them in a totally nonconfrontational way.
- A close walk with Christ will mean that your insights and responses to
situations will be different from others in your family. You will have an
opinion that is often different than the non-Christian and this can only
lead to interaction between you and your family on a spiritual level. It
is to your advantage to be refining and developing this through your walk
with the Lord.
-
There are ways to start conversations that can become spiritual without forcing
the gospel down someone's throat. A phrase like, "You know what I thought
was interesting about the church service today?" can lead to something. You
can even drop that one out of the blue. Another approach is to look for
metaphorical relations between your faith, Bible stories or verses. Then
you can relate them, in conversation, to situations of everyday life If you
are fluffing a pillow you could say, "Did you know that Jacob in the Old
Testament used a stone for a pillow?" This could be an opening to a spiritual
conversation. That story is found in Genesis 28:11-12.
These are just a couple of ideas and there are lots more, but the key is
to try to make witnessing as natural a part of your life as possible. Taking
an interest in others and then sharing spiritual insight is something that
takes practice for many, but it can be learned. Your strongest testimony
to your family, to the truth of what you believe, will be found in your daily
life.
There is a need to bring people to the point of decision. But there is rarely
the need to push hard for a decision to follow Christ. Salvation is, after
all, a work of the Holy Spirit, John 16:8. In a sense, our evangelism is
often more effective when it is a lifestyle evangelism. Confrontational
witnessing, especially within our families, is, at times, less effective
than simply "living Christ" before those we know and love.
Sharing the love of Christ with our families is never easy. However, God
may have placed you in their lives to be a light to them, and there is often
no one closer and no one else who will take an interest in their eternal
state like you will. This gives you the privilege of being an ambassador
of the kingdom of Heaven (2 Corinthians 5:20) in your own house. May God
bless your efforts.
Soli Deo Gloria,
T-
godrulestb@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.papercutpress.com |