I Am Not Ashamed of the GospelSample

Sharing the Gospel

If we desire to share the gospel and give a reason for our hope, we must be ready to do so. That readiness is not just from the standpoint of acquiring information but also in delivering the information we possess.

We need to talk to someone who can help us prepare. Sitting down with someone a little older in the Lord than we are can give us confidence. Ask, “Can you talk about ways to get in the conversation when you witness? What happens if the conversation turns in the wrong direction?”

We also need to rest in the sovereignty of God. Our role in evangelism is to be faithful. Remembering that God is sovereign in the matter of salvation gives us confidence. People’s eternal destinies are not hanging on our abilities. If they were, then we’re all in trouble. All we can do at any given time is our best in the Lord. God is constantly using crooked sticks to draw straight lines. He’s using frail, weak, imperfect vessels to do things that are mighty and eternal. And by using us, He makes it clear that all glory goes to Him because no one has ever been saved by the human instrumentation involved in the gospel encounter. God’s ability always explains it. It is by God that we’re in Christ Jesus; by His doing, we’re in His Son. We can relax knowing that people’s salvation is not resting on us.

Also, we must remember that in sharing the gospel, some are planting, some are watering, and some are harvesting. We don’t have to get everything we know about the gospel in its totality into every conversation. It’s okay to give partial witness—to drop a seed.

Sometimes we feel guilty because we’re standing at a counter, and someone asks a question that is a wide-open door for the gospel, but people are standing behind us who need to get through the line. Have we failed if we don’t give them a complete answer? No! We take the small opportunity and do our very best in that situation in a fitting way. The same sovereign God who saves allowed us that limited opportunity, so we must be faithful.