Story Bearer - How to Share Your Faith With Your Friendsनमुना

It is worth it

Many Christians struggle with the idea and the practice of sharing their faith. Even though we might really want to see our friends become Christians, we can be afraid of the rejection, embarrassment and hostility that might come when we try to tell our story. We can worry we won’t have the words to say, or know how to answer difficult questions. It can be discouraging and frustrating when our friends are not interested or turn down our invitations or zone out of conversations. Even the invitations of the most effective evangelists are frequently turned down. Many people even walked away from Jesus himself.

But being a story bearer really matters. Jesus really does change lives. Knowing him really is a matter of life and death.

In 1934 there was a man called Albert who had a friend he was desperate to bring to Jesus. The friend’s name was William. Albert knew there was a preacher coming to his town and, ready to take any opportunity to get his mate to hear the good news, Albert invited him along. William declined, but Albert persisted. Eventually, William agreed to come and hung around on the edge of the gathering. When he heard the message about who Jesus is, his need to be forgiven and know God, he decided to become a Christian. Not long after doing so, his life so dramatically transformed, William decided to become a preacher himself. He was quite good at it.

William is better known as Billy Graham.

William Franklin Graham Jr. has spoken to more people than anyone else in history. A staggering 2.2 billion people heard about Jesus through his talks. He spoke to over 215 million people live from stages in countries all over the world. At his meetings, 2.2 million of these made decisions to follow Jesus.

We can’t all be Billy Grahams, but we can all be Albert McMackins.

It takes practice and determination to craft and remember your story. It is worth it.

It takes commitment and hard work to learn and delight in God’s story. It is worth it.

It takes a lifetime of perseverance and frequent disappointment to pray regularly for friends to know Jesus. It is worth it.

True friendship is costly and demanding in a full and frantic life. It is worth it.

2 Corinthians 4 reminds us that we are jars of clay, fragile and easily cracked. But we have a treasure within: the hope of the good news and life in Jesus. Romans 1:16 urges us not to be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. It really matters. And Philippians 1 encourages us that all over the world the church is growing as many join the family.

As we conclude this series, rejoice that you are part of an unstoppable global movement, commit to play your part, pray for your friends and make the most of every opportunity to live and share the gospel. We are good-news people in a bad-news world. May you bear your story well.