…Grace in Witnessing the Gospel
We share the Good News of the Gospel, by telling the bad news of sin, but let’s also affirm the good we see in our unbelieving friends. Many people—albeit outside God’s law–do live by their own moral standards. As a result, these people would bristle if we told them they are sinners in need of a savior. And although we need to tell them this bad news, we can show grace and appreciate the good qualities of our unbelieving friends. I urge you, my beloved readers, to join me in offering grace when we witness the Gospel.
We might consider family members the hardest people to witness to, especially older ones. For example, parents may not hear the truth of the Gospel but instead imagine they hear, “You were a bad parent,” even when the child loves the parent. Therefore, when the parents hear the child tell them they are sinners, the message of the Gospel can seem confusing. But if the child (as an adult or youth) tells the parent, “You were good parents, kind and loving,” (or anything else positive the child can honestly say) then the parents realize the child sees them in an honest and right light. It is easier to admit to our faults when others see some of our good qualities too.
We tell the truth about sin, but this may confuse many people who do their best to live moral lives. The world applauds these people for the level of morality they achieve, even though this morality does not meet God’s perfect standards, (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”) We should applaud their morality if it does not conflict with God’s standards, for example: recycling and using resources well, (Gens.2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”), being kind to animals (Proverbs 12:10 “The righteous care for the needs of their animals.”) not cheating on a spouse (Proverbs5:15, “You should be faithful to your wife.”), etc.
Furthermore, we must respect different cultures, as long as the aspects of those cultures do not conflict with God’s standards, such as respect for elders (1Peter5:5, “And all of you young people should obey your elders.”), eating certain foods (Cols.2:16, Luke 10:8, 1 Cor.10:31,) enjoying music and dance (Ephs.5:19), dressing in ways that are modest and true to that culture, etc. People do not have to adopt our culture or our preferences to become a Christian. It is our sin and not our culture that separates us from God, and we can reassure people they are not worthless people, just because they are sinners. As I have shared in past posts, by no fault of our own, we were born into the sin nature. This is not to condone our sins, since we freely choose to sin.
When we genuinely love unbelievers, we will naturally see their good sides. And when we genuinely love others, they will be more drawn to us too. Our love will also reflect God’s love. This also makes the Gospel more attractive. We do not share the Gospel to trick people by flattering them either. We love others simply because they are made in God’s image, and God puts a sincere love for them into our hearts. As we love God, we will naturally love others, even people with rough personalities (1John4:19-21 “We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: those who love God must also love their fellow believers.”)
So if you have had a hard time sharing your faith with someone you know, especially a family member, pray about the good qualities you can applaud in that person. Even though you still need to let that person know he or she is a sinner, if you show your love and respect for any good qualities that person has, your testimony will be more winsome.
Finally, God does not call you to convert sinners to faith. God simply asks you to share your faith and tell of the good he has done for you (Luke8:39, Jesus told the man freed from demons to “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you,’ and he want away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”) Jeremiah had few converts, but God still considered him a success, because he had obeyed God. The number of converts we have is not our success but God’s. We obey by speaking as God has called us—that is our success, so please don’t be afraid to tell others about our Lord (2 Tim. 1:7-8a “For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power and love and sound mind. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.”) And as Jesus said through Paul, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone,” (Cols.4:6.) Then trust the Lord to give you the right words when you speak (Matt.10:19b, “do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.”)
Some people are not ready to admit that some of their actions are sinful, and God may have to convict them of those sins. But these people may be willing to admit they are sinners. For example, as the maid of honor at a wedding, I agreed with the bride that I would share the Gospel in my little speech to the guests. I spoke warmly of the bride and groom and, at one brief point, I also mentioned that God loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us, because we are sinners. After my speech a man rushed up to me and asked why I would say we are all sinners. I knew this man was living in a homosexual lifestyle, but the Lord gave me simple words to tell the man. I said, “We all know the times we have been unkind to others, impatient with them, not helping them when they needed our patience and love. We know when we have sinned.” I knew this man was not ready to look at his life style, but as soon as I spoke of love and impatience, his whole body relaxed; his face softened, and he said, “Oh, yes, that is wrong, and we have all done those things.” That is all I felt God calling me to say. At that point, this dear man had acknowledged that he had sinned, due to his impatience with others.
He did not convert to the Christian faith, but he did admit he had sinned. And I never confronted him about the sin he was clinging to, because I did not feel God leading me to do so. The Holy Spirit could do that at another time. I had obeyed the powerful conviction God had given me–to speak of sin, not to name any specific sins. And this man had felt God’s conviction and also heard of God’s love for sinners. God could work on that man’s life gradually. Some souls have very hard soil, and the first steps before they surrender in faith might simply be acknowledging sin in general without naming every sin. I am not telling others to not confront sins. There are times when God calls us to confront specific sins, and I have done so by God’s leading. But at this time I obeyed what God had called me to do—to simply present the Gospel. God did not call me to confront this man’s lifestyle, just the fact that this man was a sinner. And I cannot expect to hear my listener agree with me every time I tell someone he or she is a sinner, as I did succeed with the man at the wedding. The Holy Spirit will direct us each time he calls us to speak the Gospel, and that message will change, depending on what God calls us to say. Even if someone seems hard hearted, that message may still convict that person at a later time. Think of how hard hearted the Pharisee Saul was before Jesus so forcefully convicted him of sin.
God adores you, and he loves the unsaved souls too. He will guide you! Thanks for joining us in this week’s post. If you have any stories about how you shared the Gospel, please feel free to share them with me. I have not mastered sharing the Gospel but remain eager and open to learn from others about how they share. May the Lord bless you this week.