Courtney* and her family moved in the fall of 2008 to a thriving suburban neighborhood. But Courtney felt alone and isolated. As an alcoholic in a program she searched for a “higher power.” Someone even told her she could submit to a tree!
When an email invite to a local woman’s bible study came across her screen she paused, shook her head, but felt a strange urge to accept. The following week she found herself in a church basement with a room full of moms who looked like her, talked like her and seemed to take interest in her. They were real, not fake. The group felt comfortable, very similar to her AA meetings.
Since that first visit in January 2009, Courtney and her family have been changed for life. Her husband and children were baptized in May and she shared her testimony to the entire church this past weekend.
During her testimony, Courtney said “no one ever told me about the grace of God.” She has a new sense of urgency to share the gift that was given to her.
So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?”
Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” …There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul. Acts 17:22-29, 32-34 (MSG)
In today’s passage, Paul speaks to the people based on their culture. Notice, he doesn’t bombard them with truth that does not relate. Instead, he begins by complimenting them on who they are and what they know. He uses quotes from popular poets. Paul even uses Homer’s cyclops to help him illustrate this thought: he [God] made the entire human race… so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him.
The God that made the universe desires a relationship with you. He also seeks those lost who are “groping in the dark” to find Him. And He wants YOU to invite them into this new life.
Here are 5 helpful steps in sharing your faith in real and relevant ways:
- Get to know where your friend is coming from. What’s her spiritual background? What has happened in her life to possibly block her vision?
- Reveal yourself. Be transparent about your own experiences, beliefs and doubts. The more you are open, the more trust you’ll earn.
- Pray that God will provide opportunities within common conversation to demonstrate how Christ is relevant in your life.
- Be confident in God’s ability, not your own. Yet know that God uses you to be His hands and feet. You don’t have to be a pastor or a trained evangelist to share Christ’s love with another person.
- Relate your friend’s experiences to God’s truth all around her.
What about you? ~How have others helped you? ~What has worked for you when sharing Christ with another? ~Did you pick anything up today that you’ll use in your spiritual journey?
*name changed
I have encountered a couple people at my work who don’t have a church background and who have shown an interest in my religion, my faith and what it’s all about. One woman in particular I have become friends with, and I would like to ask for your prayers for her, Alison. She recently had her first baby, and the other day wondered aloud if maybe her son should become a Lutheran, since he was born on Martin Luther King Jr. day this year. We got a good laugh out of it, but I sense that one thing that has kept her going her whole life is her sense of humor. That’s been helpful for me to access her, or should I say, for the Holy Spirit to access her. Please pray that when the next opportunity arises I take her seriously, and am able to say exactly what is needed at that moment. And I also ask for prayers for her and her husband, and for their new son, that one day they might come to faith in Christ. Thank you!
Absolutely! I love how you’ve utitlized the humor aspect… so important! And we’ll be praying. =)