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 Do you remember the days of Show and Tell in elementary school? This is when someone from your class would bring something from home that they valued and they would show it to the class and tell everyone all about it. I ask adult audiences on occasion if they remember what they took to Show and Tell when they were young, and I've gotten some very interesting answers. But did you know that Show and Tell is not only a looked-forward-to day in the life of a child, but it is also the game plan for being an effective witness for Jesus?
Listen to the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:17-18 , "Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done." Let me re-emphasize that last phrase, "by what I have said and done." The greatest witnessing tools available to Christians are their godly lifestyle and their willingness to open their mouth and tell others how they can begin a relationship with Jesus.
And you can't have one without the other. If you are wholeheartedly committed to living a godly life, don't assume that your lifestyle is enough to help others figure out how to go to heaven. You could live godly for 20 years and most likely people will conclude that you are a really nice person, you help others, and they've never heard you use a curse word. But they won't conclude that Jesus died for them. We have to eventually do the telling.
In the same way, if all you do is tell people about God, but they don't see any difference in how you live your life from the way they live theirs, your words will fall to the ground and not penetrate the heart of those who are lost. The Apostle Paul knew how important it was that his lifestyle backed up his preaching and vice versa. So he was determined to keep his conscience clear before God and man (Acts 24:16 ).
Here are a few brief lifestyle categories to think about:
- Work ethic. Are you regularly getting to work early/on time and staying late when needed? Or are you consistently making excuses for being late, and hitting the door as soon as your shift is up?
- Marriage. Is your marriage red hot or are you settling for average? If you are uncertain on how to answer this, just ask your spouse.
- Entertainment choices. This is not the place to draw lines of legalism, but if your entertainment choices are the same as everyone's around you, and the only difference in you and your lost peers is the fact that you go to more religious meetings than they do, chances are, you are not on the road to reaching them for Jesus.
- Speech. I had a man in his 50s tell me that his fellow coworkers have said to him on more than one occasion, "How can you tell us about Jesus and still use the same language we do?"
- Integrity. Are you a person of your word? Or do you say one thing and act another? Are you honest with people? Or are you only as honest as you need to be to get your way and avoid getting into trouble?
Here are a few "talking points" to consider when it comes to verbally sharing your faith with others:
- Are you willing to risk starting a spiritual conversation with someone you care about who does not know Jesus and are you willing to trust Jesus for the outcome of the conversation?
- Is your faith in Jesus such that you believe He can keep you out of hell, but He can't give you the words to say to someone who is on their way there?
- Are you aware that your silence about Jesus could be the only reason why a close friend of yours might end up spending eternity in hell?
- Do you have a willingness to learn how to confidently share your faith with others? If so, our ministry is equipped to help you with that very thing. Just click here to find out more.
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