Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15
Have you ever had one of those golden opportunities in life to share the gospel, and you found that you just weren’t prepared? Or have you had someone fire some really hard questions at you, and you were rendered speechless?
After I had been a Christian for two weeks, I felt I needed to get out and do something with my faith. I was walking down the street and who did I run into but my very close friend from elementary school. I started witnessing to him. He was listening, and he was open. It seemed as though I was making some progress. I was getting excited.
I didn’t notice, however, that someone else was eavesdropping on our conversation. He walked up to me and said, “I have a few questions for you.”
I thought, No problem. I have been a Christian for two weeks. I think I can grapple with most theological issues at this point. Fire away.
So he fired four or five pretty tough questions at me. I can’t even remember today what they were. All I remember is that I was dumbfounded. I didn’t even have a clue. I was ashamed. I was embarrassed. But worst of all, I felt that I had let the Lord down.
I made a commitment that day—a commitment to study the Bible so I would not be caught in that position again. I can’t say that I have the answer to every question now. Nor am I suggesting that I can resolve any difficulty any person has, because I can’t. But I did realize that I needed
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
5 comments:
I assume this is a very common feeling, right. I can not be the only one on this blog that feels less than prepared to enter into a heavy debate with someone and feel confident that i will have the concepts and associated verses at the tip of my tounge right? I have said many times on this blog that this is something I am working on. I think we should all challenge ourselves a little harder. Think of it this way, would you go into a major presentation at work without adequate preparation, just go run a marathon, or walk into a final exam in quantum physics just out of the blue? I suspect not, and that is the way I feel sometimes when it comes to defending my faith. The guys that know me from church here will know that I have been on a bent about this for a couple of years, but should we all not be experts in defending the truth which is claimed to be the cornerstone of our very being? There should be a pop quiz at church on some random Sunday morning and I suspect the result would be quite shocking. Anyway, enough on that, I am just speaking from my heart mainly about myself. Anybody else have any thoughts?
cas
I do agree that we should be ready to share the hope that we hold to be true. It starts with me asking God for the awareness and courage to be opportunistic. I should also ask for the spirit's help to make something good of the times I do step out on faith and give an account.
Peace!
An excellent book to help Christians address the hard questions (and to help skeptics hear a respectful yet very compelling case against their doubts about Christianity) is Reason for God in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. It's well worth the $12 you pay for it on amazon.
Indeed, I often feel ill-equipped to defend my faith. Although I feel secure in my faith and seldom question what I may not fully understand, I am still quite aware that I would "fall back into a prevent defense" if pressed.
tba
Another great book for this is "Give me an answer" by Cliffe Knechtle. Here is a little excerpt from the book in response the question - "Why do you say that Jesus is the only way to God?"
Cliffe answers by writing this "He did something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He lived a perfect life. He did not deserve to die. He dies as a sacrifice for you and me. He rose from the dead, is alive today and is offering us a gift - forgiveness and eternal life. No other religion can point to a moment in history and say, this is what God has done for you. No other religion tells how God has taken the initiative to save us. Religion is our attempt at finding God. Christianity is God's attempt as finding us.”
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