4 -
WITNESSING AND EVANGELISM (Confidence)
What if
I am not Confident? What if I don’t know
what to say or how to say it?
This concern is understandable and it is one
that many people advance. Take a look at
what Paul had to say about this very issue.
1 Cor
2:1-5
2:1
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom
as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was
with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and
fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise
and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that
your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
Note that, from the words of Paul, we do not
have to be eloquent in our speech. We do
not have superior knowledge or wisdom.
We do not have to use wise and persuasive words. We do not have to be strong and
fearless. If we think we do, we are
missing the point! The focus is not on
ME! It is not I who accomplishes the
task, but rather it is up to the Holy Spirit who is within us. The focus is on the cross!
Paul tells us to focus on the cross in verse
two. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ
and him crucified.” This IS the
key. Focus on the cross. The Gospel message IS that Jesus went
willingly to His death that WE might live!
John 15:13-14 says “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” There is no greater love than that which
Jesus has shown us. There is no greater
love, in spite of what may be going on in our personal lives, than our
Father-God has sought fit to sacrifice His Son that WE might spend eternity
with Him!!
So the real key is to understand that it is
not my power, but rather that power of the Holy Spirit. I must recognize this and then look at a
non-believer with the compassion of Christ.
I can’t remember where I first heard this
definition of witnessing, but I think it is a good one. “Sharing the truth of the Gospel to others
and leaving the results to God.”
Next we’ll look at criticism.
Doug
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