Hello! Here's a free book written by Jesus!

::Ding dong::

"Who's there honey?"

"Just some kids in white shirts and skinny black ties. They look clean cut! Wonder what they want..."

I know what you're thinking - boyscouts. 

Please.... when you read "skinny black ties," you knew exactly who I was talking about. Just like if I said: women dressed like penguins. There's no mistaking them with playboy bunnies, is there?

Not only do you know exactly who I'm talking about, you know precisely what they are here to do. They're going to witness to you - prosthelytize, drop some Jesus knowledge... whatever term you want to use. They're going to tell you about the gospel. Sometimes, wether you like it or not. 

Not many of us like this approach. We rarely appreciate when someone turns around in our driveway, let alone when they charge on to our front porch and try to talk us into a whole new ideology. 

However, I can't knock the door-to-door types. Because telling someone about Jesus is awkward no matter what, and I think it would be nice to have a formula to follow. If I could do away with witnessing altogether, I would. I'm not very good at it. What frightens me, is that I could misrepresent the gospel and turn someone off to Jesus forever. Why can't witnessing be one of those rare gifts of the spirit - like speaking in tongues, or snake handling....

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

All Christ followers are called to share the gospel and make disciples. Unfortunately, somewhere along the road the holy life-giving exercise of making disciples, became a numbers game - how many people can I convert? 

"Sometimes when jerks become Christians, it's like a bully learning karate. Instead of having Christ transform our hearts and attitudes, we we now have a new method by which to beat you up. Our formerly judgmental personality is now backed up by a newfound spirituality. What was once just "forcing  everyone to agree with my opinion" is now "forcing everyone to agree with my opinion in the name of God." 

(Stuff Christians Life, Jon Acuff, p.28) 

Most of the people you see on street corners, or holding bull horns, tend to be this type. Which is why I really don't like sharing my faith. If I tell you my testimony, and offer to help you find new life in Christ, I want you to know I have the best intentions. 

One of the hardest obstacles,  is talking to someone about their sin. We don't like the word 'sin.' Growing up in the Catholic Church, that word got tossed around a lot. Once we've been given the guilt trip about sin, with out meaning to, our brains begin to make associations between sin and anything we enjoy.  

Suddenly sex, r rated movies, and video games get shuffled into the "sin" category; And we start to think, 'I don't think I can get behind a God who wont let me watch Die Hard every now and again.' 

Realistically, I don't think Jesus cares how badass we think John McClane is. He's not threatened. 

So to avoid using the word "sin," we use all sorts of synonyms:

junk               failures

baggage         hang-ups

struggles       challenges

mistakes       issues

problems      goofs

But if we were to speak honestly about sin, I doubt anyone would say it's not a problem. We all recognize unhealthy habits in our lives. Character flaws that are destructive to us and to others. Things which tear down, rather than build up. Everyone would like to become a 'certain kind of person' by leaving some of our "junk," behind.

“Your deepest, darkest sins and your shameful secrets are simply irrelevant when it comes to the counterintuitive, ecstatic announcement of the gospel. So are your goodness, your rightness, your church attendance, and all of the wise, moral, mature decisions you have made and actions you have taken.” ("Love Wins", Rob Bell)

Reading this for the first time made me realize how level the playing field is on which we witness. Guilt has nothing to do with it. Grace has taken care of my my sin and yours. It's also taken away all entitlement to 'brownie points.' 

The second hardest part of witnessing, for me, is the fear people assume I believe the world was created 4,000 years ago. Is it so wrong to agree with science and the bible? The idea that to be a spiritual person you need to throw all reason out the window and have 'blind faith,'  bothers me. Saint Thomas Aquinas certainly didn't think so. Neither did C.S. Lewis. What I mean to say, is that I don't trust and love Jesus just because someone told me to. 

"For a Christian, Jesus' teachings aren't to be followed because they are a nice way to live a moral life. They are to be followed because they are the possible insight into how the world really works. They teach us how things are. I don't follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. He teaches me to live in tune with how reality is. When Jesus said, 'No one comes to the Father except through me', he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest levels of existence. For Jesus then, the point of religion is to help us connect with ultimate reality, God." (Rob Bell)

That's all anyone is trying to discover, isn't it? What is the ultimate reality, and how can I live in tune with it? If I could just tell someone that... If they could realize the common ground we stand on... if they could know I have the same questions and fears... then realize, like I did, how Jesus speaks to the deepest levels of existence.

Pastor/ Author Rob Bell, again, beautifully summarizes what it looks like when the church faithfully upholds Jesus' call to make disciples:  

“If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody. And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God. Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, "God shows no favoritism." So we don't either.”  
(Love Wins, Rob Bell)

What if witnessing isn't about scoring God points. What if witnessing is displaying, in words and deeds, Christ's love for everyone.  And  then inviting people into a new way of living. 

We don't like it... it's uncomfortable... we feel pushy, or preachy...  but how could we not share the beautiful triumphant message that is the good news?