“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
The other night I saw a commercial on television that started out by saying something like “There’s great news! Breakthroughs have been made in the medication for pretendinitis (I don’t remember the real disease) and now sufferers only have to take one pill a month, instead of five pills a day, and their symptoms will remain normal!” And I sat there and thought to myself: That really isn’t great news… I don’t have pretendinitis… I don’t have to take any pills… In fact, I’ve never even heard of that disease!
How is that great news? It doesn’t apply to me. Maybe to someone else it would be comforting. But to me…? It’s worthless information.
But here’s the thing: As Christians we witness to a world that is convinced there is nothing wrong with the way they are living. They are entirely comfortable with their drinking and their fornication and their selfish ambitions and all the consequences that come with that sort of lifestyle. So, to them the gospel of salvation—the good news of our redemption and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ—doesn’t seem relevant. They think of it the same as we think of a medical breakthrough for some disease that we don’t have. But the sad truth of it is that they do need Christ and we have a responsibility to not only tell them about the salvation of Jesus Christ but also, when necessary, we have to make them realize, by speaking the truth in love, that they have a real need for Him. That is a difficult burden to bear to a world that lives without shame and is directed by hypocritical notions of tolerance for the intolerable. How are we to reach them?
If the best way to learn something is by watching how it is done then the best way to teach is by doing things correctly. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use words (you most certainly should) but I am saying that sometimes people pick up on little things we do and make conjectures both good and bad. So keep yourself in check.
“In all things [show] yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you” Titus 2: 7-8
Witnessing is not always easy. There are certainly right ways and wrong ways to present the Truth to people. Pray that God will give you opportunities to reach the lost people around you. The people you see everyday. Pray that God will give you the courage and the strength to be bold about the good news of salvation.
