"We can speak with conviction because it’s our very own story," shares Agnes Lee for YMI. "Our past experiences are, in fact, what brought us close to God." Photo by Trung Thanh on Unsplash.
For a long time, I could not imagine myself sharing the Gospel.
When I was a new Christian, I did not like telling people that I was a Christian because I was afraid that they would ask me about my faith. Being naturally quiet and reserved, I often did not know how to share when I met people because I did not speak well like an extrovert.
But, perhaps more importantly, I did not know what to share about the Gospel. The Bible was just an app on my phone which I opened during church service on Sundays. I hardly knew its contents. Whenever people in church talked about evangelism, I felt inadequate for the task.
I could not really explain why I had come to believe. It was simply the faith of my husband’s family and I felt like I had to follow out of respect for them. I had no personal conviction, and had lots of unanswered questions that I was not humble enough to ask.
But through a series of experiences, God drew me close to Him. And from those experiences, I learned a few things that helped me share my faith with confidence.
By sharing past experiences
I first started sharing my faith with my friends during a series of trials in my marriage. These challenges occurred largely because of my own sin, and they brought me to my knees.
Introverts are people of few words, but our past experiences can offer a good starting point for important conversations.
I realised that my efforts were powerless, that l could only rely on God. It was during this time that I started reading the Bible fervently and began developing a passion for it.
Whenever concerned friends asked about my marriage during that period, I would share — without thinking much about it — how God had strengthened me. It turned out that I was evangelising without knowing it!
Introverts are people of few words, but our past experiences can offer a good starting point for important conversations.
We can speak with conviction because it’s our very own story.
Our past experiences are, in fact, what brought us close to God. When I think of my past experience, I see the truth in Romans 1:16, as it is indeed the power of God that brought me to salvation, and thus I am not ashamed of the Gospel, which has freed me from my past sin.
By the power of His Word
Being introverts, we tend to surround ourselves with fewer friends, but we often build deep relationships. Because of the trust that comes with deep relationships, our friends are willing to share their struggles with us.
When we lend them our listening ear and share our thoughts with them, we have the opportunity to bring the Word of God into our conversation.
The Word of God frees us from the bondage of our own sin (John 8:32). During my time of trial, I memorised a lot of scripture that gave me comfort. I came to know the Bible much better than ever before, and now I have the opportunity to share these verses with friends in conversations, to encourage them with the same comfort we receive from Christ (2 Corinthians 1:4).
When we share the Word, we allow the power of Christ to work in our friends’ lives too.
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). God is able to remove our friends’ hearts of stone and give them a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), just as He removed ours in the past and gave us a new heart.
By leaving the outcome to God
Ephesians 2:8-9 says that it is by grace that we have been saved, not by our good works. There is nothing we can do to earn our own salvation and the salvation of others.
It was disappointing, but I had to remind myself that evangelism is not done on our own strength.
I once shared my faith with a non-believer at a funeral, and she told me that God’s Word was very comforting. I even gave her a Bible. But a week later, she told me that she was not ready to accept Christ, because her family was against it.
As much as I would have liked to share more with her about Christ, the door was shut, as she no longer responded to my calls.
It was disappointing, but I had to remind myself that evangelism is not done on our own strength. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 also affirms that it is not our own persuasive words of human wisdom that bring a person to faith but the power of God. It is God’s faithfulness and His power that calls us back to Him when we are still far off.
It is purely by grace that we are saved, and it is the same grace that saves others.
Although there will be times where — though we have sowed in love to bring someone to Christ — our efforts seem to have failed, we need to remember that God’s patience is perfect. He had been patient with us, and we need to be patient as well.
No seed is sown in vain, as we never know how God might be growing the seeds we have planted (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Introverts are called to evangelise too!
As introverts, we don’t often take the initiative to stand up and declare our convictions. So when we do so in boldness, non-believers are bound to be surprised; Christ’s name is all the more glorified and His power all the more displayed.
In the past, whenever someone asked me to share a testimony, I would always direct the request to another person.
We are new creations in Christ, and this newness sets us on fire as we allow the power of God to work through us.
But towards the end of a Bible class I was taking last year, we all had the opportunity to share a testimony. Somehow, I felt prompted to share, and so I stood up before all my classmates and teachers.
I trembled as I took the microphone. But as soon as I fixed my sight on God’s faithfulness, words flowed out of my mouth.
At the end of it, I was amazed at my own boldness and the power of God that gave me the confidence. Someone else also told me that she was encouraged by my sharing.
In Christ, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), and this newness sets us on fire to proclaim God’s Word and His faithfulness. We no longer conform to our old selves, but allow the power of God to work through us for His glory. Non-believers need to see this as the evidence of God’s power.
When we fix our thoughts on how God has worked in our lives, it becomes easy to share the Gospel. When we anchor our joy in the Lord, He shapes our desires, and we will then be able to evangelise without much intentional effort.
We can proudly say that we are not ashamed of the Gospel, nor will we feel inadequate to share!
This article was first published on YMI.today, and is republished with permission.
FOR MORE ON HOW TO EVANGELISE:
“Listen better”: World Vision International’s Andrew Morley on reaching millennials
I was a failure but a family gave me a home; today I’m the National Director of YWAM Singapore
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