Fear Factor

     What triggers your fight or flight reactions: Spiders… Zombies… Dentists…? How about sharing the Gospel with a friend, family member, or even a stranger? Oooooh! Now that’s scary! Paul describes this type of fear as shame when he writes to Timothy, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.” 


     Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “If a Christian has never been ashamed of the Gospel then it is probably not due to the fact that he is an exceptionally good Christian but because his understanding of the Christian message has never been clear.” After all, there’s nothing embarrassing about offering someone a life-improvement remedy or relating a subjective account of your own experience. Very little is risked by the anonymous person nailing a handwritten "Jesus Saves" poster to a tree. Those witnesses have value, but they may fall short of an actual Gospel presentation. 


     Now, I don’t particularly like to make a fool of myself any more than the next person, but that’s precisely what I have to be willing to risk if I want to be faithful.  It’s a message the world does not want to hear; a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 


     It’s a hard story to tell because it’s nearly impossible to believe. Writing in an article for "Answers" magazine, Steve Ham lists eight essential components of our Gospel which make it so hard to believe: 

1. God became human.
2. He was born of a virgin. 
3. God placed Himself under the condemnation of a criminal’s death.
4. He rose from the dead.
5. All humanity is essentially evil because of sin.
6. We all face judgment because of sin.
7. To accept Christ we must deny ourselves to follow Him.
8. No matter what we want to think or believe, there is only one narrow way of salvation. 

     
     I'm going to be thinking more about this topic throughout the week as I try to be more deliberate about sharing my faith.