11.05.07

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. - John 7:10-13.

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? - Romans 10:14.

“I believe that if an angel were to wing his way from earth up to Heaven, and were to say that there was one poor, ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and teach him the way of life; and if God were to ask who among them were willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in Heaven would volunteer to go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would say, ‘Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the luxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ.’ There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God's hands of leading one person out of the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of Heaven.” - Dwight L. Moody (Great evangelist of the last half of the 19^th Century.)

What is it that keeps us from sharing our faith with others? The Jews that believed in Jesus were kept from talking with others openly about Jesus because of their fear. Are we afraid that we might be killed if we witness, share our faith with someone? Possibly, in some parts of the world but not in most. Is it that we are simply too lazy to share our faith? Is it that we are embarrassed of our faith? Is it because no one has held us accountable for sharing our faith?

Dwight L. Moody had a commitment to witnessing. His commitment was that he was going to personally witness to someone every day. At a local missions conference a missionary from Mozambique shared at our church last night. David Hooten shared that he trains new Christians to be trainers themselves. Every week those new Christians meet with David and the first question they are asked is this: “Who did you witness to this week?” They are then expected to share and to share the results of their witnessing effort. Everyone in the group is confronted with this question and must share about who they witnessed to and what happened.

What would happen in our churches if we were to hold every one who made up those churches accountable? What would happen if you knew when you went to church you would be expected to report on your witnessing activities for the past week? If we were to implement this in our churches in the United States, I believe at first there would be a dramatic reduction in church attendance. However, I believe that after all those insincere, lazy people had left, the church would then begin to grow at an exponential rate.

Let me ask you a question. Do you witness to someone every day, every week, or never? If you are in the never category but you do have a desire to witness, to share your faith, there are some things that you can do. Begin by writing down on paper what happened when you came to know Jesus as your personal Savior. Describe what your life was like before you made that decision and then describe how your life changed after the decision. That is your testimony. Next practice verbally telling that testimony. Practice telling the testimony to a friend or a family member. Next, begin to pray for opportunities to share your testimony. Look for opportunities to share your testimony, and make opportunities to share your testimony. God will use you if you do.