Early morning thoughts on evangelism

I recently spoke with a good friend of mine who shared her thoughts on evangelism. She is a Christian but doesn't like the idea of sharing her faith with others. At first, I was tempted to rebuke her which is usually my fallback position when people disagree with me. As Christians we are called to share the message of God's desire to restore our relationship with him. Instead of being afraid or considering this a burden we should be thrilled to offer this hope to the many people in our lives who are struggling and hopeless. As Barack Obama might say this is hope you can believe in.

But rather than try to convince my friend I decided to examine my own obstacles to evangelism. My biggest roadblock to sharing my faith is my own walk with the LORD. I often have the same fear, anxiety and addictions that non Christians have. This makes me feel almost guilty telling them I supposedly know the truth that can set them free from these very struggles. My first instinct is to try and get my crap together first as a demonstration of Christ's power to transform lives. This is my desperate attempt to prove to others and to myself that Christianity "works". But frankly, what if that never happens? I am never going to be perfect examples to others.

I used to be worried that people would hold my sins against me if I witnessed to them and think I was a hypocrite. However, If I am honest my deeper concern is that my faith doesn't really seem to be the answer to life's problems. I begin to doubt the power of the gospel because it hasn't completely transformed me yet so how can it change the lives of others. Rectifying this attitude is difficult because my nature is to focus on the negative.

My best is answer to this problem is realizing that the true power of the Christ's message is the change that God has already made in my life and not the lack of progress in other areas. When I think of the person I would be without Christ in my life and how he has refined me in so many ways, that's when I realize the true message of hope I have for others. That realization gives me motivation and confidence to share the gospel with others. The fact, that I still mess up daily only reinforces the fact that I am no different that anybody else. It fact it demonstrates that if God's grace can help me, it can help anybody.

God's message of hope and reconciliation is not dependent on us or how we live. We can never prove to people to accept Jesus based on our example no matter how compelling it is. The power to transform lives rests solely on God's shoulders. Our only duty is to tell others the good things he has done in our lives. Remembering those good things is up to us, the rest is up to him.