Faithfulness is a virtue. That's what I was taught when I was young. But as I grew older, I wondered why I didn't see much of it. Now I wonder if it's considered a virtue worth valuing.
Faithfulness is valuable, more than ever. Its value is seen in two important ways—our character and in relationships. In a world where we may wonder if integrity counts for anything, those who are faithful, those who can be counted on, are especially valuable.
And then there are relationships. Faithfulness in relationships may seem naive, but oh how valuable it is. Anyone who has been wounded by unfaithfulness or violated trust knows this.
The world is looking for people who are faithful in life and relationships. This should be commonplace for people of the Christian faith—for God is always faithful.
Keep alert for opportunities
Last week, we looked at the value of getting personal and connecting with people and their life stories. I've posted about this before, but it bears repeating. It's easy to discount the value of our life story, but over the years I've been enriched hearing the stories of other people.
There's always more to people than first impressions and appearances. When we're able to connect our own life story and that of others to God's story of redemption, a wonderful depth and dimension is added.
This week, I want to wrap this series up by looking at how to be alert for opportunities to engage people, and be ready to share your faith.
Look for opportunities in everyday life
The routine of every day life can lull us into a dull stupor, if we're not careful. If you find yourself sleep-walking through life, it's time to stop and look around at life passing you by. When you do, you'll start seeing the people you cross paths with in a different light. But this requires an additional step.
This additional step needs to be intentional. It's a step requiring us to look beyond ourself. There's a place for introspection, a small place in life. When we look inside for too long, we lose perspective and all we begin to see is our self. Jesus calls us to deny our self (Luke (9:23), not study our self. Once we get our eyes off our self, we'll be able to see people in our life.
As mentioned last week, we need to be open to getting personal with people. Not nosy and getting in their business, but interested in them. This means asking questions about them and showing genuine interest in them and their life story. This usually opens up opportunities to share our own life story, or better, God's story.
Get more familiar with various stories in the Bible
Bible stories aren't just for children in Sunday School. When I tell people about biblical storying, the first reaction is often dismissing it as too simple and childlike. Funny, I remember Jesus saying we need to become like children to be included in God's kingdom (Matt 18:1-5).
But stories are loved by everyone—everyone. I shared last week about my experience overseas and in a village church in Ethiopia. My first awareness of the power of telling stories came while teaching children, and especially overseas. And then there's Jesus who often taught with stories called parables to convey the truth of God's kingdom.
How do you become more familiar with the stories of the Bible? Again, we need to be intentional. You can start by reading and listening through the Bible. I recommend using various Bible versions so you can hear it in other words than whatever version you normally use.
There are several resources for learning stories in the Bible, and for learning how to tell biblical stories well. Here's one online site where you will find several resources—International Orality Network (ION)
Pray and trust God for opportunities
One simple way to be alert for opportunities to engage people with stories is to pray. It's amazing how simplistic this may sound, and yet how effective it is. In our DIY era, we sometimes overlook the simplest, most essential things. Prayer is one of those simple essentials in the kingdom of God.
Start each day with a simple prayer for God to open doors with people. Once you pray, trust God to do so. Then be alert to the people He puts in your path. They may not be the people you expect. When you're aware of the people in your day's path, look for opportunities to engage them in conversation.
If you're not sure about this, refer back to last week's post—Getting Personal. Once you engage people in conversation, silently pray for God's guidance when He opens the door for you to share your life story of faith and God's story.
Follow up with people
You need to follow-up with the people with whom you share your faith. This should be obvious, but just in case it's not, it is important. This is not a one-and-done effort, we need to see it through beyond casual encounters. People talk about wanting genuine community today. Community requires long-term commitment. There are no short cuts.
The kingdom of God on earth is seen in the early church (Acts 2:42-47) as they learned how to live out their new life as believers. Sharing about their faith was natural for them. When my wife and I were new believers, no one needed to prompt us to share our faith with others. It came out of us naturally. Our life changed and we told others about it.
Not everyone we engage in conversation is ready to hear our story or God's story of redemption. It may require us to continue talking with them on various occasions, to build relationship and trust with them. Your genuine interest in people will do more to open doors than clever things to say.
So, pray, trust God, step out and engage people and build relationship with them. When opportunities come up, step through the open door. Be a good friend. And be a faithful friend, first to Jesus, then to others.
Give it a try. Even when things don't go as you want or expect, remember—the example of your life speaks loudest of all.
This is the final (for now) post on how to be an evangelist without really trying. I may do a follow-up post on how to learn and tell a biblical story to fit with your own life story or the life story of others.
If you'd like to know more about learning and telling biblical stories, let me know by sending me an email through my contact page.
Thanks for reading and feel free to share this post with others!