Getting Better at Sharing Your Faith

Welcome back.

Today we're going to look at sharing your faith.

When was the last time that you openly shared your faith?

Like, not in a, like, timid kind of way?

Have you ever shared your faith in a way that was, shall we say, assertive?

Well, today we're going to talk about maybe why you're not doing that and how you can change it.

Feeding my faith.

Well, God's word is made simple.

Yeah.

All right.

I was thinking about this and thinking about stupid things we do, because that's probably the thing.

Yeah, we don't want to look stupid.

Don't want to look like a, you know, Jesus freak.

But then I thought about it.

If you went to a wedding, and all of a sudden you heard, Are you already?

Remember, it's hands and then flap your wings and then kind of squat and turn.

And then, of course, it's.

That is the chicken dance.

And because it's a wedding, nobody feels stupid doing it.

In fact, it's like we've all said together, hey, let's look stupid together.

Because if we don't all do this together, somebody's going to really look stupid.

Now, I'm in Ohio, and I live about an hour from Cleveland.

And if I was somewhere, let's say I went to a bar, a sports bar, and I very loudly yelled, here we go, brownies.

Here we go.

You would hear a bunch of adults, men and women, go, roof, Roof.

Yes.

Grown adults would bark like a dog.

Bark like a dog for me.

Oh, also an Ohio thing.

Because of Ohio State, if somebody plays Louie Louie, right when it gets to the.

Oh, we gonna go again.

Grown adults will scream.

And they.

They make an O, which doesn't really look like an O.

And then I don't know what they do for an H. And then they all scream, I O.

And I had a friend of mine that lives in Florida, and he goes, what is up with Ohio?

And I just said, we're really into spelling.

Like, if you can win a spelling bee, like, you can write your own ticket.

It's.

I don't know what it is, but it's something that we all do, and it makes us feel like the group.

It helps us show our enthusiasm for the Buckeyes and for the brownies and for the bride and groom, I guess, doing the chicken dance because we want their reception to be something they will remember.

And I was trying to think of other things where I felt stupid.

So think of anything you had to do.

For the first time, I have a.

A rather vivid memory of my dad teaching me how to tie my shoes, because I just could not get it.

And he did it in a way that it finally clicked.

But it was in the kitchen and something to do with a rabbit and threw the thing and whatever, you know?

I remember when I learned to drive, My parents had a Dodge Polaris, and basically, it's like driving, I don't know, an aircraft carrier through, you know, the suburbs.

It was a very wide car, and I was always 100% sure that I was halfway on the sidewalk, but I wasn't, but it felt like it.

But I remember not feeling confident getting behind the wheel.

And then back then, you would go to these trailers, and it was called the simulator, and they had all these steering wheels, and you would sit there, and they would watch a movie.

And somehow the awesome technology of 1982, or maybe even 81, you know, he'd be like, oh, yeah, driver number eight.

You just hit the kid that ran out to get his ball, you know, and then eventually, you would all go out driving, which was always extremely frightening.

But eventually, you got your license.

Do you remember your first kiss?

Mine was incredibly awkward.

And what gets me is I was trying to even remember how I was able to convince Sandy Goldsmith to go with me.

That's what we called it back then.

I think we actually did the note thing.

You know, do you like me?

Yes or no?

And then you.

You go from there.

Where will you go with me Now?

I don't know where we were going, but Sandy said yes.

And we were at a roller rink, I think I was probably 15.

I never kissed a girl, and.

And saying I was not her first boyfriend.

And we did the couple skate, you know, which, of course, I got to hold her hand.

That was, you know, when you're 15, you're holding a hand.

Whoa.

I'm up to bat.

And when I finally went to kiss, I had no idea what I was doing.

Zero had not read up on the subject.

Let's go that route.

And it was not good.

It was just like.

And so we got done with what was my first attempt, and I just backed up and said, let's try that again.

And the second one was much better.

But that first one was pretty.

Pretty embarrassing.

But here's the thing.

Fast forward, whatever, 45 years later, and I'm still here.

The very first time I sang in public, I was with a choir.

I believe it was either fifth or sixth grade.

And the minute it was over, I ran to the side of the stage, found a trash can, and did the technicolor yawn.

And I don't even remember being nervous.

I just remember the minute it was over, I was like, I need to vomit and I need to do it now.

Which, of course, wasn't embarrassing at all.

But when it comes to sharing our faith, we've somehow convinced ourselves that nobody wants to hear it, that they all know who Jesus is.

And I guess if they were going to go to church, they might, I don't know, just go to church.

And we get nervous about it.

And I'm here to tell you, that is not abnormal.

Many, many very famous people have had the same feelings you do.

In Exodus 4, Moses said, Now he's talking to God.

He says, pardon your servant, Lord.

I have not been an eloquent, you know, either in the past, nor since you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow of speech and tongue.

And so God says to him, well, who gave human beings their mouths?

Who makes them deaf or mute?

Who gives them sight or makes them blind?

Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go.

I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.

And this is the one that blew me away.

Moses is like, please, like, can you send somebody else?

Like, he pushes back on God.

And for the record, God was not happy about that.

And he said, all right, fine, we'll send Aaron with you, and I will put the words in your mouth.

Jonah, as in Jonah and the whale?

Yeah.

Well, he clearly received God's call, but ran in the direct opposite direction.

So he wasn't really keen on working for God.

In Judges 6:15, Pardon me, my Lord.

Again, when people start off with, hey, God, just.

Just one thing.

God.

Wow, the nerve.

Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel?

My clan is the weakest in mana, and I am the least in my family.

He's like, look, you got the wrong guy.

I know you know everything and you're amazing, but, like, you got this one wrong.

And then In Isaiah, chapter 6, verse 5, he says, Woe to me.

I cried.

I am ruined.

For I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips.

And.

And my eyes have seen the king, the Lord God Almighty.

He's like, look, you got.

Look, I'm not the guy.

And if you read on, you'll hear where the angel came with the coal and put it on his mouth that whole nine yards.

Ezekiel 3, 14, 16.

The spirit then lifted me, that would be Ezekiel, up and took me away.

And I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me, I came to the exiles who lived at the.

At Tel Aviv, near the Khabar River.

And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days, deeply distressed.

So here Ezekiel's like, man, I'm having a bad week.

And yet God used them anyway.

And so I always say, God doesn't call the equipped.

He equips the called.

And so what's the solution?

How can I figure out if I'm going in the right direction?

Well, it's very simple.

When your need to serve is greater than your fear of looking stupid, you will share your faith.

I say this to my podcasting clients all the time.

When your need to serve your audience is greater than your fear of looking stupid.

And it's the same thing here.

I mean, what's the worst that could happen, right?

You could just ask somebody, I don't know, what do you think about God?

And they go, ugh.

Or, you know, and they say, why are you one of those Christians?

And you go, yeah.

And they go, ugh.

All right.

Did they punch you?

Did anything catch on fire?

No.

Okay, like, what's the best that could happen?

You could lead them to Christ and you could change their life forever.

Let's just let that sit forever.

In fact, it's.

It's something that they're going to.

Thank you.

Someday you're going to be cruising around downtown heaven.

They're going to walk by, and they're going to go, hey, Dave.

Yeah, I heard that one episode.

I did this thing, and now my cousin's here.

Cool.

In 1st Peter 3:15.

How do I get ready for this?

Well, it says it right there.

Be ready to give a reason for the hope you have.

The verse says, but in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord, and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Which means you should look a little weird, like, hey, how come you're always so happy?

But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

So if somebody goes, ah, that Dave's a jerk, that should be almost like blasphemy.

Like, how can you say dave's a jerk?

But it does say, be ready.

So if you want to lead people to your church, does your church have business cards?

I know it's kind of old school, but do you have something to give to someone that they could take with them?

Something they could think about when nobody's around?

In Romans 1:16, Paul says, I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

First to the Jew and then to the Gentile.

Paul was not ashamed and you shouldn't be either.

And if you're like, eh, we'll talk about that in a second, Paul again in Acts 4:20.

As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.

I saw the movie Project Hail Mary.

It was a good flick.

Maybe because it wasn't, you know, Scooby Doo 7.

It wasn't a prequel, it wasn't a Post Quill, it wasn't a NyQuil.

It wasn't anything.

And it was just a good story.

And I told a lot of people about that movie.

And why did I go see it?

Because a lot of people told me it was a good movie.

Word of mouth is very powerful.

But it was one of those.

Once you saw it, I'm like, I got to tell somebody about this.

You ever seen something like that?

You're like, oh, ever hear something?

You're like, wait, what?

And you just got to tell somebody.

Well, if we truly believe what the Bible says, we should want to tell someone about that.

But the thing is, so many times we think you have to know the Bible inside and out and upside down and backwards.

And a good way to grow in confidence is to focus less on sounding impressive.

Look at me.

I can quote scripture, right?

Let's not focus on that.

And more on loving the person in front of you.

Because scripture repeatedly shows that boldness in faith comes from trust in God, not from being naturally outgoing or having the perfect words.

We just read all those people that were like, no, not me.

Huh?

Find somebody else.

God.

No.

No.

And confidence grows when you spend regular time in prayer as well as reading the Bible, obviously, duh.

But that strengthens your trust into who God is and what he says about you.

It also helps remember that biblical confidence, it's often less about self confidence and more about being grounded in Christ.

It's not about you feeling.

It's like, how confident are you in Christ?

Because if you got that, the self confidence will take care of itself.

And if you need help with this, you could simply just say, lord, can you help me care more about this person than about how I look?

And it will help you just ask.

There are so many parts in the Bible.

I should have looked those up where Christ is like, you haven't even asked for this yet and it's there waiting for you to take it.

There are a couple times in the Bible.

I might have to use that for a future sermon.

But confidence, again, it usually grows by doing small things repeatedly.

So start with brief conversations, because one honest sentence about what God has done for you, or a question like, has faith ever been important to you?

The goal is not to say everything at once, but to become willing to say anything.

I was somewhat surprised.

I do a show called the School of Podcasting, and at the end I say, take care, God bless.

Class is dismissed because, you know, it's the School of Podcasting.

But I throw in a God bless.

And I was at an event once and this guy came up and he wanted to ask me kind of a.

A faith based topic.

And he said, well, I know you're a person of faith now.

I don't talk a lot about God in that show.

I'm there to talk about podcasting.

But I do say God bless at the end.

And that was enough for that person to know Dave is a person of faith.

As I sit here right now and record this, I have a T shirt on that says faith.

It's like WI Fi.

It's invisible, but it has the power to connect you to what you need.

It's a Christian T shirt, could be an icebreaker.

And the other thing it does is if you openly talk about your faith, it lets other people who are probably on the sidelines thinking, I don't want to look stupid.

And when you do that, it gives them confidence.

I've attended the National Religious Broadcasters and the whole room is filled with people of faith.

And it's amazing how you can just talk about your faith because you don't have to worry about being canceled or any of that nonsense.

Well, you're preaching to the choir.

It's great and it's great practice, but you need to do that out in, quote, the real world.

And if you're like, but, Dave, man, I am.

That's.

That's a big ask.

I got a lot of fear about that.

Well, if you freeze up, first of all, that doesn't mean you're failing, because Satan's going to come in and go, see, I told you you couldn't do it.

He's just going to talk in your ear there.

Moses, Jeremiah, and really many modern believers, they're hesitant before God used them.

So reluctance is not disqualification.

It's not like God gave something to Jonah.

He turned his back on him.

He went, well, that's the end of Jonah.

You know, that's the end of Moses.

No, the next step is often small.

It doesn't have to be dramatic.

It could be one prayer, it could be one text, it could be one conversation.

It doesn't have to be huge.

Just plant that seed.

And we started off today talking about looking stupid at weddings, doing the chicken dance.

I would love to know where that came from.

It's very weird, this weird demonic polka that busts out and people start flapping their arms.

But we are willing to look stupid at a wedding.

To which I want to point to you, John 3.

29.

The bride belongs to the bridegroom now.

In this case, we're the bride.

The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice.

That joy is mine and it is now complete.

So John is talking about that he has the joy.

So if we can look stupid at other people's weddings doing the chicken dance, we can look stupid waiting for the bridegroom to come for us.

Not going to kill you.

And you could change someone's life forever.

If you know somebody who's struggling with sharing their faith, would you do me a favor and share this with them and just say, look, you just got to work at it.

And eventually reading your Bible, talking to God, all the time in prayer, that's going to build your confidence.

And eventually your need to serve is going to be greater than your fear of looking stupid.

The website Feeding My Faith I'm Dave Jackson.

Thanks for listening.