Just Be Yourself

12-19-14      Joe  click here to watch video     late 20s

Does sharing our faith have to be a confrontation?  Every so often I record one of my witnessing converstions with the gracious permission of the person I am talking to. I do this to show the tone, or attitude, with which I share the Gospel.  It doesn’t have to be an argument if we are willing to genuinely listen to the others point of view, and to share our own beliefs without demanding agreement – without “forcing it down my throat” as many people see it.  Click in on any point in this hour-long, unedited witnessing conversation, and you will see two people with very different belief systems sharing what is most precious to them without feeling the need to argue about it.  Joe, whom I had just met at our local coffee shop, is a graduate sociology student who follows the Taoist religion.  I spend some time gaining an understanding of his beliefs, and then sharing biblical Christianity.  I am grateful to be able to share the Gospel, but I don’t force it on Joe because, as I               later told him, if he is ever convinced of Christianity it will only be because of the work of the Holy Spirit, not because of any clever or convincing arguments on my part.  That gives me the freedom to just be myself, and to meet and get to know some very interesting people, like Joe, in the process.