You have prepared your best Christian evidence. You have prayed for the person you are going to talk to. You have made sure your heart is in the right place. You are sure this is the right person to talk to. Yet, they reject your message. They seem completely uninterested. Even years after the conversation, they seem just as far from becoming a Christian. Is it just a waste of time?
I will share a bit of my story. I worked for some Christians and they were quite eager to witness to me. At the time I believed in God but had no interest in becoming a Christian. Since I worked for them, I let them talk to me about Jesus. They shared Chick tracts with me. I could see they were getting frustrated with me that I was not responding. Eventually I left that job as I got another job (partially because I was getting sick of being evangelized).
What they did not know is that they (as Greg Koukl puts it) put a stone in my shoe. I began reading the Bible and reflecting on my own beliefs. I did not tell my employers because I did not want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they were having an impact. Years later I did become a Christian. To this day (almost 25 years later) they still do not know that I became a Christian.
Another example is my group of friends in high school. These were the guys that I used to get drunk with. When I was in university, I became a Christian and that made me a bit of an outcast. Eventually we all went our separate ways (including geographically). I never thought that any of them would become practicing Christians. And yet everyone of them came to faith. This was not because of my witnessing but rather their own life circumstances and the work of God. My point is that I never expected it to happen.
So share your faith. Do evangelism and apologetics. Pray for your friends and family. But especially do not give up. You do not know what God is doing behind the scenes or how your friend is responding on the inside.
- Sharing Faith
- Witnessing
