Unashamed

I have been thinking a lot lately about how open I am about my faith and if I truly live it out the way that I say I want to.  And the answer is no.  I don’t know many who actually live it out the way they want to, because if you’re like me, you want to live it out perfectly.  But our need to be liked by those around us get in the way of sharing what we believe and what we are trying to live out.  At least it does for me.  I’m getting better about sharing what I believe, but I’m still not there yet.  I’ve realized recently that instead of sharing what I believe with people I meet out in the world, I tend to share what I do for a living, that I’m a minister.  On the surface, it might seem like the same thing.  But it’s not.  My relationship with Christ should be so much more than just what I do.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love what I do.  I can’t imagine doing anything else.  It’s what I feel called to do for the rest of my life, and that excites me.  What I believe and who I am is so much more than that though.  While letting people know what I do gives me an opportunity to invite them to church and possibly even start a conversation about God with them, it’s not enough.  If I stop there, then I haven’t really shared the Gospel with them.  I haven’t tried to introduce them to Jesus, the One who paid it all so that we could have a relationship with God.

Being able to share what I do for a living was a good step in the right direction, but I need to get better at sharing the reason that I am in a relationship with Jesus.  I need to use that foot in the door to introduce others to the greatest person that we could ever know.  I need to show them the potential life change that Jesus can bring with a relationship with Him.  Now, this can’t be done in just a brief encounter with someone, but as we build a relationship with those around us, then our conversations can go deeper and deeper.  And that’s the key.  We aren’t going to introduce the true Jesus to anyone by standing on the street corner and yelling at passers by.  But as we build relationships with those around us, in our communities, then we have the opportunity to start going beneath the surface level “What do you do for a living” and start truly talking about “What do you truly live for”.  And when we get that opportunity, we can’t be ashamed to talk about our relationship with Jesus or the power and change that can and should come from it.  I’ve been thinking and meditating a lot on Romans 1:16-17 the past couple of weeks.  I believe this passage, and desire to live it out.  But I don’t know how often I could quote it and be completely confident that I was living it out.  That changes now.  I hope you’ll join me!

Romans 1:16, 17 ¹⁶ For 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, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”