Bustin’ Barriers
I Peter 3:15b-16 and 1 John 1:5-7
Our Scripture today commands us to always be ready to share the hope we have in our lives, that is, the Good News of Jesus Christ. Those moments can come to us spontaneously. But more often than not, they happen when we are intentional about building relationships by reaching out to people, establishing common ground, showing them you care, spending time with them and joining with them in the spiritual journey. The fact is that nothing is more frightening than the prospect of sharing your faith. The only thing that will allow us to overcome that fear is the power of the Holy Spirit. Our fears of sharing our faith often revolve around how people will respond. What if they reject us or worse raise questions and issues for which we have no answer? Then what do we do? These questions and issues called evangelistic barriers people erect and they can be one of Satan’s most effective tools to prevent us from sharing our faith and giving people the opportunity to make a decision which will change their life but also their eternity.
Today, we’re going to talk about evangelistic barriers and how you can overcome them. Our Scripture today is a picture of our first evangelistic sticking point, The Skeptic Sticking Point. It’s the story of Philip who receives the invitation from Jesus to follow him. He makes that decision and then thinks of his friend Nathaniel and wants to tell him about Jesus. He knew Nathaniel was a student of the Scriptures and the coming of the Messiah. And so he took a risk by talking to him about Jesus. He said, “We’ve found him, the one the Scriptures talk about.” He’s waiting for a response and it wasn’t good. Nathaniel said, “Nazareth?! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” With those words, Nathaniel completely shuts down the conversation. Maybe that’s happened to you. You try to share the Good news and something the person has done or said completely shuts down the conversation. But notice what Philip doesn’t do: he doesn’t give up. Knowing that Nathaniel is a person of curiosity, who’s always asking questions, he says to him, “Come and see for yourself!” In other words, Philip was saying “I can’t explain it to you or convince you but since you like to investigate and check things out, ‘Come and see!’” Nathaniel ends up meeting Jesus and before long he says, “You are the Son of God!” The key is Philip did not give up when he reached an evangelistic sticking point. He got creative and challenged his friend to check it out in earnest fro himself.
Second is the Readiness Sticking Point. What do you do when you raise spiritual issues in a conversation and the people say, “I don’t want to talk about it.” People who don’t want to talk about Christianity are usually open to talking about why they don’t want to talk about it. So respond by asking them, “Why not? I‘d be interested in hearing” When they are saying they don’t want to talk about it, what they are really saying is that they don’t want to hear you talk about it. Many times, the person will share an entire laundry list of things which bother them about Christianity. Consider this research and preparation for the future. Those things will usually make you more sensitive to them in the future. And if you will listen to them first, then you will begin to build that level of trust which is necessary to gain an opportunity to be heard. Most non-Christians have never had a Christian in their life to whom they could pose really tough questions and dig deeper into what they believe and don’t believe. But if they don’t want to talk about why, then you can say, “That’s OK. We don’t need to talk about it now. But when you’re ready, I want you to know that I will be too. No pressure.” In the meantime, you can begin to pray earnestly for them that they may become more open in the future and that something may happen in their life to move them to asking questions and seeking spiritual truth.
Another thing you can do is to give them something to think about. For example, you can say, “Easter has some pretty incredible claims: someone rose from the dead. Have you ever thought about that?” A lot of times, they haven’t really ever grappled with the rsurrection, looked at the evidence or considered if you believe it leads to eternal life. Have them grapple with that. In the meantime, continue to invite them to church, Bible studies and outreach events.
Third is the Good Person Sticking Point. How do you witness to someone who believes all you have to do in life is be a good person? At the heart of this issue is what it really means to be a Christian. The best thing to do is to turn to God’s Word and let Jesus speak for himself to tell us what it really means to follow him. In John 3, a religious official of his day named Nicodemus came to Jesus to talk about spiritual matters. He was one of the leading religious figures of his day and Jesus said to him, “You need to have a spiritual rebirth and have a relationship with me through which you can be assured of forgiveness and your place in heaven. Say to someone like this: “We could never outdo a Pharisee, someone with his commitment, zeal and lifestyle to follow every iota of the law. There is nothing wrong with trying to live a good life, but that doesn’t get us right with God nor does anything else with developing our relationship with Jesus.” Then is the time to share the difference between DO vs. DONE. Religion is spelled DO. It consists of trying to do enough good deeds to earn our way into God’s favor. The problem is that you never know if you’ve done enough and the Bible says we can never do enough to make up for the sin and rebellion against God in our lives. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the will of God.” Christianity is spelled DONE. What we could never do for ourselves. Christ has done for us. He has paid the penalty we owed for our sin and opened the way for us to have a relationship with God. All we have to do is receive his forgiveness and let him lead every area of our lives. Christ has done it all for us. All we need to do it trust in Him.
Then begin to talk about what it really means to live like Jesus. Again, look at the life and teachings of Jesus. The reality is a lot of people think they’re living a good life and following Jesus when in fact they’re falling far short. In such situations, we need to be honest with them. I John 2:4-5 says, “Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” Then say, “I’m not judging you but I love you enough to tell you the truth. When you put your life up next to Jesus, there’s a lot to be desired. If you’re claiming to follow Jesus, look how he lived. You’re not doing it and if you think you are, you’re only fooling yourself.”
Fourth is the money sticking point. They say, “The church is only after my money!” Remind them that Jesus is never after the gift but the giver. And the same should be for the church as we seek to fulfill the mission of Christ. Then acknowledge, “You know there are some people who in the name of Christ do bad things and take money from people so they can live lavish lives.” Acknowledge that they need to be careful about the church they attend. Agree with them where you can. But you can also say, that’s not the way Methodists are. In fact, we have open financial books and will send them to anyone who aks. Then list for them the many ministries we support, the change we are making and share the story of lives who are being transformed.
Fifth is the Hypocrites Sticking Point. “Christians are hypocrites!” Let them know when they say this, they’re agreeing with Jesus. In Jesus’ day, there were plenty of hypocrites and Jesus called them out! One group was called the Pharisees and Jesus called them out because everything they did was for show. He goes on to say: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” What Jesus was really looking for was genuine, committed followers. He wasn’t looking for perfect people but those who were earnest in their pursuit of holiness and living for God. You can then say, “I invite you to join those of us who are authentically trying to follow Jesus and obey him.” Will we always be successful in that? No. But that’s what grace is for. God is just as interested in your motives as he is your actions. Billy Graham says, “Just because people cheat at golf doesn’t mean you have to stop playing golf.” The same is true with Christianity. Jesus is the standard we are trying to follow and live up to.
Sixth is the Suffering Sticking Point. “Why does God allow innocent people to suffer bad things? Why do bad things happen to good people? Who wants to follow a God like that?” Author Cliff Kennecly says he always answers this question with “I don’t know why God allows evil and suffering in the world.” What makes this question so hard is that behind it is often some of their own pain or someone close to them. In many ways, trying to answer that question is an insult because more than an answer, they’re looking for someone who cares, who listens, who can share the experience with him and help them walk through it. That’s what Jesus did with Mary and Martha over the death of Lazarus. He didn’t explain his death, Scripture tells us he wept with them. And often that is what we need to do as well: be with them, listen to them, and when the time is ready help them talk about it. Each of us has experienced pain in life and God can use that pain to help you connect with others in pain like nothing else. Once you’ve walked that journey with them then you will have the opportunity to tell them how you turned to God and He helped you through it. Suffering and pain should not be a surprise to us for Jesus warned us: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” That’s in stark contrast to most people’s expectation of faith: that life will get easier with faith in Jesus when in reality for Jesus, the closer he came to God and doing God’s work, the more difficult and painful it became.
But the Bible also tells us that suffering is not God’s intention. It came with our sin and rebellion against God in the Garden. When sin entered the world, it forever stained it and so we live in a fallen and messed up world. Bad things happen to good people and we often don’t understand and there’s not going to be good answers and explanations. But we can reach to God and he will be there for us. He knows pain and suffering through his son’s death upon the cross. Hebrews 4 says he empathizes with us and will reach out to us and walk us through this. He will strengthen you, comfort you and in then end wipe away every tear and take even the worst tragedy in his grace turn and use it to his end as promised in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Seventh is the Many Paths to God Sticking point. The various faith systems of the world are fairly exclusive. They make competing claims and cannot all be true. A person making this claim usually hasn’t put in the earnest study and investigation of the various faiths and their claims. Be aware of this. So say this: “The claims of the Christian faith cannot be reconciled with the teachings of other faiths. Somebody has to be wrong. A perfect and loving God never contradicts himself. That would make him a lair. The other faith systems are based on what you DO. The problem is you never know when you’ve done enough. Christianity is based on the DONE plan. It’s about what God has done for us and all we have to do is trust in Him and then live as His son did. You can’t make yourself worthy in God’s eyes but God has made you worthy through the death of his son on the cross. All you have to do is receive that gift. It’s free. Which God would you like to know: the one who’s always asking for you to do more or the one who says I’ve already DONE it all for you. All you have to do is believe. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Lide. No one comes to the Father but through me.” This person’s argument isn’t with us or even the church but Jesus himself. Paul Little writes, “Jesus was either telling the truth, or he was a liar, a lunatic or a legend. You have to decide. If he isn’t The Way, then which is he?”
What you say or even how you respond to someone could impact their life and their eternity. It can make all the difference in the world for the next spiritual step they take. What we do know is this: you will never have that opportunity if you don’t take the risk and begin to share your faith and the Good News of Christ with them. Disciples of Jesus make disciples. You just got to step out in faith!
