August 10, 2019

Obeying God can be deadly . . .


A book about prayer instructs readers to pray using Bible verses as our prompt. Yesterday’s verse was a command to go into the world and share the Gospel. As I prayed about that, a few things came to mind about the difficulty many believers have with telling others about Jesus. The main one is the threat of persecution.

I checked world news this morning on that topic. Christians are being persecuted in almost every country, some severely. In one, persecutors cut off the ears of Christian women. In others, Christians are not able to get jobs. In our culture, we fear rejection from peers and loss of comfort. Persecution varies in severity, but the dangers are a reality.

This morning, these verses bring me again to the topic of sharing my faith:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:2–6)

I can do the first one — pray consistently, watchful and thankful — easy because I can do that without talking to anyone!

But this passage does not stop there. The second part implies having a drive to tell others about Jesus and having people praying for me that I will have opportunities to do it and the ability to be clear in explaining it.

Almost as an aside, it says that Paul was in prison for obeying God in this matter. Again, things haven’t changed much. He was persecuted also. The Christian message can bring people to Jesus for salvation and eternal life but also to produce in them great offense and anger. No one wants to be told they are a sinner without any ability to save themselves. No one wants to give up the control of their lives to a God they cannot see.

The last part of the above passage says to be wise — don’t bring anger and hatred on myself for any other reason than the other person does not like the Gospel. I’m not to be obnoxious, rude, pushy, or anything else that irritates others. If they get upset with me, it should be because I’m telling them the truth and doing it in a loving manner.

Sharing Christ is also supposed to be “seasoned with salt” — a word picture. When the Gospel is told to others, it should be done in such a way that people become thirsty. Salt does this. If they get angry because they don’t like the message, that is one thing. If they are angry at the messenger for the manner or attitude that the message is given, then I need to pay more attention to the Holy Spirit and less attention to whatever else is motivating me.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jesus, obviously some people are better at this than others. The prophets were black and white ‘declarers’ that often came across as a pain in the neck. Those gifted in compassion or encouragement might be better received. However, no matter what my gifts, I realize that all believers are commissioned to share the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In some places in the world, it does not matter how the message is delivered; those who believe in Jesus are put on a death list for no other reason. That means I can be bold or terrified, a good talker or not, an eager and talkative Christian or more apt to show my faith by what I do not what I say — not matter what I am like, Your command stands — and You want me to obey it.

Today’s thankful list . . .
That I am taking this command more seriously than ever.
That I can rely on You to help me do it.
A quiet day while hubby golfed.
He had one of his “best games ever.”
A nice afternoon nap.
Steak for supper.
Our comfortable holiday apartment.

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