One way to share Christ

Piper’s writing for today explains why I’m bothered when I hear someone say they never read anything. He says: “There are several reasons I write. One of the most personally compelling is that I read. I mean, my main spiritual sustenance comes by the Holy Spirit from reading. Therefore reading is more important to me than eating. If I went blind, I would pay to have someone read to me. I would try to learn Braille. I would buy books on tape. I would rather go without food than go without books. Therefore, writing feels very life-giving to me, since I get so much of my own life from reading.”

His words also encourage me. When God told me to publish my devotions online, it seemed a mysterious request and I balked at bit. In my experience, blogs were not important. Now that I’ve found many that are “life-giving” my opinion has changed. Even so, when hearing challenges to share my faith, rarely does anyone say to do it this way. Face to face or door to door are stressed. Making relationships also. Yet God has me at my desk writing, and I wonder if this “obedience” makes any difference to anyone.

Piper’s words say that the history of the church depends on writing. “God chose to send his living Word into the world for thirty years, and his written Word into the world for two thousand years. Think of the assumption behind this divine decision. People in each generation would be dependent on those who read.” I’ve not thought of that before, mainly because we live in a different time and culture, but we do have the marvels of modern technology. I can talk face to face with family members who live thousands of miles away. Communication is different. Lives are changed by email, phone messaging, and the Internet. And some still read books. Yet back in the day, writing was a key means to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. . . .  

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:1–5)

God spoke to Paul and he wrote what God said and sent it to other Christians. When they read what he said, they could perceive what had been revealed. I cannot claim the same gifts or powers of a special anointing to do what they did — “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20–21) — these men wrote the Bible as the Holy Spirit led them. I write what the Holy Spirit speaks to my life which is not the same thing. However the value of writing and sharing validates what I do is one of God's ways to communicate, bearing in mind that He also says:

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. (James 3:1–2)

For that reason, I realize that no one should think that people who write about their spiritual lives are experts who know all there is to know about God. As Charnock says, “To be desirous to know the reason of all God’s proceedings in the matter of sin, is to second the ambition of Adam, to be as wise as God, and know the reason of his actings equally with himself.” I need to be careful that my desire to know God does not come from the same sinful desire that drove Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and plunged humanity into the destructive grip of sin.

PRAY: Jesus, we call today Good Friday, good because You died to release us from the penalty and power of sin. That must always be my reason for wanting to hear You and wanting share what You say with others. May You keep me on target, and like John be able to say to anyone who reads my writing that Jesus did many things, but: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)