Reflections on Witnessing Without Fear

2006-09-02

These are some of the things that come to mind after reading the book Witnessing Without Fear: How to Share Your Faith With Confidence, by Bill Bright

Bright shares from his experiences how to share Christ with others. He shares them with influential government officials and regular everyday people that he meets, and has a lot of success. The simple reason is twofold: the Holy Spirit is at work in those who are obedient in sharing of the Faith, and that people who are lost without Christ are desperately in need of Him--and know it.

One thing that stood out to me was that the only failure we have in witnessing is failure to witness (68). If someone does not come to Christ because of our sharing Him, we have done our duty. There are different soils in which the seed is scattered (as in Matthew 13). Sometimes, it takes people time to respond to the Gospel, and was the case in many people throughout the book. But an encounter with a person is a divine appointment, and we must be ready to share the Gospel at any time, at any place.

God is not willing that anyone should perish. This is just the sentiment expressed in John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9, and 1 Timothy 2:4. Bright also sites 1 John 5:14-15: that if we ask God anything in His will, He will answer us. One of the conclusions, then, is that if we pray to the Lord that a person maybe saved, then we can be assured that the same will come to know Christ (89). A correct way to pray in faith thereafter would then to thank God that this person will come to Christ in His timing. This is a hard pill to swallow. Many people adhere to many different theologies, such as those coming from Arminius and Calvin, and a great many others that would disagree with this statement. Could it really be that simple? I think it is time that we commit ourselves to praying for the lost and sharing our Faith with them!

Bright also suggests an acronym to help us remember how we can guide a talk toward Jesus and the need for salvation: LETUS (95-99). It goes as follows: Love, Establish rapport, Talk about Jesus, Use stories if time allows (such as a short personal testimony), and Sequence of questions. The sequence of questions is to ask directly to the person you are sharing with to get an idea where he or she is at. The ‘T’ part is the designated focus of the next chapters, chapter 8 and 9.

Chapter 8, The Power of Simplicity, talks about how it is important to keep the message simple, because otherwise we lose focus. Chapter 9 deals with the Gospel presentation through the Four Spiritual Laws. This is a very common and successful approach that I have heard of in times past. It starts by saying that God loves us very much and has a wonderful plan for our lives. The next law deals with humankind’s sin and how we are separated from God. The third law shows how Jesus is God’s provision for humankind’s sin. The fourth law shows us how we must receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. These laws are placed in a booklet to distribute to those with whom you are sharing Christ. The rest of the booklet shows how one can grow in the Faith. It also shows two ways of living: one way is Christ sitting on the throne of our lives. The other one is us sitting on the throne of own life. Jesus needs to be on the throne, and we need to let Him rule over our lives.

The next chapter is a very important chapter. Though many people are hungry to know God, hostility and opposition does arise. According to Bright, a lot of times the hostility is just a front because they know they need Him. Bright says we should appeal to their intellectual integrity. If they say, “the Bible has many contradictions,” we should ask them to point out one to discuss. Sometimes they do not have any! We also should not argue, but love the other person well. We should never argue on their level of expertise, but stay focused on Jesus. Our duty is to proclaim, and not convert. The thing that appealed to me the most was the “30-day experiment,” where we should challenge the doubter to do an experiment “as a matter of intellectual integrity” (146). The challenge is for them to read the Bible for one hour, everyday, for the next 30 days, starting with the Gospel of John. Before the reading, they should pray, “God, if You exist, and if Jesus Christ is your revelation to man and He truly died for my sins, I want to know you personally.” Bright has challenged people with this experiment, and it worked!

As just a sampling of thoughts I had from this book, it was a great challenge to me. If you want to see people come to know Jesus, this is a highly suggested reading. May the Lord continue to bless His ministry of calling sinners to repentance.

Source

Bright, Bill. Witnessing Without Fear: How to Share Your Faith With Confidence. San Bernardino: Here’s Life, 1987.