Unashamed to tell others.  2 Timothy 1.8-12

Her eyes were shining brightly as she told me about sharing Jesus with her friend … ‘I tell ya Christine—it means so much to hear her talk now, and I know I had a little to do with that because I shared God with her.  I mean, her marriage had been in trouble, her health in serious decline, and just nothing looked too positive from the inside of her home, though outside her polished affluent Southern California life, complete with Prada bag, looked perfect.’ And then my friend had to bat a tear from her eye as she told me she knew that is what she is supposed to be doing!  ‘Supposed to be doing?  Yes, sharing the richness of her faith in Christ with other people, encouraging them to check it out for themselves.

Telling others about Christ.  Telling others the truth about life in him, because there is no one like him—no other faith, no other object of religious adoration.  Jesus Christ stands alone. 

Paul wrote to Timothy, “So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.  That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” 2 Timothy 1.8-12

For Paul, preaching the Gospel cost him—and as he writes to Timothy from prison—Timothy is well aware of the risk, yet Paul glories that God chose him to be a preacher, and apostle and a teacher of this Good News!   He tells Timothy, ‘you too might suffer,’ but because of his great grace, it is worth it, because our great God is trustworthy.

You and I have been chosen as well—heirs of the salvation that Jesus won for us on the cross, and his triumphant victory over the grave that could not hold him!  But we have also been chosen and commissioned to represent him to others.  We have been charged to ‘go and do likewise’ – to love others like Christ, and to tell others about his love for them. 

Yet something holds us back from talking about him … what is it? Too risky, fear of rejection?  (They’ll think I’m a fanatic!)  Not sure what you would say? (What if they ask me a question I can’t answer?)  Afraid they might be shocked you are talking about God? 

On the other hand … what if?  What if you told them about new meaning you have found—because everyone is looking for meaning in life!  What if you invited them to a place where other Christ followers are living the dream, seeking to walk in his truth and understanding, knowing joy?  What if you were the one to tell them that what Jesus did on Good Friday and on the third day after changes everything, and they chose to follow him too?  What if you prayed ‘the prayer of accepting and choosing to follow Jesus’ with them? 

Lean in—I’m going to tell you a secret—introducing someone to Jesus, someone who comes to know joy for the first time in her life, comes to understand her purpose . . . well, there is nothing like the shared love and joy in that experience!  Never be ashamed to tell others; rather, look for opportunities.

Christine