How do I tell people that I am a Christian?

On the face of it, the answer is quite simple but as you start to dig behind the real reason for asking the question, lots of other factors come into play.
These are the factors that make us take a rain check on telling people about what we believe.

We sincerely want people to like us.  If we tell them we have decided to follow Jesus, will we become the butt of all jokes.

We worry that if we say we have made a choice to follow God, will we get our words mixed up, do we even know enough of what we believe to explain our faith to our friends?

We live two separate lives, the one that we want our Church people to see and the one that we actually really are daily.  What if people saw us as hypocrites?

What if? What about? If that happens?  Will they?  Won't they?  So many questions about what could happen rather than trusting God to operate in His power.

How many times do we go to say something positive about God then clam up, get sweaty palms and decide that the person would not have wanted to hear what we had to say.  We kind of say their 'NO' for them before they have heard what we were going to say.

Firstly - we were created to be exactly as we are.  Our uniqueness sets us apart from anyone else in the world.  God can and will use you to reach people that others cannot reach.

Once we get this into our hearts and minds that we are a unique agent for God then we can start to move forward into a boldness that we are deigned to have.  We are equipped with the Holy Spirit in us and working through us, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is working in us.

Romans 6:10-11. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Keep repeating this in your mind that you are born for this.  The Christian Graphic T-Shirt above typifies who we are, we were born to WRSHP God, by living a holy life set apart for Him.

Not going to lie - unless you have a really thick skin, this is going to be a blow to your pride.  Think of it this way, if you support a football team or political party and no one else likes the same football team or political party as you, it does feel awkward.

Does this stop you from talking about your football team or political party?  Let's face it, you would still tell people why you like this that and the other.  There should be (even more so) a higher level of excitement when talking about why you follow Jesus.  We follow the creator of the whole world who love us unconditionally and have a love that no one else has. 

I would encourage you to talk to God if you still are unsure about how much He loves you as I can guarantee once you realise this, you will not be able to hide it.

On another note, the world has got even more confusing over the last few years with people believing in all sorts of things, your Christian faith isn't as abnormal as you think. 

The fear of embarrassment can be overwhelming against what actually really would happen if you said that you believe in God.

We have found that with close friends who already love you and know you, telling them is a lot easier as they want the best for you.

Don't forget - if people are really unaccepting of you, pray for them, God is always doing something in people's lives which we are unaware of. 

Their resentment could be the Holy Spirit speaking to them.

 

This fear is a bit like when you have to do public speaking?  What if I forget my words or my mind goes blank.  Yes this can happen a few times but the more practice in how and what you say, the more you will have the right words in the right moments.

We would recommend practising some answers to questions in the mirror, working on basic answers to why do you believe and what made you decide to follow Jesus.  Once you have the basic answers for these questions then you can have confidence in what you say.  I am a great believer in the Holy Spirit guiding you in all situations.

A really valuable point here is to take the pressure off yourself.  God will help you and we will not always get it right each time but don't forget, it doesn't depend on us to convince people, all we do is tell our own story which is really the best story to tell as no one can take that away from you.

With practise and small steps of rehearing what to say - confidence will go up.  Celebrate the small wins on this, someone going to a social at Church, someone going to an event or even asking you questions about life are all part of you discipling someone or mentoring someone.  Our words are really powerful so watch what God can do when you speak.

 

The fear of people finding out that we have two separate lives will always be there unless we decide to change our habits.  The old saying of 'Monday Church is as important as Sunday Church' is true but how do we keep the same act that we put on in Church to how we are with our friends and work colleagues?

Firstly being two different people does not work, at some point you will end up deciding that you cannot live a lie. 

Secondly why would you want to be two people, as we said before, God has created you unique.  Jeremiah 29. 

The main change you will need to make is in the realm of discipleship, who you want to become and follow.  To be more like Jesus is a life long journey, there will be ups and downs, people come into your life and go out of your life.  By having close friends and even a mentor, you have cover to help you become more likfe Jesus.  People who can check on you, can ask the awkward questions, you can talk about your struggles have prayer see God do incredible things and support others.

House/small groups are so valuable in this, a weekly rhythm of talking to people and being inspired by others.  Remember your story is probably similar to lots of other people and together you can help each other in the struggles of life.

We suggest praying daily and reading the bible - it can't be stated enough, reading God's word and applying it daily will help you grow in your love for Him.  Former things that you used to think and do will start to change as the Holy Spirit works in your life.

As this happens more, your friends who you want to tell about your faith will see the changes and know that God is working.  Don't wait for the changes to happen before talking about your faith, being honest of where you are at and still following Jesus is crucial for them to relate.

Don't forget - Jesus disciples didn't become holy people straight away, they all had issues but still proclaimed the gospel.  We are never going to be perfect this side of Heaven!

Quiet the brain.  Seems quite simple in theory - don't worry, cast all your anxieties onto Jesus.  In reality this is again another journey, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month until gradually your realise that you are thinking about yourself less and have less fear about the smaller things.

The Christian writer Corrie Ten Boom put it this way:

So true. 

In essence this is a trust issue between you and God.  If we can't ultimately trust the creator of the world, who can we trust?

We suggest starting off small with areas in your life that are creating the what if questions.  Give this to God in prayer and then leave it there, when the thought comes back into mind, pray and pray. 

Doing this on a consistent basis helps, alongside sharing with close friends and asking them to pray for you.

As we have grown up and been education to analyse things more, this area of our brain is effective in planning but with faith you can't always work out every eventuality.  This is though the best thing about God, we step out in faith on this amazing adventure.

Through living life and looking back on your own life, you can guarantee the things that you over though or worried about, didn't actually happen.  This then goes to show over thinking situations, cause more feelings of worry than actually going ahead and doing what you were worrying about.

Most times when you are about to tell someone about your faith, people don't react how you think they will.

If I look back at the amount of people who would not be Christians now if their friend, neighbour, work colleague or stranger was silent and had not told them about God.  God can use anyone and anything to bring people into a knowledge of Him, you can do this too by trusting He has your life in His hands.

The Christian hoodie below encourages us to remember that we are living for a different Kingdom that cannot be shaken and never ends. 

Gods kingdom is what we now belong to when we decide to follow Jesus,

He has already prepared a place for us.

Church events in the calendar, socials all planned.  But who do we invite, you look at the list of friends you have and think - No they wouldn't like this or that so you don't invite them.

This is basically saying their 'NO' for them.

The basis of this is because we feel like we know what if best for them.  As we said before God can use anything, our role is to open our mouths and so what He has asked us to do.

So let's start today and make the decision that when something at Church comes up to invite a friend to, we decide that we will take the initiative and ask someone.  They may not like the event/social (very rarely will this happen as people love to get invited to something) or they may love it. 

Either way they are getting to know other believers, getting to experience something that you are part of which makes future conversations a lot easier.

God always seems to show up in these moments as He loves to prove himself to unbelievers.  We guarantee that each person you invite to something will go away blessed by God and encouraged.

Pray about who to invite then go ahead and do it, pray after they have attended the social/event and then invite again quickly to something else.  People love to be part of a club or community, why not let them be part of Church community at what ever level they feel comfortable.

You will be encouraged that they are in and around you friendship group and hearing the good news stories.

We know that is is sometimes hard to share your faith with people and it's one of the most undervalued things we do as a Christian.

We believe this is because the enemy doesn't want us to tell people about Jesus because when people know Jesus their life is turned round.

We set up this clothing company called IBIJ - I Believe in Jesus to help people share what they believe through the clothing that they wear.

Sometimes speaking about their faith is not what people feel they can do firstly but wearing something that has inspiration from God maybe easier.

We have had lots of people who have bought a product from us say how it has enabled them to have conversations about God's love.  We know our products work and are visually impacting the world around us.

If you would like to have a look at what we have available to help you tell others about your faith, click here.

We are praying for you that you go and make disciples of all nations, just as Jesus commanded us. 

Remember, the pressure is not on you, it's all on God and He loves to prove himself.  See the book of Elijah as a reminder - HERE

Let is know any thoughts you have on this blog!