Sharing Your Faith & Your Bible: A 9-Part Series
Many of us, as we try and share our faith, are concerned that we are not prepared to answer questions asked by people who do not follow Jesus, people who have shaped their beliefs from the wider world.
They ask us questions that are extremely reasonable from their point of view.
I do want to first point out that the experience of The Pocket Testament League Members, as they share a Gospel of John, is positive. They are not typically flooded with a myriad of questions.
However, as followers of Jesus, it is appropriate for us to be able to speak our view, a biblical view, into the world’s questions and confusion.
As we speak, our answers come from a biblical perspective. It is at that moment when our counter-cultural world collides with their cultural worldview.
We have gathered a list of topics, based on input from The Pocket Testament League Members, that has led to us developing a series:
Sharing Your Faith – And The Bible
Our goal in this series is not to argue, or even win an argument. Our goal is for people to meet Jesus. This goal will be unpacked, but first, here are the 9 topics we hope to discuss.
The Bible: Why I Believe The Bible
The Bible: Isn’t The Bible Just Myth?
The Bible: Old Testament or New?
The Bible: Miracles or Science?
The Bible: Evolution or Creation?
The Bible: Work—Play—Family: An Integrated Life
The Bible: Hard Topics of Today
The Bible: I Like Jesus – Not The Bible
Back to the GOAL.
Our goal in this series is to share a point of view about how you might approach answering some of these questions.
Please note, earlier we stated our goal was not to argue, or even win an argument. Our goal is for people to meet Jesus.
Consider Jesus. As we look at the Scriptures, the people he debated and argued with were the insiders—the religious. He did not argue with the lost.
Instead, He cast vision, showed compassion, and said challenging words to them. Consider the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). He says, simultaneously, that He does not condemn her, and she is to go and sin no more.
Jesus’ response must make her curious. She might be thinking, “How can this rabbi, look past the Law?” After all, I expect she knows the Law. Jesus is not looking past it, He is looking through it, with its ultimate aim sight.
Romans 3:19-20 tells us the Law makes us conscious of our sin so that we would know deep in our hearts our need for salvation.
Winning an argument in a way where the loser turns away from God, not towards Him, is not really a win.
Galatians 3:19-25 talks about the Law, how it was our guardian until Christ came. Three points flow from these two Scriptures:
The Law, by identifying sin, acts as a large flashing warning sign of what we should stay away from—to guard and protect us.
The Law, by its mere existence, is like a mirror to our behavior, showing that all of us sin—making us desirous of being saved.
The Law, rather than save us, points to Jesus—the Christ, as our salvation and freedom.
Which brings us to the question, “Jesus’ ultimate aim?” It was to be obedient to the Father, to the point of death, so that we might be reconciled to God.
Our aim, when we are sharing our faith, is at a minimum, to put them on the pathway towards God. Our aim is not to drive them from Him.
This aim is different from being in a debate. In a debate there is a winner and a loser. In a debate your opponent, is, well, your opponent.
Why spend time distinguishing? Because Jesus’ followers love to argue—with each other. We get impatient with people, people who love Jesus, but who perhaps take a different approach.
I am not here seeking to justify heresy (which is rampant in some churches). I am pointing out that as we write about how to share our faith, we need to be inviting people onto the road.
Let me give you one example.
Consider you meet a person and offer them a Gospel of John. They respond, “I believe in evolution, you don’t believe all that creation ‘mumbo-jumbo’ do you?”
At this point, you are faced with a choice.
You can respond to win the argument with a single blow, or you can enter a discussion.
The blog posts will be about entering the discussion. The Pocket Testament League is not a church, our Statement of Beliefs is clear and short. You won’t find us taking a position on whether the world was created in seven 24-hour days. You will hear us acknowledge that the Bible says God created everything.
Why all this preamble? We are concerned that as we seek to accomplish our goal of equipping you to share your faith, when you see our approach, it might distract you. Please know we are “all-in” on the infallible Word of God.
It is our aim. Our aim is that without ever compromising the Word of God, we want to get people to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Join us, as we explore these 9 topics.
Go Deeper Resources
Share Jesus in His own words. Pocket Gospels are a great alternative to Gospel tracts because it’s 100% the Word of God using the actual text from Scripture. Each Gospel includes the full Gospel of John and a plan of Salvation with a response page.
Let God Speak: A Timeless Method for Sharing Jesus. Overcome obstacles to sharing your faith by learning a time-tested, simple process! Let God Speak is full of good news for you as it unpacks the simple reality of the power of God’s Word—all while providing 100 practical, real-world examples in a myriad of situations.