The Joy of Sharing Your Faith

Many Christians in the Western world feel uncomfortable sharing their faith. Some don’t evangelize because they feel like everyone more or less knows about Jesus. Others say that they live out their faith without needing to preach it.

However, Jesus told his followers, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15, ESV). Jesus’ disciples actively preached the gospel. Guided by the Holy Spirit, they prayed for strangers, accomplished miracles and shared Jesus with everyone in every circumstance. They were radical and relentless.

How can we follow the disciples’ example in today’s world?

We who live in Christ walk even as he walked. The Acts of the Apostles aren’t just inspirational stories and historical record. Neither are they a dry template for evangelism. They are just the beginning of the story, and now it’s our turn to write our chapter. Jesus knew this when he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Our desperate, anxious world wants to hear what Jesus has done for us! They want to know that today, two thousand years after the apostles lived, they too can know the joyful, transformational love of Jesus.

There is something contagious about being around people who love Jesus so much that his love just flows out of them. I call it a baptism of love. They don’t feel obligated to share the good news. They have been spending time in the presence of God and they can’t help but share the joy of their salvation.

People with this contagious love have decided, “I'm not going to just read my Bible anymore. I want to live it.” They realize that the Book of Acts never really ended; it is meant to continue today. They have had a literal “come to Jesus” moment where they were finished with clinical, academic approaches to evangelism. No more how-to instructions and formulas, no more sweaty palms and stilted conversations, and no more being attached to the results. It’s just you — my neighbor, co-worker, Uber driver, friend — and me, someone who woke up excited to share the joy of knowing Jesus with you. “As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:15).