Overcoming Obstacles to Sharing Our Faith

Introduction

We are growing together as a congregation in 2019. And one of the ways that we are attempting to do that is through our joint participation in our Bible reading and study program. How are you doing? Have you picked up a sheet? Are you participating? One of the advantages of this program is if you haven’t started yet, you can catch up. Another advantage of this is that it gives you the opportunity to spend some time in the Word, studying the Word. If you’ve been participating, you know, our first week together, we were in Luke chapter 1. We read about the angels pronouncing both the birth of John the Baptist and of the Messiah as that 400 years of divine silence was broken in a most marvelous way.

Our second week, we read in Luke chapter 2, the birth of Jesus. Joy to the world. This week you’ll be reading in Luke chapter 3 about the work of John the Baptist as that forerunner, as that Elijah, and you’ll read the genealogy, and don’t skip over that. You’ll read the genealogy of our Lord, proving him to be the Son of Adam, the Son of Man. As you read through those genealogies, look for names that you might recognize and research and study those names. I hope you’re participating in our Bible study program together. If not, I hope you’ll start this week as we grow together in our Lord. Alright, I have a question for you. How many of your parents believed in spanking? All right, wake up.

I know everybody’s. My parents not only believed in it, they were strict adherents to it. My parents believed that faith without works was dead. Many of my memories from childhood were about spanking. I can remember my grandparents for much of my growing up lived about a 30-minute car ride away from where we lived, and we went with great regularity to visit my grandparents, and it seems like that most of the time I dreaded the car ride back home. Because inevitably I had done something to incur the wrath of my parents during that visit. And it seems more times than not I remember this conversation as we were climbing back into the car for that 30-minute ride home. Either mom or dad would say, You’re getting a spanking when you get home.

Hoping that my 30 minutes of sweetness would cause them to forget my three hours of misbehavior. I would compliment my dad’s driving. My father’s dad jokes were never funnier than they were on that car ride home. Mom was praised for both her hairdo, her cooking, her sewing, anything else I could think of. The other tact I would take is I would either fall asleep or fake fall asleep in the backseat. This was before child seats or even seat belts were mandatory, and so I’d lay down in the back seat and pretend like I was asleep when we pulled into the driveway at home. Because even my parents surely couldn’t spank a cute blonde-headed sleeping child in the backseat of that car. How many of us are approaching the judgment day like that?

That we hope upon hope that God will somehow forget. Somehow forget some duty that we have neglected, some commandment that we have failed to obey.

It would be evangelismybe I’ve done enough good in this other area that that sweetness will cause God to forget my shirking in sharing the gospel.

Why don’t we? Why don’t we do this? And if you’re doing it, why don’t we do it more and a better job? Of in our small and humble ways of sharing the gospel of being the world’s Bible, of being the hands and the feet and the tongue of Jesus Christ. And sharing the gospel and doing what we know we ought to do, and hoping upon hope that God does not judge in this area. If we’re honest in our examination of this, I think we might come away with two lessons. Number one is that we’re not doing enough. And maybe even you might honestly say, I’m not doing anything. Then the second observation, the second lesson would surely be this, but I have a reason. Or an excuse.

1. It Won’t Work

Well, this morning I’d like for us to deal with those excuses. Deal with those obstacles. Whether they’re excuses or the reasons, they are obstacles that are preventing us from doing what we otherwise need to do. And so I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time this morning. Greg has set the stage for us beautifully this morning at 9 a.m. hour in showing our obligation. So I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time teaching you that you need to do this. I’m basing the assumption that you know that, but that we are still shirking. And so, what are the obstacles? I have three for you this morning that I think are maybe generic enough that might fit other obstacles that are there. One obstacle is simply this, though we might never verbalize this.

We might say in our heart of hearts, I don’t do it because it won’t work. If pressed, we would surely not mean by that that we doubt the power of the gospel. Our doubt lies in our fellow man. It just won’t work. And so why do something that I know through my wisdom just simply will not have the desired results. It won’t work, we assume. We lump people into maybe two different categories. Here are my religious friends and neighbors. It won’t work with them because they’re so entrenched and steeped in their religion that they’re not looking for a change. They believe what they believe. They’re involved. I hear them talk about the activities and programs of their church, and so I know they like it there.

They may even hold some position. They may be a deacon or a shepherd or a preacher in that church. And so surely they wouldn’t be swayed away from their deep seated religious beliefs. And so it won’t work on them.

The other category of my friends are those who are just so worldly and so ungodly. They’re so far removed from what God wants them to be in their moral and their ethical lives. There’s no way that the strictness, the narrow way, would in any way appeal to these people who have every worldly vice known to man. And it won’t work. Now you see what we’ve done? We have effectively eliminated everybody we know. The religious and the irreligious. And so I am free from this responsibility. Turn with me, if you will, in the Gospel of John. In John chapter 4. We learn a lot, don’t we, from the actions of our Lord. He is our example in whose footsteps we are to walk. We learn a lot about Jesus’ approach to the lost here in John chapter 4.

We remember John chapter 4, that discussion that he had with that woman, in which he says that we’re to worship God in spirit and in truth. I don’t want to look so much at the teaching of Jesus in this context as we look at his approach in this context. Jesus talking to this woman at the well.

That this woman on that day was an absolute horrible prospect for the gospel. Let’s think about the excuses. Let’s call them that. The excuses that might have been offered, why not to have this spiritual conversation with this woman? Let’s look at the excuses that might be offered. First excuse that might be offered, Jesus could have very easily said, I’m tired and I’m hungry. We’ll talk about that one a little bit later. I’m tired and I’m hungry. I’ve done my part. But look in verse 9 of John chapter 4. The woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman. And then John adds this explanation for us, modern day readers, for the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Now that may have been a bit of an understatement. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and as so often is the case, the feeling was highly mutual. They hated these dogs, they referred to them. And so she is even surprised that Jesus being a Jew is speaking to her, a Samaritan. The first excuse that could be given is that they were of different races, and not just different races, but of races that historically and presently absolutely despised one another. She won’t want to listen to me. In fact, I don’t want to talk to her. The racial difference that existed could have been easily offered as an excuse. It could have been an excuse. First of all, if I am the Jew and she is the Samaritan, it might simply, if I’m being honest with my racist self, I don’t want to talk to her.

She is a Samaritan. But if I wanted to be a little bit more politically correct, I might phrase it this way. She doesn’t want to hear from me. She won’t listen to me. What I want us to understand, beyond just the obvious wrongness of that mentality, which, by the way, was not Jesus’ mentality, was it. But aside from the absolute just wrongness of that mindset is that we understand, don’t we? That it is the gospel. The glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that more than anything else eradicates racial borders and distinctions, doesn’t it? Well, there may be political means. There may be social programs that can help to that end, but nothing. Nothing will break down those walls like the gospel of Jesus Christ. And isn’t that beautiful?

That not just from a racial standpoint, but whatever might else, otherwise divide us, gets washed away in vague nothingness. Because we’re united in Christ Jesus. Where there is neither Jew nor Greek or male nor female nor barbarian or Scythian. There is no distinction within us. But we might offer that as an excuse. There was also the distinction of gender or of sex. Look in verse 27. And at this point, his disciples came. Jesus has had this long conversation with this Samaritan, Samaritan woman. Verse 27 says, at this point, his disciples came and they marveled that he talked with a woman. Yet no one say, Why do you seek and why are you talking with her? Now, maybe culturally, that’s not something that is objectionable today, but they were amazed not just that there was this racial difference, but that here he was talking to this woman.

We could spend time, could we not, talking about the culture of that day? In both the Greek, Roman, and even Jewish world, of how women were seen as less than full rights of citizens. And so there may have been a reason or an excuse. Another reason or excuse that could have been offered, she already has a church. Look in verse 19. The woman said to her, said to him, Sir, I perceive that you’re a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. That’s a conversation killer right there, isn’t it? What? I don’t even know what this weird religion. And so we have a couple things here, the religious difference. We have the vast religious difference.

And we have the fact that she seems to be fairly versed and fairly rooted in that. She won’t want to listen. Another excuse. Her moral life was a mess. Read on with me. Stay in John chapter 4. Look beginning in verse 16. Jesus said to her, maybe in a probing request, go call your husband and come here.

And Jesus said to her, You said, Well, I have no husband, for you’ve had five husbands. And the one whom you have now is not your husband. In that you truly spoke, at which I would say, isn’t the weather nice today? Let’s change the subject. Do you see the point? We have almost every stated excuse in this one person as to why she would be a horrible prospect with whom to have a spiritual conversation. But yet Jesus to this Samaritan woman. Who had five previous marriages, and if I understand this right, is now just living with a man. Jesus proverbally opens up his Bible and says, Let me share the gospel with you. And you know why? Because she was lost in sin. It didn’t matter the color of her skin.

It didn’t matter how entrenched she was in her church, in her religion. It didn’t matter, in fact, it did matter how messed up her life was morally. She was lost in sin, and that’s all that mattered. And he had the answer. And he loved her as he loved all of mankind. You see, we overcome this obstacle when we reprioritize ourselves into what’s most important. Those differences, those excuses become nothing when we realize here is someone who is lost in sin. I have the answer, and I love their soul. It won’t work, is a cop out.

2. Most of Us Don’t Like Being Rejected

But most of us don’t like being rejected.

Can you remember back far enough, some of us old fogies, to your dating days?

Ask her if she likes me. Have him ask her if she thinks that she might go out with me. I’m not asking, but if I did, what would she? See, we don’t like being rejected, and so we like to hedge our bets a little bit to make sure that we’re not going to be rejected. And this may be, and we might couch this in a little bit different language, not just fear of rejection, but just fear of awkwardness. What are they going to think if I start this religious spiritual conversation? Am I prepared for the eye roll?

Am I prepared for them to close the blinds and turn off the lights and go to the back of the house when like I do when the Jehovah’s Witnesses are on the sidewalk. And so one way to escape the fear of rejection, one way to avoid the awkwardness is just not to broach the subject. Couple biblical principles to remember. When you think of the fear of rejection, let the words of our God ring in your ears to Samuel. They have not rejected you, Samuel. They’ve rejected me.

They’re not rejecting you. They’re rejecting the gospel. Another thing we must remember is I think we can overcome the awkwardness if we have instilled within us the seriousness of the matter. Let’s illustrate it this way. Are you one of those type of people who observes things but feels so awkward that you won’t say to that person, you know, you have some spinach in your teeth?

We would never say, excuse me, sir, that you’re there’s a long strand of toilet paper hanging from your shoe. Let me. Because that’s just awkward. We might avoid those conversations because of the awkwardness and how that person might view us. But let’s change the illustration. Rather than spinach in their teeth or toilet paper on their shoes, what if their hair was on fire? Would you feel awkward to approach them then? No. Because the gravity of the situation has eliminated any fear of awkwardness. It doesn’t matter whether that person is a complete stranger or even an enemy. You will not only approach that person, you would take off your coat and beat them over the head or douse them with water. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks because their hair is on fire.

And let’s understand this. To your friends, family, and co-workers and neighbors, they don’t have spinach in their teeth. They don’t have toilet paper trailing from the hill of their shoe. They are lost in sin. And they’re going to hell. It’s not so awkward now. When their hair is on fire.

But there’s some other practical ways that we can approach this idea of the fear of rejection. First of all, remember, remember this. God has not called you to be a lawyer. He’s called you to be a sharer. A loved one dies and has not left a will behind. You go through the horror of probate. Might you cancel someone else? You need to get a will. You need to get a will. Do you know everything about family law and probate law that you can answer every question that they may present about the laws of the state of Florida or whatever? No, you don’t know all of that. But you know enough to say, why don’t you get a will? And you might even, if you cared enough, to say, and I know somebody that can help you with that.

God’s not called us to be lawyers. Don’t be afraid of the questions that they may ask, of the objections that they may raise. There’s absolutely nothing wrong, nothing unbiblical or disappointing to God for you to say, you know, that’s a good question. And I have no idea.

But let’s study it. And by the way, there’s nothing wrong or unbiblical, you saying, I have no idea, but I know somebody that does. And he or she would love to sit down with both of us. So God’s not called you to be a lawyer but a sharer. Secondly, do something to overcome this fear. Use it as an excuse no longer and take actual concrete steps to overcome this fear of awkwardness, fear of rejection. Begin by sharing the gospel in non confrontational ways. Start small. They’ve gone by the wayside almost in our digital age, but find some kind of tract or some article that shares the gospel and say, here. I thought you might learn from this. In our digital age, send them to our website or some other website that you can confidently believe that they’re going to hear the truth taught and say, here’s this great sermon that one of our preachers preached.

3. I’m Just Too Busy

Would you listen to it? Let me know what you think about it. Grow that mindset and overcome that obstacle of that fear. The last obstacle is one that certainly we could all offer is I’m just too busy. We’re busier now doing less than we’ve ever been.

But I have two quick answers to that objection that you can easily overcome. First of all, if you’re too busy, then you’re just too busy. It’s time to get real about this thing we’re claiming to be.

Make some priorities and get rid of some of the worthless junk in your life that’s consuming your time. If you’re too busy, you’re just too busy. But secondly, in a little softer tone, it doesn’t really take that much time. Jesus took a normal everyday conversation and turned it from water into a spiritual discussion. How much time did that take out of Jesus busy? If anybody was busy. How much time did that take, really? How much time does it take with people you’re already interacting with instead of talking about the NFL playoffs, instead of talking about the weather, instead of talking about whatever you might be talking about, to take that conversation and Jesus like turn it into a spiritual conversation just briefly. You’re not too busy.

Conclusion

Because it really doesn’t take that much time to invite someone to a Bible study, to invite someone to an assembly, to turn a conversation into a spiritual discussion. Oh, there’s obstacles, but they can be overcome. Self-examination time. Where are you spiritually? Are you laying in the back seat of the car, feigning sleep, hoping that God will forget? Start today. And our advice again would be to start small. But do something to share the gospel, the life-saving gospel with someone around you. We are the only Bible this sinful world may read. Would you come to the gospel this morning? Would you come to Christ, repenting of your sins, confessing your faith, and to be baptized for the remission of your sins? To be saved. Go on your way rejoicing this very day, having the truth in your heart that your sins have been washed away.

Would you do that? Or is there some other way in which you need to come to Christ and offer confession or seek the prayers of these good people? Can we help you as we grow together spiritually this year? Why not come together right now as we stand and sing? Mm.