When I was 25 or so, something ate away at me all the time. I was constantly dogged by this thought:
"If you are a real Christian, and you really believe that God will not let harm come to you, then you should be able to go to the Tattoo shop, preach the gospel of Jesus and pass out tracts."
Maybe you have experienced something like this.
That one thing that we are afraid of. Maybe it is witnessing to one particular person. Like witnessing to someone in our family.
Then our entire Christian walk becomes a walk in the desert. We spend all our time doing this and that and this, when we should have tackled that first obstacle.
Some more hyperbole:
If you really believe Christ will defend you, then you should be able to go to a foreign country hostile to Christians, and preach the gospel.
If you really believe Christ will defend you, then you should go to where the most grievous sinners congregate and preach the judgment of God.
If you really believe the bible, then leave your house right now and just go to some other town because God will take care of all of your needs.
If you are really a Christian, go door to door and preach the gospel to every person until you have preached the gospel to every human being.
It can be very frustrating! Because we want to go the full way, but in our minds, something like this comes up!
We're serving the Lord, doing all we can, and we think we're doing okay, but then if we were REALLY Christians, then we would behave or act in this extreme manner.
It can even make you think your salvation is at stake!
I haven't witnessed to my brother, and when I think about witnessing to him, I say "No!". Then what good is all this other stuff I'm doing? I might as well give up because I can't even carry out the one thing that matters. I should trust the Lord. If I really trusted the Lord, I would witness to my brother, but I do not!
Let's not go crazy. Stay right there. Get some rest. Don't be hasty. You want to serve the Lord and do great things. But don't go throw yourself off a cliff.
First, pray that someone else will go in your place. There. Isn't that better? That's a legitimate prayer! God can send anyone to preach the gospel! If you're scared to witness, pray that someone else will!
We want to avoid freezing up and doing nothing for Christ. We want to do at least something. And we want to know that what we are doing is pleasing to God.
If you can't witness, I don't think God minds if you pray OTHER people would go witness.
If you won't fire a rifle in the war, at least make bullets!
If you can't give out gospel tracts directly, leave them somewhere.
You can do your little part to spread the gospel.
And the Lord will make you into a mighty man or woman of God who can speak boldly, instantly for the gospel.
Let's move these mountains of "If you were really a Christian you would", let's stop freezing up and doing nothing, and let's at least do something that pleases the Lord, because we love Him!
"If you are a real Christian, and you really believe that God will not let harm come to you, then you should be able to go to the Tattoo shop, preach the gospel of Jesus and pass out tracts."
Maybe you have experienced something like this.
That one thing that we are afraid of. Maybe it is witnessing to one particular person. Like witnessing to someone in our family.
Then our entire Christian walk becomes a walk in the desert. We spend all our time doing this and that and this, when we should have tackled that first obstacle.
Some more hyperbole:
If you really believe Christ will defend you, then you should be able to go to a foreign country hostile to Christians, and preach the gospel.
If you really believe Christ will defend you, then you should go to where the most grievous sinners congregate and preach the judgment of God.
If you really believe the bible, then leave your house right now and just go to some other town because God will take care of all of your needs.
If you are really a Christian, go door to door and preach the gospel to every person until you have preached the gospel to every human being.
It can be very frustrating! Because we want to go the full way, but in our minds, something like this comes up!
We're serving the Lord, doing all we can, and we think we're doing okay, but then if we were REALLY Christians, then we would behave or act in this extreme manner.
It can even make you think your salvation is at stake!
I haven't witnessed to my brother, and when I think about witnessing to him, I say "No!". Then what good is all this other stuff I'm doing? I might as well give up because I can't even carry out the one thing that matters. I should trust the Lord. If I really trusted the Lord, I would witness to my brother, but I do not!
Let's not go crazy. Stay right there. Get some rest. Don't be hasty. You want to serve the Lord and do great things. But don't go throw yourself off a cliff.
First, pray that someone else will go in your place. There. Isn't that better? That's a legitimate prayer! God can send anyone to preach the gospel! If you're scared to witness, pray that someone else will!
We want to avoid freezing up and doing nothing for Christ. We want to do at least something. And we want to know that what we are doing is pleasing to God.
If you can't witness, I don't think God minds if you pray OTHER people would go witness.
If you won't fire a rifle in the war, at least make bullets!
If you can't give out gospel tracts directly, leave them somewhere.
You can do your little part to spread the gospel.
And the Lord will make you into a mighty man or woman of God who can speak boldly, instantly for the gospel.
Let's move these mountains of "If you were really a Christian you would", let's stop freezing up and doing nothing, and let's at least do something that pleases the Lord, because we love Him!