Free Bread!

I think about the phases I've gone through in sharing my faith.  As a child I was afraid of the people who didn't know the Lord.  I had little contact with "the world" and was very comfortable in my Christian surroundings.  People outside that experience seemed threatening to me.

But I was taught that we should share our faith.  So I went through the put-in-a-good-word-for-God phase where, whenever I thought I had an opening, I'd throw in a comment about the church or God.  These comments were usually without any real context, but I'd done my duty and, surely, people would be heart-struck by my comments and come to Christ!

That wasn't too effective.

Then there was the attitude that I'd just be a good guy for God.  I felt I should go to Japan for a period of time, but I didn't want to go as a missionary.  Instead, if I went as an English teacher and could simply be good, do good, live an exemplary life, I could be a witness.  But Christianity is not commonly known in Japan and anything good I might do would not necessarily point any of my students and friends to Christ.

What I finally began to understand is that there is no fundamental difference between people who know Jesus and those who don't.  We are ALL just people.  The difference is that believers have a relationship with the Lord, and non-believers don't.  It is our privilege to live pure lives that point to Him, use our words to express this faith in the proper time and way, and share this good news with those around us.

There's great truth in the old saying, "Witnessing is one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread."