I have been preaching lately on the power of sharing our personal testimonies concerning what God has done in our lives. My goal is to get people to freely share their stories of salvation, healing, financial blessing, and other works of the Lord with those who are the natural contacts in their lives. I believe that is a bible way to spread the love of God to others. Whenever we encourage folks to share their faith, we run the risk of arousing feelings of guilt or inadequacy. Most people know they should share their faith, but they are very reticent to do so. I can certainly sympathize. One reason people balk at talking about the Lord is what I am calling “agrophobia.” That is a neologism from the Greek meaning “fear of the field.” Jesus said the fields are ready for harvest, but many of us are scared of the field.
If you are like most of us, you suffer from some degree of agrophobia. This usually springs from one or more of three lies that the devil has sold us:
ü Lie #1. “Nobody wants to hear.”
ü Lie #2: “If I get rejected it will devastate me.”
ü Lie #3: “They will ask me a question and I won’t know the answer
The truth is that many people do want to hear the real truth of the Gospel (As differentiated from religious conjecturing). It is called Good News because it is good news. God said it, now we should believe it! Second, if someone doesn’t want to hear about Jesus they are rejecting Him, not me (Luke 10:16). My delicate feelings pale in importance compared to the eternal torment that awaits the unbeliever. Third, the only question that matters is, “What will you do with Jesus?” All the other diversions are interesting, but don’t matter much. I have a personal relationship with The Answer to that important question. I need not be diverted to anything else. “ Gee, Billy Bob, I don’t know what happened to the dinosaurs, but what do you think about Jesus? Here’s what He did for me.”
Scripture Reading: “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” Jn 9:25
Somebody Said: We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first. — Oswald J. Smith
To help folks past their agrophobia, I have begun filming and posting brief testimonies from regular people. All that is necessary to share the Gospel is to hit the “share” button. Here’s our fisrt minivid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHYpkfHzWqo&feature=feedu. Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/FCFTucson for more video helps.
Check out our book on recovery, “God Help me, I Can’t Stop!” on Amazon.com
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