I’ve seen it go both ways. Sharing the gospel can forever change a relationship. Sometimes it grows it. Sometimes it ends it. Sometimes it just makes things awkward.

There is always risk.

But sharing the gospel with those you know well, isn’t just about knowing the right thing to say.  It’s about living a life in love with Jesus.  As Christ followers…yes, we need to speak truth into people’s lives, but yes, we are called also to live truth into people’s lives.  You earn the right to be heard.  The most natural way to share the truth of Jesus is in the context of our relationships.

Everyday. As you go.

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2a

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect…” 1 Peter 3:15

Whether it is Paul encouraging Timothy to be bold and ready in any situation to proclaim the gospel clearly or it is Peter reminding believers to be committed to Christ and be ready to defend their faith, both bring to light some assumptions about Christ followers.

#1 You have a hope worth having.

#2 Your hope will be made evident by the way you live your life.

If we live our lives in such a way that others recognize a difference in us…a hope in us, questions quickly come and conversations naturally follow.   And when the Holy Spirit graciously gives us the opportunities to speak the truth, we have to recognize it and be prepared to give the reason for the hope that we have.  We need to be faithful with the windows He gives us…and be ready to jump through them.

In this season of The Return, our college-age ministry at Northside Christian Church, God has given us a flood of students who are far from Him.  And for whatever its worth, they’re here.  Our goal as a ministry is to live out the hope we have alongside them.  Sometimes we get to have the big conversations and watch Jesus invade the lives of our students, and sometimes we get to have to conversations before the conversations…not the turning point, but a step toward it or the step before it.  And it starts with a choice to be present, to risk…to pursue a relationship first.  A choice to live truth into the lives of our students and be prepared to speak truth every time the opportunities arise.

So as Christmas is upon us and we celebrate the birth of our Savior, remember that without Christmas, we have no Easter…without Easter, we have no hope. Without that hope, we have nothing to celebrate, nothing to gather for, and no one to worship.

But that hope has changed my life…and your life and it’s worth sharing with a friend because they are worth the risk.

Are you prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have? 

What does it look like to earn the right to be heard in the lives of those close to you? 

Who does God keep laying on your heart to live truth and speak truth to?

Are you embracing your opportunities, even for the conversations before the conversations?

I pray your life provokes questions and conversations and opportunities to live and speak truth to those around you.