31 Days of Good News - The Rock

“One night I had a dream. A woman clutched a little girl, struggling to hold her child’s head above the water. Nearby, a wave plunged a man into its salty depths. He choked for air as he thrashed his arms against a ceiling of water. All around, the ocean churned with drowning people, gasping for air and desperately trying to push their heads above the surface. Their screams were doused by the roar of the relentless waves. Their cries caught the wind, but only in vain. They were alone in their terror, with no help in sight.

Then a huge rock appeared, and a voice called into the darkness. People began crawling up the rock’s craggy sides to safety.

But when they got to safety, something happened that drove me almost goofy. The people who emerged from the waves got busy. They got involved in building rock gardens, rock lives, rock jobs, listening to their rock music, and going to rock meetings where they talked about the people who were still drowning in the ocean. But nobody went back to the water’s edge to help.

Have you ever tried to run or yell in a dream? In my dreams, I can do neither. Yet I tried to run; I tried to yell at the top of my lungs, “How could you have forgotten you were once in the sea?”

As I watched the “saved” scurry about their rock work and as I listened to their rock talk, I realized the rock was the cross of Calvary. The voice hey heard was Jesus, calling by the power of the Holy Spirit, inviting them to come join Him. He’s never high up on the rock where it’s safe; He’s calling from the ocean’s edge, where the dead, the diseased, and the lost are found, and as you might recall, that’s where He found you.

Did you know that as few as 5-10 percent of the people in an average church have shared their faith in the past year? That means 90% of us have chosen the sin of silence. Just like in my dream, those who were drowning have gotten so busy and involved with the safety of “The Rock”, they’ve forgotten to reach out to those who are still drowning. *“ 

This week, I'll be sharing bits and pieces from different books about sharing Christ with the lost. We will talk about the most common reasons people do not share (and tell why those reasons just are not good enough). I will also share easy conversation starters and guides that will hopefully help lead someone to the Truth.

Of course,  the real work is done by the Holy Spirit, not a specific methodology. We share our faith with the lost and dying out of obedience and the Holy Spirit does the work. "Even if the way you share the message is tactless or unloving, God can use it. What He can't use is your sin of silence.*"

*Excerpt from “Share Jesus Without Fear” by William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd - emphasis added