After a hiatus due to the busyness of end-of-the-school-year things, I began writing another faith post for my blog last week. I had planned on writing about Forgiveness and Reconciliation, things that have been heavily on my mind and heart over the last few months. In the last week I’d been reviewing scripture in order to prepare for this piece, and up till the point of writing, it was something that I was very excited about. If you’re somebody who knows me well, you know how much I value grace, forgiveness, and the coming together in the kind of love and peace Christ gives us and teaches us to share. Of the faith posts I’ve written, this might have been my favorite to prepare for. Here’s the thing though… I couldn’t get going on it. Everytime I sat down to write, I felt an intense fear, not over what I was writing about, but over what felt like futility. I didn’t think anybody would care about this topic. I’ve had conversations with people about grace and forgiveness, and I’ve seen some of the discourse revolving around these things. I’ve seen the objections, the struggles and challenges of forgiving others in a world where it’s a lot easier to shut others down or out. I’ve seen the objections to reconciliation. As a culture, we often seek to push away the idea of coming together after conflict or hurt. We reject the Lord’s message to “Love our neighbors as ourselves” (Matthew 22:9), or to “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13). As I sat staring at my computer, I struggled to believe that anything I could say might even begin to change a heart or mind. I think this is something that many Christians struggle with, wondering how we or our words might be good enough to have an impact on the lives around us. Sometimes it feels like the battle is just too great, and we just don’t know what to say. However, as I got up this morning for this Pentecost Sunday, I found myself reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to give us the strength and courage to share what we believe in our faith despite the fears. 

After beating my head against my computer yesterday, I ended up calling a close friend of mine. Coincidentally, she had similar frustrations in her heart about how challenging it can be to engage with others about our faith. We’ve both experienced moments where we just don’t know how to share our faith without being rejected, even hated, no matter how much love we show. We humans are very susceptible to the temptation to “shut down” the things we don’t agree with, not just rejecting the thoughts of others, but rejecting others themselves, replacing the potential for love with a choice of hate or anger. Even Christians struggle with this, as we at times forget that Christ-like love that we’re supposed to give freely and without reservation or selectivity. So how can we as Christians better practice making the CHOICE to love, and how do we better face the fear of sharing our faith. Well there are at least a few ways:

1. Prayer: At the end of our phone call, my friend and I made a list of people we wanted to pray for. These were people that we have experienced challenges with when it comes to sharing our faith, or expressing the kind of love that God teaches us to exhibit. Prayer can at times feel like nothing, but in reality, it does everything. Prayer means we’re trusting God to work in the hearts and minds of the people whom we care about. Pray doesn’t mean that we’ll get to see each step up close, but it does mean that hands better than ours are at work. 
2. Make Sharing Our Faith About God: Often, the hardest thing about sharing one’s faith is knowing what to say. We can say that love, grace, forgiveness, all these things are important, but unless we back that up with God’s place behind all this, these things are empty. Love is a wonderful thing, but God’s love is special. Grace is a nice gift, but God’s grace is priceless.
3. Believe That God’s Word Is Enough: God’s Word can stand alone, and is more than enough to support itself in the messages that it shares. We don’t need to parse it or water it down to make it appealing to others. God knows us, and he knows our hearts. He knows what we need to hear and how we need to hear it. If we believe that God’s Word and message are enough, all we need is to ask him for courage. 
4. Show Love Throughout: Sharing our faith means nothing without love. If we can’t love someone through conflict, challenges or disagreement, our words ring hollow. In the face of rejection and hate, still showing love can be an even greater example of our faith, and a means of bridging gaps and breaking down barriers. 

I was reminded of the power God gives us to spread his message this morning in Church. There were so many beautiful examples of how God’s message can touch the hearts of many. The handbells and choir performed. We had a multilingual reading of the first part of Acts, hearing scripture in different languages as a representation for what those present would have heard after the Holy Spirit descended upon the early Apostles. Twenty-something new members were welcomed into the church, people willing to spread God’s message. God has given us such wonderful tools to spread his Word around the world. We are not alone, and we are not unprepared. We may be fearful, but we can seek courage by resting in God, by praying to him and asking him for help. I’ll leave readers with the verse that was waiting for me on my phone this morning:

Acts 1:8 …but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”