Published as a Bible Bite

WHY DON’T PEOPLE ASK ME?

“Really, I’m no good at it. I can’t share Christ with people as smoothly as others can. I rarely tell anyone about what Christ means to me. Even when people ask me about my beliefs, I squirm and try to change the subject because I just feel so awkward.”

Too often we soothe our conscience by saying: “I’m too shy.”  In a coming day, would I want to stand before Christ and say: “Sorry Lord – I just couldn’t muster up the courage to tell anyone about You. I never seemed to be able to find a suitable time to bring You into the conversation.”  

If Christians should stand in the background as observers and witnesses at the Great White Throne in Revelation 20:11-15, will my co-worker point me out and say: “I worked beside that guy over there for years and he never told me once about You or that you died for my sins or that You loved me. And he certainly never mentioned a place of eternal torment. Shouldn’t he have warned me about this?”

Do you know that you have a responsibility to tell others about Christ? It is our Christian duty. The Apostle Peter wrote to believers in his day and told them to always be ready to share the Gospel. It should be on the tip of my tongue. When someone opens the door for such a conversation, even just the slightest crack, we are to put a little word through that crack for Christ. 

 “...In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,

always being prepared

to make a defense to anyone who asks you

for a reason for the hope that is in you;

yet do it with gentleness and respect,

having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered,

those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

1 Peter 3:15-16

Does my lifestyle prompt my friends to ask me why I live the way I do and think the way I think?  Peter was writing to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. He said: “When people ask you, always be prepared and ready, to give them a solid explanation of your faith –

• who Christ is;
• why you needed Him;
• what He did for you;
• how He has changed your life and
• what He can do for them.

If I haven’t been asked recently, I should be asking myself some questions. Am I blending in with the world around me so much that no one sees the difference and no one bothers to ask? Is no one impressed with the change that Christ is making in my life? Is my light so hidden that no one can see even the faintest beam of light radiating from my life? Are my priorities, activities and fun really no different than theirs?

“Why, Lord is no one asking me? Have I got too much in common with those who are traveling to Hell?”

If I was fulfilling the first part of the verse, more people would be asking me.  If I honored and sanctified Christ as Lord in my heart, if I elevated Christ to the throne of my heart and gave Him the keys to the ignition of my life, people would be asking me. If they’re not asking me, the problem is within. It starts in my heart. And if the last part of the verse characterized my approach, more mouths would be stopped and more would be won to Christ.