Knowing It All

We had an interesting discussion at Downpour (Bible Study) tonight with the Sr. Highs. It focused a lot on the resurrection of Christ, which is always good, but eventually we circled back a little to evangelism and sharing our faith.

Here's the interesting part. Almost everyone who participated in the discussion talked about how they don't really feel comfortable sharing their faith because they don't know what to say if someone asks a question they don't have the answer to. They don't feel comfortable because they don't have all the answers.

Now there's two things that make me think with this. The first is why they feel the answers are important. When asked, none of the people in the room thought the reason they started a relationship with Jesus way back when was because of theology. They didn't have the answers when they started their faith journey, instead they came to see and know Christ through the actions and love of others. So if they didn't need the answers when they started their journey, why would the people they share Christ with be any different?

But also, they have now been following Jesus for quite a while and they still don't have all the answers. And they're still okay with that and they are still following Christ despite that. So if they don't need the answers now years later to believe, why do they think their friends need the answers to start believing?

I don't know, it just seems like for our own faith, we are happy seeing and living it out, but when it comes to sharing our faith, somehow now we need all the answers. Matt told a story about a friend of his who upon coming to know Christ brought 20-30 people to know the same Jesus he just met by simply saying, "I admit I don't know everything, but I know this. He loves me! Let me show you."

I think we need a little more of that than theological head knowledge...

T