Rector's Rambling - May 6, 2012 - Sharing the Faith part 3

The past two weeks in this column I wrote of the importance of sharing the Good News of the Resurrection and Lordship of Jesus Christ. As the baptismal liturgy of the 1979 prayer book states, we are to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ Jesus”. Having looked at the importance of sharing about Jesus both in word and deed, as well as embracing the reality that Jesus is the unique and only way of salvation, we are now moved to the question, “how do I share this good news?” For most people, being able to share the good news involves being alert to the situation of the relationship with the person you are interacting with. Although there are certainly instances when conversation with a stranger leads to a discussion of faith, for the most part these conversations begin with those with whom you already have some relationship of trust and familiarity. The other person knows you (or knows of you), and perhaps knows you as a person of faith. This can be the opening to a conversation about faith. The passive approach is to wait for the other person to bring up this, or a related subject. But a more active approach is for you to be attentive to the opportunity to introduce the subject of faith in Jesus, and guide the conversation along to that topic. God the Holy Ghost will certainly help you, and a prayer to yourself for His wisdom, guidance, and yes boldness, can enable you to be attentive to the opportunity to introduce the topic. A conversation about the person’s hard times could be steered to “when I have a hard time I find prayer to be helpful”, followed by the question, “would you like to pray now for some guidance?” This would be followed by a short prayer (even a few seconds) asking God’s help. To be continued…