Be Genuine, Work with Others

“An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies” Proverbs 14:5 (NIV)

If we want to tell others about Jesus, we must always be genuine. Nothing is gained by acting a role, by playing a part, or trying to be something we are not. So have fun. Take up hobbies and sports, enjoy them, and in that context make new friends.

It will become clear quite soon who the "people of peace" are. People detect falsehood very quickly - Jesus said, "the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light" Luke 16:8 (NIV).

Story: A friend of mine is at that stage of life where he is living off his pension. In the village where he lives, he is well-known and over the years, has established a reputation for being a useful handyman who sorts out issues with homes. One person asked if he would help them with some work on her house. Steve said he would be very happy to do the work at no cost, but was open and clear that he would do the work on condition that he could have a spiritual conversation with the woman. He was completely upfront about this. The person agreed. Steve did the work. And afterwards they met together for a spiritual conversation where Steve was able to explain that Jesus died to reconcile sinful human beings back to God the Father. I’m impressed by the straightforward integrity of this approach.

When Jesus sent out his apostles, he did not send out individuals; he sent out a team, and he sent the team out in pairs!

Telling others about Jesus is a team effort because living as a Christian is designed to be done in community. A lot of us get discouraged because we think we have to proclaim Christ on our own!

This is a team effort. In fact, it is a team effort in several senses. Although it does occasionally happen, it is rare for one disciple on their own to lead a complete outsider to make a commitment to Christ. In almost every case, many disciples are involved in working with the Holy Spirit in leading an unbeliever to the point where they see that Jesus is Lord. Some are praying (often for years), many are demonstrating what living with Jesus looks like, several others may have the chance to speak to the person, and one or even a few may have the chance to lead the person to pray a prayer of commitment to Christ.

We see this with Timothy. His grandmother, mother, and Paul were all involved in different ways in bringing Timothy to follow Jesus –it was a team effort (2 Timothy 1:5).

When we act as individuals, we get discouraged.

When we work together in teams, there’s much more encouragement.

So let’s always be genuine, be ourselves, and go about “proclaiming Christ” with other believers.