MAT 4 BOOK Review Share Jesus Without FEAR PDF

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This is a review for the Mat Book review and how to share Jesus with out fear...

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MAT 4 Book Review Share Jesus Without Fear Assignment

EVAN525 Contemporary Evangelism (D01)

Liberty University Master’s of Divinity in General Chaplaincy

Jacquelyn Huebner, BA

Abstract Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay with Linda Evans Shepherd is a novel written to give information to the reader about how important it is to share your faith with people. It also explains how to share these things. The novel does its best to motivate and teach believers to be successful in sharing the gospel, or their faith in a rather simple, but very effective way. The author believes very strongly that “the success of sharing one’s faith is not about winning or bringing souls(people) to Christ, it is about obedience through faithfulness of the Christian(believer).”1 He reminds us that we cannot save people: the only thing we can do is share the gospel, our faith and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit, much like the parable of the seed. The author does go on to tell us that the only way to fail in evangelism, sharing ones faith, is if we fail to share, which he calls the sin of silence. In other words, the author explains that as few as 5-10% of the people in the average church have shared their faith in the past year, meaning that 90-95% of Christian’s have chosen the sin of silence.2 The meaning of the sin of silence is basically what it state: instead of sharing your faith, you keep silent. Fay continues on to separate people into two groups, those who talk about the lost and those who talk to the lost. He explains reasons why Christian’s don’t share their faith and removes all excuses by stating that one must drop the excuses and practice obedience to the Great Commission. Fay then goes on to discuss the need to overcome fear when sharing ones faith. He gives five different simple “Share Jesus” questions to help aid in starting a conversation, so that it can be directed to an opportunity to share the gospel. He explains that each of these 1 Fay, William with Shepherd Linda Evans. Share Jesus Without fear. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing group 1999 pg 3 2 Fay pg 5-6

questions can be easily steered toward Christ because they allow people to give their opinions freely, so long as the one asking the questions does not become judgmental. One this door is open, Fay then gives selected passages of Scripture that are used often during the second step of Evangelism, letting the Bible speak for itself. Fay’s main idea in this step is to have the person read the scripture out loud to themselves and then asking them what it means to them. Fay believes that this gives the Holy Spirit a chance to use their own voice to speak to their own hearts. However, if the person does not explain the scripture correctly, Fay then encourages then to read it again until they get the correct meaning. He reminds up again that God will work through his word and we do not have to try and do all of the work for Him. God is God alone and will use the Holy Spirit to work in the person’s life. Finally, at the end of the book, Fay discusses the most common objections to accepting Christ, as well as giving suggestions on how to overcome these objections when one is faced with them. In conclusion, the book is about sharing Jesus without fear, in being obedient. It is about how to overcome the fear of evangelism. He uses many personal experiences throughout the novel as examples, which can be found as supportive of his method. Fay continues to stress throughout most of the novel the importance of sharing one’s faith and that every believer should be aware of committing the sin of silence. Concrete Response When the author wrote about the fear of sharing ones faith, it did take me to several times in my life where I kept silent in my personal life. There have been many times when I felt that I was not worthy enough to share information about Jesus, because I was not wise enough, experienced enough, etc. I can’t quite explain why I felt this way, other than that others made me feel this way, even though I had spent my entire life growing up in church. There were also times

when I felt as though I would push people away from Christ, if I spoke about my faith. It was not really until I was an adult and experienced many hardships when it came to the church, that I became much more open about my journey, experiences and my faith. Many times, I will tell this journey while in a session with one of my clients. The main purpose for this is to open up to my client, sharing some very personal information with them, to let them know that they can open up with me. Another large reason is to show them that they are no alone in where they stand, and that I do understand how they feel when it comes to rejection, feeling like an outcast in my own type of environment and being ostracized, simply because I was different. In doing this, I open up a door for Christ to enter their hearts, not really even quite meaning to. Especially because in my profession, us counselors are not allowed to talk about religion in any aspect, unless the client brings it up first. As I read the novel, there were many times where I thought to myself, sharing the gospel does not even have to be something that is done with a purpose, it can just be able sharing your story, simply to connect to others. Reflection The novel was very encouraging, when it came to sharing ones faith. This alone has helped me to be less timid when I feel the need to share. Like I have said before, many times I do not share my faith, simply because of how the person I am talking to will view me. I feel as though, if I come right out and state “I am a Christian! Look at me!”, I will be chasing many others away, because I am making it about me, and not Christ. Sharing the gospel for me, has never been about me, but about the love of Christ, His grace, compassion, sacrifice and his own pain that he experienced while He walked this earth. Because of this, I share my story, my testimony, explaining where Christ has been in all of it. Where my journey is right now, in this very moment, I still have no idea what God has planned for me, and it pains me to think about it

because of all of the pain I experienced in the past. I know for a lot of ynonbelievers, their pain is exactly what stops them from living a life serving God. They tried it once, and they got spat on, stones thrown at them. They became more outcasted than the toxic people they were hanging out with. This is exactly where I will come in, into their life, into their story. Because I know this pain personally. I, myself, have been outcasted by the type of people who are supposed to be the most loving, most accepting kind of people on this earth. Emphasis on, supposed to be. I cannot begin to even tell you, how many times I have heard of someone ending their life because of this. They grew up in an extremely abusive household, were raped by their own father, beaten by their mother when they reported it, resorted to an extremely dangerous escape such as drugs or alcohol at an extremely young age. One day, someone goes up to them, telling them about Christ and everything He has done for them and invites them to church. This Christian could not attend the service that Sunday due to the flu, but the person goes anyways. While they are there, they open up about their past life, telling them about their drug usage, homelessness, their children being taken away from them by CPS because their home was not fit to raise children and suddenly these members avoid this person like the plague. This person who has lost everything. The next day, someone finds their body in an alleyway, a needle in their arm, cold to the touch, gone. After hearing this story of a pervious client, whom I never met, I vowed that I would never look at an addict the same again. That addict is no different than myself. And so, because of this, the first thing I do as a Christian is show them exactly that. I may not know what it feels like to stick a needle into my skin and have that euphoria fill my veins, but I do understand the pain that comes from it. I understand the pain that started before they ever resorted to the needle. The mistakes they made, the trauma they have known. I have gone through much the same. I

believe that this is where I start when sharing my faith. I understand that at first, it does just start with my personal story, but it ends with Christ. It revolves around Christ. And I tell my clients, every single day, before they hang up the phone or leave the office, that I will always be an ear to listen to on their hardest of days. I do this, because Jesus would also do this if he were walking the earth today. I do this because I care so much about these individuals, and because I know that Jesus does too, otherwise he would not have dies on the cross for them. I will always show them the grace that Jesus has shown me, when I was yet a sinner. Action I realize as I write this assignment, that I intermingled action and reflection into the same portion. I did this because I believe that action has so much to do with the reflection. With that being said, for in the future, I will not be the one who goes out and professes the gospel unprovoked, instead I will spread the gospel the way that Jesus did, by spreading His love. I will never forget the times when people discover that I am a Christian, simply because they asked, and tell me that they are surprised. I asked them why and they tell me it is because of how kind I am to them, when others have not been so kind. Some of them tell me that they are just used to Christians shoving the gospel down their throats. I will never be like this, I will never do this. I will spread the word by action more than by word. And when I do get into a position where I am to spread the gospel by word, I will ensure that I know my materials so that I speak the truth. I will also let God speak through me, letting go of myself in those moments and letting God. Conclusion This novel was much easier to read than the last one, because spreading the gospel to me is not too difficult. I do have some difference in beliefs than many others out there in the way it is to be spread, but I do agree with the authors for the most part. I refuse to hold someone down,

forcing them to believe. I will give them my experiences, let that sit with them, answer their questions and let God do the work from there.

Bibliography Fay, W., & Shepherd, L. E. (1999). Share jesus without fear. Broadman & Holman Publishers....