Unlikely. That was the word on which we focused this morning. Jonah was an unlikely prophet, sent with an unlikely message to an unlikely people. Jonah's repentance may have been unlikely, but more unlikely still was the message he was asked to share with them. No soft sell here. Simply, "God hates your wicked ways and offers you utter destruction. From that unlikely message comes a most unlikely response - the people of Nineveh repent. Here's my question: Do we really believe that people can repent (realign)? I ask this because I have found myself failing to share God's message. When I take a deeper look at the reason I didn't share, often times it's because deep down inside I don't believe people will respond. Am I the only one who has experienced this? What things keep you from sharing God's message most often?
5 comments:
I DO believe people can repent, but in SOME people's case (like mine), they must find themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation, although nothig is TRULY hopeless with God! Only then, will they sometimes lay their pride aside and turn to God and ask for help in changing themselves and not necessarily their circumstances. In MY case, I had to be willing to accept my circumstances as they were, even though I did pray that God rectify them, but mostly, I had to ask God to change ME from the INSIDE--to change my attitudes, my heart, my unhealthy ways of thinking and acting. In other words, I prayed for God's WILL in my life, which I KNEW involved all those latter things for (because of his Word), but I wasn't sure changing the circumstances around me was ANY part of His will. I had to just believe in faith that God knew what was best for ME.
I think sometimes we don't share God's message with others, because the other person is usually someone that is close to us (Rarely do we share our faith with total strangers.), and that person may know what screw-ups we really are, and that, somehow, diminishes our credibility in our mind, so we just keep our mouths shut.
In MY case, that probably has been the biggest hinderance to my sharing God's word with others, not the belief that the person won't respond. So what is the solution to this not-feeling-worthy-to-share attitude?
Maybe its making a commitment to living our lives in a manner that, in the eyes of others, we are a credible source of God's word! Maybe it's just going ahead and sharing, and in doing so, we naturally will start changing the things in our lives that get in the way of God's message being received from us. Maybe it's making a consistent effort to dive into God's word on a regular basis, so we do have answers to questions we might be afraid will be asked. Knowledge tends to breed confidence. Maybe our not sharing what God has to say to people all boils down to a lack of confidence.
It's a strange delimna, because none of us seem to have any problem sharing information about something that excited us like a movie, restaurant, book, event, etc.. Maybe we don't share because we AREN'T excited about our faith.
I think that we do not share because we do not fully comprehend the seriosness of the matter.If we do, we simply do not care....as long as I know where I am going. This to me is selfiness....this is sin. Our hearts say one thing and our actions say another.I have been trying to live with intent. Things just don't happen folks....we all know what we should do...let us cajul each other into doing good.(did I spell the word right? I do not see spell check)
All of you make great points in your responses. I think that many times we look at our own failures as reasons why we can't share our faith. I am certainly in favor of each of us aligning our lives around kingdom principles and the Lordship of Christ. But along with constant realignment must come a realization that God still chooses to use imperfect and not-yet-willing people like you and I to convey his message.
I also agree that many times we lose the excitement of our faith and it becomes something that is just another practice in our already busy lives. I would settle on all of us sharing when we DO feel the excitement. At least then we would be sharing some of the time!
I also agree that many times we don't see the seriousness of the condition of people around us. I am intrigued about a new game show to begin on FOX in January. I can't remember the name but it is all about people being put on the hot seat with lie detectors strapped to them and having to answer some difficult, personal questions. One of the teaser questions was "Do you really care about starving people in Africa?" I wonder how Christ-followers would do if we were strapped in that chair and asked "Do you really care about your friends and neighbors being far from God?"
I'd agree that I have thought that there were certain people were beyond repentance,and thus I never bothered to speak into their lives regarding the way of Christ. I wonder now if it wasn't so much that they were beyond repentance and more that they weren't receptive to the message in the manner which I was taught to deliver it. Perhaps with prayer, thought, and careful listening, I would have found another inroad.
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