Alleviating The Worry Of Joining Christ On His Mission!
Worry is one of the biggest barriers that keep Christians from joining Christ on His mission. And that worry can involve many different things.
They Worry About Saying The Wrong Things:
Some Christians feel that they just don't know enough about their Christian faith to share the Gospel with others, and as such, they could easily say something that is wrong. The good news is that the Gospel is not complicated and doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist to do it. With some very basic and quick training you can both thoroughly understand the Gospel and share it with others. THIS IS A WORRY THAT IS EASILY REMEDIED!
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They Worry About Not Having The Right Answers To Peoples Questions:
When you share Jesus with others, will they have questions? Absolutely! But don't allow the worry of not having the right answer keep you from sharing Jesus with others.
There's a true story in the Bible, after Jesus had healed a man from being blind from birth, that the religious leaders (who didn't like Jesus) decided they needed to question the man who had been healed. Take a moment and read about how this man responded to comments about Jesus that he had no answers for:
"A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this man is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Luke 9
You can read the whole story in the Gospel of John, chapter 9. But did you see how the man responded to the comments he had no knowledge of? This man should serve as an example to the rest of us, on how we should respond to people who have questions, sincere or insincere questions! That response should simply be:
"That is something I don't have an answer for but I will search to find the answer for you, but for now let me share with you what I do know!"
Then you share with them what Jesus has done for you since placing your faith in Him. You don't need to have all the answers to everyones questions concerning God and Jesus! You can always go find those answers. But you should use their questions to share more of our story of coming to faith in Christ. People can argue about theology but no one can argue about your testimony in Christ! They may not believe it but they can't argue against it.
They Worry About The Type Of People God Will Have Them Go To:
That's the worry that Jonah had when God called him to go prophecy against the Great city of Nineveh. He didn't like them and he wanted to full unbridle wrath of God to fall on them. His biggest worry was that they would hear his message and the repent and if God saw their repentance, Jonah knew that God would forgive them.
There might be some people you just don't like, you don't care for and you could care less if they came to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If so, then you have an sinful attitude problem. You need to be so convicted in your heart by the Lord that those whom you care the least for are those that want to come to know Jesus. You need to spend so much time in the presence of the Lord that his desires for these people become your desires as well.
And list of worries can go on and on.
Philippians 4:6 gives us one powerful practice to help alleviate the anxiety that keeps us from joining Christ on His mission.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
What's that one "Best Practice" for ridding yourself from the worry and anxiety that plagues your heart. IT'S PRAYER! When we pray God sends His peace into our lives to do two things:
- Guard Our Hearts: God's peace will alleviate the emotional pain and suffering that joining Christ on His mission might give you. From my experiences, God actually changes the emotional pain into emotional pleasure, as I join Christ on His mission.
- Guard Our Minds: God's peace will also remove the confusions of our thinking and replace it with the Mind of Christ that gives us clear understanding.
So, if you are worried about joining Christ on His mission I suggest you just STOP IT and start PRAYING ABOUT IT. You know it's God's will for you to join Him on His mission, so just take the time in prayer to receive God's peace and His transformation and then just go join Him and see the great things that God will do in and through you.