“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16 NKJ
Last year when I was picking up my kids from school, my sons second grade teacher came up and told me she needed to talk to me. Instantly I knew he had done something to get into trouble. I began to pray so that I would know how to respond to the situation. As the kids got into the car she told me what happened. She said a group of students were in a discussion and my son was talking about Jesus. He was very passionate and he was sharing his faith openly with his classmates. When she heard the conversation she told him he couldn’t talk about that at school. She said he questioned her about it and then after she explained it, he shut down emotionally for the rest of the day.
When our conversation was through I turned on the car and we left. I asked my son what happened. He began to cry. He told me the same story, but then he said, “Mom I don’t understand why I can’t talk about Jesus. He’s my best friend. The kids were making fun of me and called me a weirdo. Why did they do that?” My heart sunk as I realized the impact the event had on him! I then proceeded to explain the rules of public school and the reasons why his classmates called him a weirdo. Then I explained what it means to be persecuted for sharing our faith. I also taught him about the importance of living his faith so that people will want what he has and will be drawn to the light in his life. It turned out to be an incredible teaching moment! After we got home I got on the computer and pulled up the DC Talk’s song, “Jesus Freak” on YouTube and played it for him.
The chorus says, “What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak? What will people do when they find that it's true? I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak, there ain't no disguising the truth, ain't no disguising the truth, no I ain't hiding the truth.” He was so excited and said, “Wow mom I don’t care if people call me names anymore. These guys are cool and they talk about Jesus. So I am going to keep talking about Jesus too. I just won’t do it at school because I don’t want to get into trouble. I’ll invite them to our house and then I will tell them about Jesus.” When we were done talking he left the room. I began to cry and then I prayed because I knew what my son was going to face for the rest of his life when he tried to share his faith in Jesus Christ.
When I came back into a relationship with God in my early twenties I was very passionate about sharing my faith too. At the time I didn’t realize the persecution I was going to face over the next twenty years because of it. Just like my son I got called names and was made fun of by many people. At first the persecution hurt and I considered taming my passion. But then I read Matthew 5:11-12 where Jesus says, ““Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I quickly changed my mind and decided I didn’t care if I got persecuted and to this day I am still passionate about sharing my faith! Maybe you can identify with my son and me in this area. Maybe you too have been persecuted for sharing your faith or been made fun of and called names like weirdo or Jesus freak. And maybe you have considered taming your passion like I did. I understand how you feel but I want to encourage you to keep your passion alive and do not be ashamed to boldly proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ. The world is not ashamed to boldly proclaim their belief and faith in everything contrary to Jesus and the Word of God. We are bombarded with messages everyday from the world telling us to accept things that we know are not true; but our dissatisfaction does not tame their passion so we shouldn’t allow their dissatisfaction to tame ours.
While openly sharing your faith is important, openly living your faith is even more important as I learned early on. It gives validation to the words you speak! As you live a life of love, hope, joy, peace, faith, patience, kindness, etc., those around you who do not believe in Jesus will take notice. Then when you share your faith people will be more receptive to listen. But as you learn to live it don’t be ashamed to share it! God is the one who draws the heart of man to Himself and you do not know when someone’s heart is ready to receive the seed you plant when you share your faith.
Prayer: May I never be ashamed to let Your light in me shine before men. Let the words of my mouth and my actions be a witness of Your great love to those around me. Let me count it joy when I am persecuted for sharing my faith and know that those who have gone before me were persecuted too, and were blessed in their persecution. I believe by faith that I will partake in that blessing. I praise You for drawing my heart to You and I believe by faith that as I share my faith in You, others will be drawn to You as well. Amen
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