Sermon Cloud

Thank God, It's Monday: (Part V)

DEFENDING MY FAITH

Matthew 9:37-38

37) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

38) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

1 Peter 3:15-16

15) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

16) keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Luke 9:26

26) If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

            Once a person becomes a Christian, he or she has to ask the question-what does God want me to do with this new life that He has given me? You see, the Bible is quite clear that once a person becomes a believer, God has given him or her a life filled with rich blessings such as forgiveness, hope, purpose, including transformation.  With all these, God wants us to take this new life and go out into the world and help other people find the same life that He has given you. Remember that saying, "If life in Christ is worth having, then it is worth sharing."

            God does have a mission for our life. He wants us to draw people closer to Him. He wants our life to make an eternal difference. Notice our first text in Matthew 9: 37-38. Jesus himself reminds us that there are so much people to harvest for the kingdom, but there are few workers. Perhaps, you are thinking that the reference to workers here speaks only to pastors and church staff members. Absolutely not, it is applicable to all believers who wish to participate in the great work of God in saving people. The Bible is clear that all true believers must share their faith.

            With our series, Thank God, It's Monday, I would like to challenge each one of you to consider going out of your comfort zone and go public with your faith in your workplaces. I believe so many Christians are missing so many opportunities when they fail to do this. Here are some legitimate reasons why we need to share in our workplaces:

• Ø Time- Where do the majority of Christians spend the majority of their time with the unchurched? The workplace! We spend most of our waking hours at work. On average people spend 60-70 percent of their waking hours at work. Where we spend the most time is where we will have the greatest impact.
• Ø Awareness- At church, people don't curse, lie, or get angry. People look the same. But at work when we live a Christlike life, we get noticed right away. The workplace is one of the most effective places for our changed lives to stand out and be noticed.
• Ø Bridge - The workplace is the most likely place to have relationship with unchurched people, and we can utilize these opportunities as a bridge to share Jesus Christ.

Evidently, if we neglect the workplace, we neglect the most potent harvest field of all. Because of this, we need to take to heart what Peter has commanded us to do - "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." So how are we going to do it? Here are three steps in defending your faith:

I           BE OPEN TO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE:

            As believers of Jesus Christ, we should always be open about our faith. Jesus says in Luke 9: 26 that if we are ashamed to tell people that we belong to Him, when we stand before Him, he will be ashamed of us too. If we are honest, many times we are afraid to let others know that we are Christians because we are afraid they will think of us as some kind of a spiritual freak or some kind of a Jesus freak. I think if we do it the right way, and yes there is a right way, we won't get this perception.

            What's the wrong way? Rev. Randy Douglass while leading a seminar entitled, Impact Your Marketplace, received these responses when he asked the participants the question - What are the worst witnessing approaches you have seen in the workplace?

• Ø Bringing your Bible to a staff meeting
• Ø Putting tracts in the men's room
• Ø Playing your Christian music louder than anyone else
• Ø Sitting by yourself in the lunchroom reading the Bible while everyone else is eating
• Ø Putting Scripture in a PowerPoint presentation to the sales staff when it is not allowed.

You see, people oftentimes resent Christians who are judgmental and obnoxious, who present themselves with a holier-than-thou attitude. These approaches only turned people away from Christ. How then should a Christian live in the workplace?

•A.     Build Meaningful Relationships:

The way to let them know that you are a believer is to build genuine friendships. Of course, this is not going to happen if you don't spend some time with them. In the midst of these relationships, you will have the natural opportunities to let them know about your faith. Consider the words of Jesus to the man whom He had healed:

Luke 8:38-39

38) The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

39) "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

            Jesus sent this man back in his home town because his new life in Christ will have impact in his relationships.

•B.     Build Integrity:

Integrity is character. Integrity is when you live your life consistent with what you believe. If I am a person that thinks honesty is important, then I try to be honest in all of my dealings with other people.  A person with integrity in the workplace will be honest.  They are going to work hard.  They are going to be dependable. If you are a Christian with integrity, people will notice that you are different and they may want something that others don't have. Once Paul reminded the Colossian Christians that as they work, they are working for the Lord:

Colossians 3:23

23) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

•C.     Exhibit God's Love:

If there is also a characteristic that your life can exhibit, love is the most important.  Jesus said showing love to other people in practical ways, is the number one way that you can attract people to Jesus, the number one way that you can show people that you are a follower of Jesus.

John 13:35

35) By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

            Emphasize the words, if you love one another. When you examine these words, God wants our love to those in our workplace to be a sign of what Christianity is all about. Indeed, we show love in many practical ways like accepting them including their weaknesses, caring for them when they are going through difficult times, offering to pray for them in times of their needs. Then, they will notice that there is something different about you. And they will desire to know what you have, and they will want to know how they can get it in their life. So, what are some of the practical ways can you share Christ's love to your co-workers? Try doing some of them this week.  

II         BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FAITH:

            When you are open about your faith in the right way, and you build good friendships, live a life of incredible integrity and love, you are going to have opportunities all the time to share your faith verbally.

Going back to our main text, Peter reminds us that we need to be prepared because people will ask us about the reason for our hope or why we are Christians. This statement can also imply that in every circumstance, we need to be prepared to respond whenever someone has a question about our faith. There are three tools you need to avail of when you share your faith:

•A.     Your Story:

This is your personal story how Jesus made a difference in your life. This is a powerful tool because of the following reasons:

1. Your co-workers will be interested with your story - They may not be interested of your church or your theology, but because you have developed friendship with them, they are interested with you life, with your story.

2. Your co-workers can identify with your story - There's no doubt that they may be able to connect your story with some similar experiences they have had.

3. No one can dispute your experience - While people would be able to argue with the Bible, they cannot argue with your own personal experience.

So we need to learn how to give our personal testimony. What should be the content of our story? First, what were you before you came to know Christ? Then, How did you know Christ? Lastly, what were the benefits of knowing Christ?

•B.     Knowledge On Becoming a Believer:

We should not just prepare our story; we should learn how to explain to someone the steps to become a believer. Remember the verse, "to give the reason for the hope that you have."

I hope that you would take the time to familiarize even memorize the portion we regularly publish at the back of our church bulletin with regards to how a person can believe in Christ:

1. Acknowledge that your mistakes separate you from a relationship with God. (Rom.3:23; 6:23)

2. Realize that God wants to offer you help and hope. (Rom.5:8)

3. Turn away from sin and turn toward God. (Acts 3:19)

4. Trust Jesus Christ as my Savior through faith. (Acts 16:31)

            It's really important that all of us would be able to share how people can believe Jesus Christ.

•C.     An Invitation to Church:

One of the most powerful ways that you can share your faith is to invite your co-workers to come to church with you. There are people who are prejudiced about the Christian church because they had never experienced being in a Christian worship service. Here at BCI, we wanted this to be a place for you to be comfortable to invite friends or your co-workers who have never been to church before.  We want to have music that can inspire and messages that are practical and relevant to our life. So if someone comes to church with you, they could understand what's going on and they would walk away with something they can apply to their lives. That's the reason why we adopted the Invest and Invite program. We will pray that their coming to church will draw them closer to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

III        BE READY FOR DIVINE MOMENTS:

            Lastly, we should also be on the look out for divine moments. By definition, divine moments are times when God interrupts our lives with a mission.  It's when God steps in and interrupts our day because He wants us to share our faith with someone. I firmly believe that if we openly live the Christian life, and we're prepared to share our faith, God will give us divine moments to share. Here are several suggestions to prepare for your divine moments:

1. Pray for God to provide those opportunities for you to share with your co-workers.
2. Be aware that those divine moments come into your life every day.
3. We have to be willing to be interrupted.

To be able to share the gospel of our Lord to others should not just be regarded as a duty, but also a great privilege. God can never use us as instruments unless we go public with our faith and be prepared to share when God provide us with an opportunity.