Here’s what I learned at the Boldly Share Jesus Weekend
By Melinda Mitchell
I’ve done it wrong.
So many times before when I’ve tried to tell other people about Jesus and why they should follow Him, I’ve talked too much. Or, I’ve answered questions people weren’t asking. I’ve come on too strong. Too condemning. Used churchy words that non-Christians don’t understand. I’ve even tried using canned, pre-rehearsed here’s-how-to-be-saved speeches–and failed miserably.
Have you had any of these experiences when you’ve tried to share the gospel?
Founder and Executive Director of Proactive Ministries, Rev. Jim Hollis, has spent the last 33 years traveling the United States of America, training thousands of Christians like you and I to surrender to God and let the Holy Spirit of God lead us so we share our faith in Jesus effectively. At the Boldly Share Jesus Weekend, June 13-15, at Macland Community Church, Rev. Jim Hollis taught what does work:
- Trust the Holy Spirit
- Relax
Rev. Hollis said that as we trust the Holy Spirit to lead us, God will bring people next to us, whether at work, on the bleachers at a ballgame or in the airline seat beside us. Our job, Rev. Hollis explained, is to show God’s love to people by showing genuine interest in them and their stories.
“People want to tell their stories,” Rev. Hollis said. “So, listen. Relate to the person. Encourage the person.”
Do you have to agree with everything a person says? Of course not. Just remember that every person is made by God and loved by God. Talk with and listen to the person beside you that way.
When God brings a person next to you, be sure to pray (silently) for the Holy Spirit to guide you to know what to say—and how.
That person seated on the airplane next to you may be ready to hear the gospel. Or, he may be really angry at God because of something that’s happened in his life and be completely closed to the gospel for now. You don’t know where that person’s heart is–but God does. So, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in making conversation with the person.
Rev. Hollis taught us to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and choose to relax because we can’t save anyone.
Attending the Boldly Share Jesus Weekend has encouraged my husband, Oliver Mitchell, to continue making himself available when another man wants to talk, including in a business setting.
“Relaxing is such an important thing,” he said. “I think we are too quick to say to ourselves that we are not equipped to talk to anyone about God or salvation. But all you really have to do is listen to what the other person has to say. One of the greatest needs people have is to be heard. Listen and listen intently.”
Oliver said that his big takeaway from Boldy Share Jesus is to “let God give you the wisdom to answer people’s questions.”
He added: “I don’t honestly see my witnessing as being anything different than what I normally do. I don’t need to have a work profile and a Christian profile. They need to be the same.”
Jennifer Price said she put into practice what she learned at Boldy Share Jesus during the recent MCC mission trip to the Czech Republic. Our mission team spent a week at camp with Czech teenagers, teaching English, playing sports, worshiping, and more. Jennifer said she chose to love the Czech teens unconditionally, relate to them, encourage them, and share about her own walk with Jesus, including a sin struggle.
“At camp, I had the chance to build relationships over the week, so the people I shared my testimony with already had an idea of who I am,” Jennifer explained. “I didn’t just jump in and share about some struggle with sin right away. I talked about God’s love in our lives first, then talked about when there was a time when a struggle was going on in my life.”
Jennifer said she kept thinking about Rev. Hollis teaching on Acts 1:8, which says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” She did feel that power during the week at camp.
Rev. Hollis also told us at Boldy Share Jesus that if we talk about what God is doing in our lives with other believers out in public, then God may have another person overhear and ask us questions. Martha Joyce and I certainly saw that scenario happen when we went on a tour to a famous Czech castle the day before the mission trip started.
Martha and I asked the 30-something-year-old tour driver, Stefan, questions about himself and listened to his answers. Stefan asked us why we were in Czech and we told him we would be meeting up the next day with 10 more people from our church to go to camp with Czech teenagers for the next week.
Martha and I chatted with each other about camp, about our church, about our families. We were just being, well, us. We bought Stefan’s lunch and invited him to eat with us.
Then, as Stefan showed us around the castle, we walked by the (Catholic) cathedral.
“You’re not Catholic, are you?” Stefan asked.
“No,” Martha and I said.
“Protestant?” Stefan wanted to know.
“Yes,” we answered.
“What’s the difference between being a Catholic and being a Protestant?” Stefan inquired.
“We read the Bible for ourselves, rather than relying on a priest to tell us what’s in the Bible,” I said. “Also, we don’t have priests, we have ministers and they can get married and have children.”
Stefan seemed to be processing this information, so Martha and I waited.
“I’m scientific,” Stefan said.
“Ah, if you are a man who is interested in science, you’ve probably noticed how everything works together in nature,” I said. “Someone had to make all this. There had to be some kind of Creator. We believe that’s God and that He made us, too, and He loves us.”
Martha said that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us and for our sins. She summed up the gospel very succinctly.
“God wants to hear from us,” I told Stefan. “He wants us to talk to Him. That’s what we do when we pray—we just talk with God.”
Stefan looked at Martha and me and he smiled. He said his grandmother used to pray with him. We prayed for him and continue to pray for him.
When we told Stefan goodbye at the end of the day, Martha and I both believed that we had followed the Holy Spirit’s leading in our conversations with Stefan.
You know what? That felt—and still feels—very good. Definitely better than when I used to try to witness my way.
