JESUS FREAK

There is an old DC TALK song with the lyrics, “People say I’m strange. Does it make me a stranger that my best friend was born was born in a manger?” Being Christmas time we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus born in a manger. A common phrase heard during the holidays is “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I agree with that statement, but I want to take it one step further and say “Jesus is the reason for life”. Jesus is the reason I’m alive and who I’m living for. I remember being in middle school and desiring to be known as the Jesus Freak. I had the boldness to live out my faith in actions and words. I think when I got into high school I was either focused more on showing Christ with actions, but scared to share my faith through words or I would have the words, but not the actions to back them up. My love for Christ should permeate my whole lifestyle. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” Luke 18:17.

We learned about evangelism this week at the Institute. It is something that God calls us to do. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. We also took a look at the different methods of evangelizing. I love to share the Gospel with people I’ve gotten to walk through life with. That’s why I was a Young leader during college. Every Monday Night a Young Life leader would share a part of the Gospel or information about Christ. I got to build relationships with the girls and tell them about Jesus. I enjoyed writing engaging talks about the Gospel and trying to make analogies that they could connect with. Through sharing the Gospel as a Young Life leader I learned that allowing them to see that our lives reflected what we spoke about had the greatest impact. Showing them that as Young Life leaders we weren’t only “Christian” at Young Life Club or at church, but we lived it out every day intrigued them.

Another time I got to share about Jesus was due to having a friendships with a few girls. I served at a church in England for a semester of my college senior year. Each week I was a volunteer leader for a program called Girl Guides, which is similar to our Girl Scouts. I had quickly bonded with two twelve year old girls. After a few weeks of getting to know them and being silly with them at game time they began to open up. When I asked them about how their days went, they would tell me the good points and their struggles. Then one day they commented on the ring I always wore. I told them it was my purity ring. They didn’t understand what that was. I then explained that the ring was given to me by my parents and symbolized the promise to my parents and God that I was going to wait until marriage to have sex. They had somewhat shocked and confused faces. They were even more shocked when I told them I was twenty-one. That made me sad that they were shocked that someone my age had been able to remain pure. They asked me why. I then got to share with them how Jesus was the Lord of my life and I lived my life for him. I learned from that experience that I shouldn’t look at person’s age and doubt that they will be able to understand the Gospel. Also that by showing I cared about them they begin to care about me. Another thing was that innocence is a hard quality for children to maintain in today’s culture.

My last experience I want to share about is one that goes more along the lines of what I picture evangelism to be. The term evangelism usually makes me nervous and involves thoughts of approaching random strangers. The good thing is God will use any means necessary to spread the Good News about the freedom found through Jesus’ death and resurrection. One place I do love talking to random people is on an airplane. I enjoy making friends with the people sitting beside me. Before I got on one of my flights a friend prayed over me that I would get the opportunity to share the Gospel three times within the day. God answers prayers my friends. I sat next to a girl who was nearly the same age as me. We were flying to Spain so we had lots of time to talk. She ended up sharing that she had just broken up with her boyfriend of a long time because she was a Christian and he was a Muslim. She knew that she didn’t want to raise kids under two different religions and that if they married it would probably end in a divorce. I was impressed by that mature decision but gathered from the rest of the conversation that she was struggling with walking with the Lord and having strong faith. I got to share my life story about how I'd grown in the Lord and also how obeying the Lord was of ultimate importance to me, but not always the easiest for me to obey. From this I learned if you ask for opportunities you have to be willing to take them because the Lord will provide. Also by sharing your beliefs and life story you can challenge others to dig deeper and search for truth.