Three Typical Fears

Ask a group of Christians about sharing their faith with others, and the chances are that there will be comeback in several areas. Of those, the three most typical are the following: that you will be faced with questions you can't answer, that people will judge you, and that you will somehow blow the friendship.

These are natural enough. Very few of us want to stand out unusually in the crowd, risking the prospect of looking silly, or having people thinking of you as somehow different. And of course none of us wants to lose friends, or offend in any way.

It is a mistake, however, to assume that sharing your faith must always involve these outcomes. For a start, if someone does ask a tricky question then why not simply say 'I don't know the answer to that – that's a good question to be explored'. You will be surprised to find how relieved people are when they realise that us Christians don't have all the answers. It also paves the way to explore the question together, for more discussion and dialogue.

Secondly it helps others in the long run if we make ourselves vulnerable, and admit that actually we do make mistakes and get things wrong, even as Christians. Its about being real with one another, not needing to project some image of ourselves that is in fact to be found wanting. Now if we are open and honest in this way, I cannot guarantee that there will not be some who judge you. Yet if we are real with people, and they still want to judge and pick fault with us, then that is their prerogative. It will be hard for us, perhaps quite painful to face, but ultimately we must give people space and freedom to disagree, even if their accusation seems unfounded.

Finally such openness ought to imply that there will be moments where we honestly and straight-forwardly indicate that we have faith in Christ. That need not mean that we insist our friends to instantly follow Christ themselves, still less become exactly like us in our life choices and what we do on a Sunday. It is important that we give our friends permission and space to be our friends even if they don't believe the same as us.

Bearing all this in mind, sharing our faith with our friends and the people we meet need not be such a fearful experience. It is about being open, and so yes it is about being vulnerable, but coupled with a respect for the other person and a desire for the best for them.