Also, Write out your testimony and be prepared to share it in three minutes. How do you maintain a good reputation with outsiders?
Key verses: 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Cor. 4:1-6; Acts 1:6-8
Sorry, guys, that I did not get this up before I left for Honduras. Hopefully you were able to spend some time on getting your testimony written out and we will also review the last two weeks when I was gone. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be a couple weeks ahead of you again!
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Today's discussion summary:
Methodology for sharing the gospel includes testimonies, apologetic arguments, tracts, and the Bible. We discussed how our approach should probably include several of these elements in a typical presentation. The key is that we need to be obedient when we sense the Spirit prompting us to talk to a person about Jesus. Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit that does the work of converting an unbeliever, so we need not feel pressure to do anything other than obey his prompting to share.
We talked about how to have an effective testimony. The focus needs to be more on God than us, and should have an element of transformation -- how our lives are different or how God is at work to change us. We should also include some sort of invitation to our hearer(s) to have God work in transforming their lives. We also talked about why we should try to talk specifically about Jesus, rather than just talking about God in general. In today's world, God is not always inderstood to mean the great I AM, but can be a rock or tree or force that is unique to an individual. By talking about Jesus, we hone in on the God of the Bible and the divine Son who died for us.
A good reputation with outsiders is a qualification for elders in the church. It does not mean that we will be liked by every single person, but we should be living in a way that people can tell that we are men of integrity and that we are different in a good way. Ultimately, when people see us, they should get a little taste of Jesus, even if they can't quite idetnify it that way.
All these questions are tied to a desire to glorify God. Our evangelism and our reputations should be strong evidence of our desire to see the God exalted -- that the name of Jesus would receive the honor and glory that it is due from all men. We talked about how these things leave us feeling inadequate and how grace is not just about penal substitution, but also about the imputation of righteousness. In other words, Jesus does not JUST satisfy God's wrath against sin, but he also gifts to us his righteousness so that God sees Jesus righteousness when he looks at us. Otherwise none of us could ever qualify as leaders because of how we fall short continually as we seek to live out a passage like 1 Tim. 3.
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