X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Mon, 11 Jan 1993 09:37:10 CST
From:         Russ Neumeier <russn@SSEC.WISC.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Being a faithful witness
              at Jan 8, 93 3:23 pm

> I plan on going into the ministry someday, hopefully as a revival
> preacher or an evangelist.  I enjoy public speaking; it is harder for
> me to witness one-on-one than it is for me to speak to a large crowd
> about Christ.  Is that strange?
>
Not one bit...while in college I gave my testimony to an audience of about
300-350 students -- I knew a few, but most of them I didn't see again.  Yes,
I was nervous at first, but I soon forgot about that and began praying that
what was said would reach them.  I was also involved in more one-on-one
evangelism, and that was much more nerve-wracking!  Probably because you
are eye-to-eye with a person much less can be hidden than when you are up on
a stage and several feet from them.

Scott, I hope that someday you are able to go into public speaking; but
chances are that, as a public speaker, people will want to talk with you
one-on-one.  Don't let that discourage you though!  Connecting with someone
you don't know on a personal level can be incredibly encouraging to a
public speaker.  Most of the public speakers I've listened to draw upon
personal experiences to bring home a point.

>
> Does anyone have any comments about having the boldness to witness?
> How do we become more bold in speaking out, and what do we say to our
> co-workers?  Any experiences here?
>

My experience:  My work environment is very relaxed; I can wear a t-shirt
and blue jeans every day to work.  When it was warmer, I was wearing a
Living Epistles t-shirt -- the "Lord's Gym" shirt that said "His Pain, your
Gain" on the back.  I'd worn it for a couple of months hoping and praying
that someone would notice it.  Then, one day a co-worker came to my office
and said that if I ever wore that shirt again she would go to the director
and have him forbid me to wear it!  I was taken by surprise by this, and
luckily God gave me the wisdom to NOT say anything that afternoon.  I knew
that another confrontation with this co-worker was on it's way; so I started
making up my defense for wearing this shirt.  I was quite proud of my line
of logic and was praying that it would convince the other person that she was
wrong.  When the confrontation finally came, I began my reasons -- she blew
them away.  I finally realized that these were MY plans and they were failing.
I started to pray that God would use me now in the heat of this battle, and
he did.  I decided to not wear that particular t-shirt at work again.  She
said her reason was that the shirt was "disgusting and vulgar" since it
showed Jesus bleeding and fallen under the weight of the cross.  I told her
that what her real reason for wanting me not to wear it was that it contained
a Christian message and she didn't want to see that. (I've never been this
bold with this person before).  I decided that to wear this shirt again would
cause more problems and would probably not be Christ-like.  It's been a couple
of months since then; I've still got some not so Christ-like feelings toward
this person, but God is working and helping me to love her as HE does.  I pray
that this is being faithful and that it is influencing her in a positive way.

Another thing that I've found to help is to talk about my involvement as a
youth leader.  If people ask what I did this past weekend, I'm not afraid
to let them know what activity we had with the youth.  Using this, I've been
able to let almost all of my co-workers know about the church I belong to in
a non-threatening way.  They know where I stand, and I pray that my attitude
and actions at work reflect Christ to them.

Prayer is the only thing that works in these situations, and confidence (which
I don't always have) that God will use me IF I let him.


> Scott D. Weberg
>

Russ Neumeier
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