God Is Not Far From Anyone
Tags: Witness, Religious Beliefs, Beyourself, Christian, Evangelism

Even though it might seem like it.

God’s Promises by Leland Francisco

A report came out from the Barna research group last year which stated that almost half of Christian millenials believe it is inappropriate to share one’s personal beliefs with someone else in the hope that they will become a Christian. That’s apparently a lot more than any other generation. And yes, I can believe it. It does seem like Christians of all ages are increasingly becoming aware of how we might be perceived if we tell people that we love Jesus.

But is it wrong to share one’s religious beliefs with others?

I’m a Christian and I would say that my go-to book on this, the Bible, is pretty clear that myself and my fellow Christians really ought to witness to other people. There is a verse in it that says Christians are ‘ambassadors of Jesus’ and should tell people to ‘be reconciled to God’ (2 Corinthians 5:20). I mean, if I really do believe that someone could be heading for an eternity without God, in a place that sounds pretty horrific, wouldn’t I have to be a bit unloving not to actually tell anyone about that?

The thing is, Christians in general, me included, are not always so great at telling people the ‘good news’. Sure, there are some outstanding Jesus ambassadors out there, but for a lot of us the whole thing can get a bit awkward and weird pretty quickly. I remember talking to a colleague once about how I didn’t drink alcohol, which he had a hard time understanding. Somehow the conversation got onto the subject of God and religion, and so I mustered up a bit of courage and bravely shared that I went to church. He automatically assumed that I was George Bush incarnate. The conversation went downhill pretty fast after that and I didn’t see him too much afterwards.

Sharing about Jesus can adversely impact one’s reputation fairly swiftly nowadays. That future office promotion or potential new career opening may soon disappear once the news is out that one is a bona fide Jesus follower. Maybe us Christians we are just overly-aware of the current spiritual climate, like it seems many millenials Christians might be.

The attitude that I find within myself once I have accepted that God has called me to be a witness for him is pretty much the polar opposite to what the Bible teaches about how far away God is from people. In Acts 17:27 it promises that God ‘is not far from any of us’. Yet when I think about talking about Jesus with that hard to get along with neighbour of mine or that difficult to reach colleague, I see an apparent lack of hope and belief that God can do a miracle in people’s hearts. That he is actually not so far away.

But the truth is, it’s not about me and whether the right combination of words that come out of my mouth will have a certain desired effect on another person. I don’t think I really get a say in the matter about whether someone becomes a Christian or not. God will have mercy and compassion on anyone he chooses.

There is an amazing Bible verse that I read at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic back in March that I have thought a lot about ever since. It is from that old school prophet Isaiah. In his book, God says this: ‘I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me’ (Isaiah 65:1).

God reveals himself to whoever he wants to. Not necessarily the people I want him to. He even reveals himself to people who are not seeking him, who seem so far away, but in reality are not. My job is to be an ambassador for him, using the words that I can and through the way that I live.

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