This sermon is based off of a few ideas in Craig Groeschel’s book “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist.” Zondervan, 2010. ISBN: 9780310332220
CHRISTIAN ATHEIST: WITNESSING
1 PETER 3:15
IN THE WORK CUBICLE (p)
It’s a normal day at the office. You got to work 5 minutes late like usual. You find your normal parking place open and you whip your car into the spot and grab all that you need from the passenger seat. You are soon in the elevator heading to your floor. The elevator is packed with all the other people who are also running 5 minutes late. The elevator stops and a rush of people get out on their way to the ‘rat race.’ Your floor is next. You hop out of the elevator and meander through people hustling and bustling and you arrive at your desk in your 6x6 cubicle. Everything like a normal day at the office… except you notice people gathered at the cubicle next to yours.
You peek your head around and your non-Christian co-worker is surrounded by other co-workers consoling her. It finally happened. Her dad must have passed away. He had been ill for about six months. She looks at you and nods her dead affirming your suspicion. You both had talked about this often over the past six months because you went through this last year with your mother. You both had a common bond with the sickness of a parent. You now have both lost a parent.
After a few minutes, the other co-workers clear out for their normal day of work. It is now just you and her. She slides her chair over to your cubicle and you just sit silent for a moment together. She looks at you and begins with a question… “How did you get through this? There seems to be no hope. My dad is just gone. I have no hope. I don’t know what to do.” Guess it’s NOT a normal day at the office.
What do you do?
What do you say?
Options of what you could do or say in that moment swirl in your head. You could stop and pray with her... right there in the middle of the cubicles. You suddenly got a tinge of fear of what others would think about that. You could share how your mother was a believer in Christ and so when death came to her, you had great comfort. You thought better of that because you are afraid she would reject any religious talk. You could share show Jesus offers grace, mercy, and comfort to those who mourn through God’s Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit. You definitely got afraid because that would seem like shoving religion down your co-worker’s throat. In the end, you say, “Gosh, I don’t know. Just put one foot in front of the other. Time heals all wounds. What does not kill us makes us stronger.”
You go back to your cubicle. Fear gripped your heart and won and you did not share your faith.
EASTER FAMILY TIME (p)
It is Easter time and a gathering opportunity for your whole family. Your family made a commitment to all get together this year at Easter to make sure you celebrated something this year as a family. Grandma chose Easter and chose to rent a few beach houses for everyone to share. You are far and wide spread apart all over the country, but each and every brother and sister and wife and husband and kid and grandkid is present. Every aunt and uncle is present with every cousin in tow. You all arrive on Thursday at the beach and Friday and Saturday are filled with egg hunts and family dinners and dangerous yard darts and water gun fights. Everyone has a beach blast bingo that will not soon be forgotten. Even crazy Aunt Sue manages not to interrupt any family times with harrowing tales of her 1970s exploits with LSD. Ah… family.
It is Saturday night. Everyone is getting their clothes ready for church and borrowing socks and comparing outfits. All except Uncle Bill. Everyone knows he won’t go. He never goes. You talk with Aunt Sue and she says the whole family has given up asking him about churchy things. When was the last time you asked him? 10 years ago. You ask your mother. 15 years ago. You ask grandma. 25 years ago. It seems no one had spoken to Uncle Bill about spiritual things in over a decade. He’s a good guy, just not a church going guy… you know. Another cousin said, oh yeah, he’s a Christian he just never reads his Bible or goes to church or prays. Huh? It was all strange.
What do you do?
What do you say?
You know that you and he always have gotten along well. You know YOU have never had a conversation with him about God or church or spiritual things. You think about it and you decide to put it off. Maybe after church. Maybe a heartfelt letter when you get back home. Maybe send a book from the Christian bookstore. Maybe.
Everyone leaves the next day for church. The day started early with a Sunrise service, then a pancake breakfast, and then another church service. Everyone headed back to the beach houses for an awesome Easter lunch prepared by the expert cooks of the family. Fried turkey. Mashed potatoes. Redneck sushi. You all arrived to the beach houses to find Uncle Bill dead on the back porch. He had a heart attack while sitting on the back porch looking out at the ocean.
Now the maybe conversation is a never conversation. It is everlasting too late. Why had you not taken the opportunity when you had the chance? Perhaps because you felt that there was no real sense of urgency. There was no urgency about the news of the Gospel or urgency about the reality of death without Jesus and you did not share your faith.
ON THE SUBWAY (Groeschel pages 203-204)
You and your friends are on the subway headed to the baseball game. It has been a most excellent vacation. You are chatting while the fast moving transportation moves you to downtown for the highlight of your evening… the game you all have been waiting for. You have perfect seats to boot. While you are standing in the subway car with your friends, you realize that at home the church is having a big event. It’s a bummer you will miss it. You start talking with your friends about the church you all attend together.
A young man politely interrupts you and explained that he could not help overhearing the conversation. He heard the word church, Jesus, and Bible and it caught his attention. He asks if you all are Christians. You, on behalf of the group, explain that you are. His eyes brighten with excitement! “I’ve been searching for a while, and I don’t know what I believe.” He said this with sincerity and then asked a sincere question, “Can you tell me exactly what it means to be a Christian and how I can become one?” The subway lurched forward towards the next stop.
What do you do?
What do you say?
No one had ever asked you that question before. Uh… what do I say? Uh… how to I explain who Jesus is? Uh… how do I explain how to become a Christian? You attend church weekly and yet you have never actually prepared yourself to have this conversation with anyone. You start by telling him about your church at home. Then you shift gears to talk about the Bible a little bit. Then, it hits you to maybe talk a little about how you came to know Jesus… but just as you begin to actually talk about Jesus… he stops you. The subway screeches to a halt. “Hey this is my stop, thanks for trying.”
You did not know how to answer a simple question and you did not share your faith.
When we think about sharing faith, we think about two words which are packed with meaning. We think about the word EVANGELISM and we think about the word WITNESS.
EVANGELISM (from Groeschel pages 197-198)
First, let’s talk briefly about the word evangelism. “The word ‘evangelism’ comes from the Greek word euangelizo which means ‘to proclaim or share the good news,’ Our modern word gospel comes from the Old English word gôdspel. In Old English, gôd with a long ‘o’ meant ‘good’ and spell meant ‘word.’ So share the gospel meant sharing the good word or good news of Christ.”
Evangelism is what the Apostles do in Acts 5:42 which says, “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
Evangelism is what Philip does in Acts 8:26-40 when he meets up with an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading from the Book of Isaiah. This man has questions about what he is reading. Philip has answers. Acts 8:35 says, “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”
Evangelism is what Paul and Barnabas do in Acts 14 in city after city they visit and Acts 14:21 tells us, “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples.”
WITNESS
Second, let’s talk about the word witness. Witness is the word the Bible uses when it comes to sharing faith and telling about Jesus Christ. A witness is simply one that testifies about evidence on what they have seen and heard.
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 10:18-20, “On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
The Bible also says in Luke 24:45-48, “Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”
Jesus Christ also says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
DISSECTION OF 1 PETER 3:15
READ 1 Peter 3:15
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”
The verse we read earlier, 1 Peter 3:15, is a verse about evangelism and witnessing. Let’s break down the verse briefly.
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.”
The instructions in 1 Peter 3:15 are to those who are believers and call Jesus Lord. The command is not for a casual observer, but rather for anyone who calls Jesus as Lord. If you call Jesus Lord then the verses that follow are for you.
“Always be prepared”
The command sounds a lot like the Boy Scout motto or the US Coast Guard motto. The Apostle Peter tells us that we should be prepared at all times, in all situations, and perhaps even at the drop of a hat. For what exactly? What should we be prepared for?
“to give an answer”
As believers in Jesus, we are to be ever ready to explain what we believe, why we believe it, and how someone else can believe the same things as us. We are to be ready to answer questions about faith when asked.
“to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
This part of the verse shares with us that it doesn’t matter who asks us… the questions could come from family, friends, co-workers, enemies, acquaintances, etc… it doesn’t matter. We are to share with everyone we come across.
“But do this with gentleness and respect…”
Our end goal is the communication of faith, not a verbal ‘beat down’ on how awful the person is or a lecture about how hot Hell is this time of year. Our answers to people around us about faith should be injected with gentleness and respect.
WHY DON’T WE?
Christian Atheists, those who say they believe in God but often live as though He doesn’t exist, know they should share their faith, but don’t for whatever reason. I believe there are three reasons why we don’t share our faith.
“Fear” is the first reason we do not share our faith. We are afraid of what people will think of us when we talk about God. We are afraid of how people will treat us once we mention God. Fear of being labeled over-religious or over-zealous. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of saying the wrong thing and making God look bad. Fear of saying something spiritually stupid and making ourselves look bad. Fear would make us say nothing to the person in the cubicle next to us.
“No Sense of Urgency” is the second reason we do not share our faith. We think that we will always have one more day to say something or make a difference and so there is no sense of urgency. Maybe we don’t really think good people will end up in Hell separated from God so there is no sense of urgency. No urgency so we opt not to say something to our Uncle Bill who dies the next day.
“Not Prepared” is the third reason we do not share our faith. Most of us have never sat down and wrote out our testimony. Most of us have never put a great deal of thought on how to explain faith, describe Jesus, and share verbally with someone the difference that God makes in our lives. We are not prepared to answer questions about our faith… some of which don’t have answers, answer questions about moral issues, answer the hypocritical issues in our own lives. We are not prepared and lose out on a conversation about faith with a polite guy we met on the subway on the way to a ballgame.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Always Be Ready
First we can have an attitude that every conversation we have might turn into one about God. We should be willing in all the places we go and with all the people we meet to be about evangelism and be a witness. I challenge you to be ready.
Give Your Life Away
Second, in addition to using words, you can also show Christ by your actions. You can love people, be a good neighbor, serve others, volunteer, and show forgiveness. Notice I said in addition to using words. It is possible if you just love and serve and volunteer that people will think you are just a good person. Your words should point them specifically to the One who makes you good.
Invite Someone to Church
Third, you can make a difference in the lives of the people around you by inviting them to church. You can invite someone to a service, a community group, a Wednesday night class, or some other event the church is hosting. Church is not Jesus, but Church is the gathering of His people.
APPLICATION: I challenge you to invite someone to the Choir Program this Easter Season.
Share Your Faith Story
Fourth, you need to take time and energy and effort to write down your story of faith. How YOU came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior is the most important story you will ever tell anyone.
APPLICATION: On your way out today, we have a small worksheet packet you can take home with you to write out how Jesus saved you. It will lead you through the process so that you will be prepared. Not only that, on Wednesday April 8 from 630pm-800pm, we are going to have a night where you can practice giving your testimony. I challenge you to prepare.
CONCLUSION… Personal Testimony (p)
I would like to conclude this morning by sharing with you my personal testimony:
I grew up in a Christian home with two parents that loved me dearly. Faith is something that has always come naturally to me. It feels like I have always been a Christian, but that isn’t true. I was immersed as a believer when I was young, I think around 10, because I firmly believed in God the Father, I absolutely believed that Jesus Christ died for my sins, and I wanted the Holy Spirit in my life.
After my baptism, I grew up as any normal kid. Then I became a teenager. I was even called by God into ministry at the end of high school. Then I went to college where my trouble started. I came to the faulty realization one day that all of my sin happened after God saved me and I felt incredibly guilty because I should have known better. I did know better and I chose the opposite. I knew God and yet I made sinful choices. I believed in Jesus and yet I chose to act like someone who had no moral compass. I had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and I told Him to shut up.
And do you know what? My God loves me anyway because He and I have a relationship. My Savior chooses to forgive me each and every time I ask Him. The Holy Spirit indwells me with His presence and He will never leave me nor forsake me. So why am I a believer? God is holy. Jesus is love. The Holy Spirit is ever present.
INVITATION
