Comments on: Okay, so I choked

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:36:48 +0000

Just out of curiosity, how do you know those two guys didn’t know Jesus Christ and were just like you: Taking a day off with their kids? Is it because of how they looked? I’m not asking to be rude. I’m curious if we judge too often or if it’s our duty to stop every person we see and tell them of Jesus. Which is perfectly great. But I know not everyone feels that way, either.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Good point. Sharing Christ out of a “dare” is probably not the best motivation. But we do have an obligation. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.”

I think the best way is natural conversation that leads to the gospel. That’s what Jesus did in John 4. So instead of cold turkey sandwiches it was warmed turkey…or, well, you get the idea.

By: jeremy zach

jeremy zach — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:52:24 +0000

Greg,

I have a honest question for you, but I don’t want to undermine your call and your vision.
When we don’t share our faith or “when we blow it”……do you think God wants us to feel this sense of guilt and shame?

I think we put too much pressure on ourselves that God needs us to share our faith all the time. What if God wanted you to just stand there and listen? What if God wanted you to talk to them, just to get to know them? Or go buy them a ice cream cone?

It is my belief that sharing our faith from a dare or obligation isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to bring people into the Kingdom of God. If someone is doing something out of an obligation, how genuine and authentic do you think the response will be?
Would if these two ultimate fighters asked you: Greg why did you tell me about Jesus? Your answer would have been: Well……my son dared me to do it. How do you think these two guys would feel?

I think sometimes the cold turkey approach ends in a cold and closed response. Interpersonal communication theory supports this idea and suggests for other ways to persuade people.

Bottom line I think when Jesus commands His disciples to share the good news, He wants them to share out of a genuine posture, not out of a dare.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:09:53 +0000

Hey not all of us are perfect. At least you have shared the gospel to tonz of other people.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:34:17 +0000

“But Jeremy, I’m not scared, this is YOUR oportunity to show me what you’ve got. I was waiting to see what YOU were going to do. I do it all the time… and you’ve been doing so well I thought this was a chance for you to take it to the next level. Now go ahead, I’ll be waiting right over here… in the car… with the engine running…”

By: Landon McAllister

Landon McAllister — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:49:19 +0000

You always seem to surprise me. You are a real person and I love that about you. I am like that too, but we can’t keep kicking ourselves. We can just learn from what God teaches us through these circumstances. I like your story about prayer,(the wimpy prayers lol) I guess we need to learn from that for evangelism. Like you say “we have 20 minutes”. We are in it together!
PS: Thanks for being at Epicenter!

By: Abbie

Abbie — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:15:02 +0000

I’ve been struggling a little with the whole cold-turkey evangelism too. Really relying on that God’s wisdom (JESUS) will lead me in those opportunities. Ephesians 1:30…totally helpful and God really opened my eyes on that verse.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:30:01 +0000

Man, I LOVE that Jeremy!
If my boys had “Dare 2 Share”d me, I would have had to do it, as you did, Greg. Then, while thanking God for His Presence in my son, I would proceed to blame the son who dared me when the UFC guys gave me the ‘let’s practice our tringle choke on the pencil-neck geek’ look. Jeremy’s cuteness factor whould save you on that one.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:58:21 +0000

There are times when I’ve totally messed up a chance to tell someone about Jesus and each time he uses it to teach me something I did know or never saw before.

By: John Garay

John Garay — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:46:13 +0000

I love you Greg!!!!… Thanks for being real…. It’s good to know that our spiritual “Hero’s” are just as human as we are… Blessings to you and your familia!!!