Visible Hope Equals Shared Faith

We first wrote about visible hope in the 5 Keys to Full-time Ministry Series. Jesus said we would be his witnesses in Acts 1:8 because our hope would be visible. We are not necessarily required to speak to share our faith or to be a witness.

Before they trust Jesus, most people will need an explanation. By ourselves, we rarely understand the good news that Jesus makes us right before God. We won’t trust Christ without an explanation (Romans 12:14). But before the explanation, people must open up to the idea and the need for a savior. When we begin by talking – trying to ask questions or turn a conversation into a presentation – we make the word “share” so much smaller than it could be.

Sharing the Good News of Jesus means we live according to what he says. 

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

Mark 9:41 (NASB) Jesus speaking

And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

Matthew 10:42 (NASB) Jesus speaking

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James 2:14-17 NASB

Our actions matter. 

When we do something we don’t have to do, we share our faith. Our faith informs our actions so we show our belief that action matters. Time is the most valuable commodity. We all have a very limited supply. When we spend our time treating others as more valuable or important than ourselves, we cause people to question. They see our hope and how that hope informs our lives. Hope makes life attractive. And hope in Christ makes life following Jesus visible. 

Let’s share our faith today, but do it without speaking. If you share your faith well, and if you’re prepared, others may ask. And then you can share with words, too.

Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE on Unsplash