A Matter of Perspective

Gaining Courage:

I caught a Ray Comfort clip on Facebook today and spent some time reflecting on it a bit.  Ray was doing what Ray does, sharing the gospel through love in public.  Sometimes though, he shares the gospel with some pretty interesting people.  People who under normal circumstances you and I would never think to approach with the good news of the gospel.  And this was one of those times.  But that's Ray, if you've got a pulse, you're going to hear the gospel.

It was a really neat clip and I decided to read through the comments section to see what people were saying about it.  The comments were overwhelmingly positive which did not surprise me, but one stream of thought was coming through in the comments that really got me thinking.  Paraphrasing the posters a bit, the comment was, "How do you find the courage and boldness to deliver the gospel to people like this?"  What an interesting question.  Read on for my thoughts...




Mind you, not many of us are called to a ministry like Ray's as we all have different gifts, but we are all called to proclaim the gospel.  So what makes Ray so special in his ability to speak so boldly and confidently with complete strangers?  Absolutely nothing!  Yes, Ray has unique and special gifts which he uses to glorify God and he has been given a real passion and love for the lost.  But really, he is simply acting in accordance with his new nature in Christ.

And it all starts with his worldview.  It's easy to see that God is in the center of Ray's worldview.  Every piece of information that is synthesized by his brain is filtered through a God-centered lens because God is at the center of everything he does.  Does that mean Ray is some kind of super-Christian?  No, he's just a bad sinner like you and me; with a laser sight focus on God by grace through faith.  I don't know Ray, but I think if you were to pose the question of boldness and confidence to him, he wouldn't have any significant, practical, or personal answer for you outside of giving all the glory to God.

When we pursue a man-centered worldview, we filter everything we process in our brains based on how it affects us.  When we elevate ourselves as the masters of our own destiny, we have much to be fearful for.  Our natural inclination is to protect and preserve what we have and desire in life for our own safety and comfort.  But as every person who's ever walked the face of the Earth knows, this is not sustainable.  We all ultimately fail in the end. 

However, with a God-centered worldview according to our new nature, we have no such carnal reactions to our environment.  Knowing that in Christ we risk nothing because He risked everything; we actually deserve nothing!  Therefore, there is nothing for us to lose because there is nothing we have (outside of Christ) that is not worth losing.  Besides, we recognize that anything and everything we do have, we have according to the grace, mercy, and loving kindness of our Lord.

I'm not going to say that if you have a problem sharing the gospel because of a lack of courage and boldness, that you absolutely have a warped worldview.  But you might want to meditate on that through the Word to see if your cowardice and shyness are born out of your focus on yourself, and not God.  Afterall, there is nothing greater that you can give to God that He hasn't already freely given to you in abundance.  Up to and including your life.

Study God's Word and pray for wisdom.  Sharing your faith can be scary, difficult, and humbling.  But what a joyous and awesome blessing to experience how God continues to patiently work His will through His broken servants like you and me.  All praise and glory to Him!