Real Fears, Real Faith: Talking Honestly About Evangelism
In this episode, we discuss one of the biggest barriers to evangelism: fear. During a recent evangelism training, participants were asked about their concerns and hesitations when sharing their faith. While the specific answers varied, many of the fears were surprisingly similar. We explored fears of rejection from peers, persecution, being hated or misunderstood, looking foolish, not having all the answers, and lacking confidence in gospel conversations. A key theme of the discussion was that the Christian life is not lived in the absence of fear, but in spite of it. Fear itself is not the problem. Too often, Christians feel as though admitting their fears somehow makes them less faithful or less mature in their walk with Christ. We talked about the importance of being honest with one another and encouraging each other through those fears rather than hiding them. We close the episode by discussing what can happen when Christians remain passive and fail to engage the culture around them. Using Alfred Kinsey's work and the influence of The Kinsey Reports as an example, we examine the long-term impact that ideas can have on society when we as believers choose not to speak into important cultural conversations. If you've ever felt nervous about sharing your faith, this episode is for you.