Church growth. The topic that either excites a Pastor or causes him to loose sleep at night. Every Pastor thinks about church growth. I am no exception. Even during this transition period, as I think about past ministry and look forward to future ministry, church growth is on the mind. The Bible is very plain and clear on how churches grow. Church do not grow through kids ministry. Churches do not grow through events. Churches do not grow through fellowship activities or social activities. Churches do not grow through being relevant or being seeker friendly. Churches do not grow through great music, smoke machines, coffee booths, or engaging personalities. The Bible is clear; the church grows through the reverberation of God's Word, empowering God's people to tell others about Jesus and inviting others to know Jesus and see Jesus through His visible body, the local church.
So the question is, what stops people from sharing Christ with others and inviting them to know the Savior and see the Savior in His body? The answer is simply fear. It is fear that stops God's people from sharing their faith and extending an invitation. But it is fear in two different forms.
First, it is fear of being rejected. Every single person hates being rejected. Instead, we all have a desire to be accepted, loved, and welcomed. We all want to be loved. But when we are rejected, turned away, or worse responded to with negativity, we feel unloved and unwanted. This is the fear of being rejected. And it is the fear of rejection that stops us from preaching the Gospel and extending an invitation. We do not want Jesus to be rejected. We don't want to loose a friend. We don't want to be ridiculed, made fun of, or persecuted. So the fear of rejection holds our tongue, keeps our mouth shut, and leads us on a path around the opportunity for Gospel proclamation and invitation. The fear of rejection is the first obstacle to overcome to share our faith and invite others to know Christ.
The second reasons we don't share our faith and invite others to Christ, is the fear of failure. What if the person asks a question we don't know the answer to? What if the person says no? What if I misspeak and do not clearly articulate the message or the truth? What if I fail at actually inviting the person? The fear of failure is real. We have all experienced this in our own lives in many ways. We do not want to fail at our jobs, so we work hard and put time in. We don't want to fail for the sports team, so we compete and push ourselves to succeed. We don't want to fail at having a retirement account or a comfortable house, so we seek promotions and better paychecks. The fear of failure drives our lives. Yet it is this fear, that stops us from sharing our faith and inviting others to Christ. The fear of failure is the second obstacle that must be overcome to share our faith and invite others to know Christ.
Yes, there are multiple other reasons why we don't share our faith. But even the other reasons are tied to fear and are rooted in the fear of rejection and the fear of failure. We can't let fear stop us. Fear is sin and a lack of trust in God. Fear comes becasue we don't know God's sovereignty. And it is fear that cripples us and causes us to sin by not sharing our faith. Whichever fear is stopping us, repent and turn it over to God, because it is only through His power flowing through the Spirit in us, that will drive us to share your faith, invite others to know Jesus and His body, and grow the church that we are a part of.
