10 of those

Why don’t authentic followers of Jesus passionately and consistently share Jesus with unbelievers? At least two reasons come to mind, and these reasons get at the heart of why this book was written.

First, some of us don’t share our faith because we don’t have a firm grip on the core truths of the gospel. Sure, we know Jesus died for our sins, and we see changes in our lives, but beyond that, things start to get hazy. We struggle to communicate what the Bible says about God or sin or salvation. That’s why this book provides a brief explanation of five major truths, or what we’re calling “threads,” of the gospel. These threads include (1) the character of God, (2) the sinfulness of man, (3) the sufficiency of Christ, (4) the necessity of faith, and (5) the urgency of eternity. These are truths every disciple needs to know. We won’t share regularly what we don’t understand clearly.

A second reason we don’t share our faith, and this may be the primary reason, is fear. In many places around the world, there’s a fear of the repercussions of identifying with Jesus. As a result, persecution often silences the spread of the gospel. However, we don’t have that level of persecution in our own context, certainly not anywhere close to what many of our brothers and sisters around the world experience. Yet, we still fear.

We often fear rejection, and maybe even more than that, we fear awkwardness. The fear of awkwardness seems to be ingrained in our culture and in our relationships. We avoid awkward conversations like the plague. Talk about Jesus at the workplace or bring Him up with your neighbor out in the yard, and things can get awkward pretty quickly. But they don’t have to.

The “threads” of the gospel are not intended to be an awkward intrusion into our conversations. Instead, they can be woven into the fabric of everything we do and say. At the end of each chapter you’ll and practical suggestions for weaving these threads into your everyday interactions. Remember, though, there is no formula for sharing the gospel that will guarantee results. Salvation is God’s work, so we must rely fully on Him as we share the only message that has the power to save (Romans 1:16). That’s what weaving gospel threads is all about.