Today, countless options are avaible for how you can live your life. Our society can be described as "pluralistic," meaning that there are many different worldviews and religious beliefs that can be valid for you. No matter what you choose to believe, it can be true...for you.Now, while this idea is chaotic (for how can two truths that contradict both be true?), pluralism offers the Christian one ironic gift: People will actually be willing to listen to what you think is true (even if they disagree. Again, pluralism). Think about it - you can talk about Jesus freely and people, who don't know Jesus, more than ever before in our life time will listen to what you say.
While we aren't promoting pluralism (for truth is absolute), we are saying to talk about why you follow Jesus if people are willing to hear what you say.
So HOW do you do that anyway?
Bill Hybels wrote about one way he tells people why he believes Jesus is the only way. It only takes, at most, a minute or two. He states:
"This is the most simple and succinct tool I know for telling others about Christ...Since this illustration is verbal, without need for any props or visual aids, it's a good one to use in ordinary conversation, including talks on the telephone."
[Below he relates a past conversation he had]
"'Well, first you've got to realize the difference between religion and Christianity,' I started. 'Religion is spelled 'D-O,' because it consists of things people do to try to somehow gain God's forgiveness and favor.
"'But the problem is that you never know when you've done enough. It's like being a salesman who knows he must meet a quota but never being told what it is. You can never be sure that you've actually done enough. Worse yet, the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we never can do enough. We'll always fall short of God's perfect standard.
"'But thankfully,' I went on, 'Christianity is spelled differently. It's spelled 'D-O-N-E,' which means that what we could never do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. He lived the perfect life we could never live, and He willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty we owed for the wrongs we've done.
"'To become a real Christian is to humbly receive God's gift of forgiveness and to commit to following His leadership. When we do that, He adopts us into His family, and begins to change us from the inside out.'"
Hybels said that he had to briefly share that one day on the lake when a group of boaters asked him in passing what it meant to be a Christian. Are you ready to have that conversation? If not, you may want to reread the "Do vs. Done" conversation to give you a better idea how to "give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).
Hybels, Bill & Mark Mittelberg, Becoming a Contagious Christian (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), pp. 155, 156.
