telling everyone they met

Mark 6:7-13

"... if any community will not receive and accept and welcome you, and they refuse to listen to you, when you depart, shake off the dust that is on your feet, for a testimony against them."

I still worry about what people think of me. I worry about offending them, turning them off to Christianity. I was re-reading Blue Like Jazz today and could really relate to what Don Miller said: "So much of me believes strongly in letting everybody live their own lives, and when I share my faith, I feel like a network marketing guy trying to build my down line." Sometimes when I talk, I feel like I am selling religion, trying to make it sound appealing, or worse, selling my church.

I also feel like I am going to let God down, mess it up for Him with other people. I don't know how to do it right, I don't know how to make people respond well. Truth be told, I am an awful salesman.

The point is not, as Don Miller points out, to get other people to agree with your beliefs, or to change religions, or even become a Christian, whatever that means. It is about introducing them to Jesus. Telling them that I believe Jesus loves me, even likes me. And that He loves them too.

But their response, whether they believe or not, no matter what I tell them, or how I do it, is not about me at all. It is about them. Their choice is to believe or not.

My choice is to be courageous and tell. Or not.

Father, help me to share how You love me, and with these others, in a good and pure way. And help me not to blame myself for their response. It is really between You and them. Not me. Help me see that in a way that encourages me to tell them about You.

So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.