Youth pastors, like myself, often teach our students to be bold in their faith. We reference many faith heroes in the Bible who proclaim God’s truth and how the hope found in Jesus can change everything.

This is good. Really good, in fact. Most of us, as humanity, are very uninterested in talking about faith, religion or really most things that are substantial. I’m not of the line of thinking that every conversation has to be deep, but being intentional on occasion could do all of us some good. Oftentimes, when people share their faith, they will talk about doing street evangelism. If you don’t know what street evangelism is, the essence is that you go and talk to strangers and try to get them to accept Christ as their Savior. Now, I completely understand the urgency of the Gospel, and that it is definitely Good News for all. The problem lies in the approach. Experiences like these often just push others farther away from God, accomplishing a result that is the complete opposite of the initial goal for us as followers.

When I was in seventh grade, I remember going around my local mall and trying to start conversations with people about God. My only motivation was to see them accept Christ into their lives. I had the Bible tracts, the five-question survey (with the last question asking if someone would want to be saved right now), and the training to change a conversation to intentionally ask this stranger whether or not they knew Jesus. My motivation was pure. The problem lied in the fact that I did not know this person. I did not know their experiences. I didn’t know their family history. I didn’t know if they had just had a tragedy strike their lives. I didn’t know if they were interested in spirituality at all. Here I was, forcing myself into their lives to try to get them saved. Looking back, I wonder if all these acts were just efforts to make myself feel better about my own insecurities in my faith. It’s as if I wasn’t leading enough people to Jesus or something.

Once I got to high school and college, I abandoned the street evangelism tactic. I wholeheartedly believe God can work in any way, through any situation; I just found that it wasn’t working for me. Most people I talked to saw right through my naivety and walked away after rolling their eyes at me. But I did not stop sharing my faith. I ended up sharing my faith with many of the people God had put in my life. The kid sitting next to me in band. A friend on the basketball team. My roommate. And even my family.

But sharing God’s story of redemption and how our hope is found in Him was much more difficult with people I loved. I couldn’t merely say what I wanted and move onto the next one. I would be asked tough questions that I did not always have the answers to and still have to live in community with these people for a long time after our discussions. And the dialogues were ongoing. It was not just a one-time event, a one-and-done type deal. It was difficult. And painful.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe 100 percent in a conversion experience, but the process of coming to find the truth is a journey. To just save souls to chalk them up as a notch on a spiritual belt or to be able to brag to your Christian friends is just boasting. And that makes God upset. Paul writes the following in 1 Corinthians:

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Paul approaches his teachings in “weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” He comes humbly to plead with the church at Corinth that they may see the Spirit’s power. Even Paul, who writes two-thirds of the New Testament, is scared to present this message. When we take these actions into our own hands, it is actually going against what God would have us do.

That’s why I think it is good to be scared to share your faith. If you are nervous about sharing your faith with someone, it likely means you care, and care deeply about that person. It’s easy to haphazardly tell someone to listen to you because you have the truth. It’s extremely difficult to tell the ones you love about a God who has changed your life. It’s intimidating because you know right after this difficult conversation, you might experience some awkwardness. Or disagreements. After this seemingly difficult experience, it is often back to the mundane. You head to do the dishes together and watch television for the night. You will still be in connection with this person you love for a long time. This is the beauty and hardship of evangelism.

The next time you are nervous about sharing your faith, know that it is OK. This shows you care, not necessarily that you are ill-equipped or not educated enough. God is your confidence (Psalm 71:5) and God is your strength (Psalm 46:1). Be bold and push yourself if you are apathetic toward ever sharing your faith, but don’t become one of those bullhorn guys either.

So … what do you think? Is it actually good to be scared to share your faith? Does that really show you care about the person you are trying to converse with?

Jonathan Sigmon is a writer at TaintedCanvas.com and is a young worship and youth pastor in Rochester, NY. He enjoys basketball, laughing and his fiancé, Sarah.

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