The great evangelist D.L. Moody was once confronted by a woman who said she didn’t like his method of evangelism. D. L. Moody said, “I don’t particularly like my method either. What’s yours?” The woman said, “I don’t have one.” To which D.L. Moody replied, “Then I like mine better!”
There are many methods for sharing the faith. As someone has said, sharing your faith is like prayer: there’s probably only one wrong way to do it, and that’s to not do it at all. An often overlooked way to share your faith is through your trials. Here’s how to glorify God even through your failures.
Anything we care about we will do it more and more. Satan tells us we are not going to get better, so we should just move on. Tim Keller said it well, “We should share the gospel with people in a way that even though they don’t believe in it…they wish it was true.” Imagine what this might look like in your life as a dad.
You aren’t perfect. But, you’re commanded to make disciples.
When Jesus said, “go and make disciples,” He meant something more like an apprenticeship—relational, hands-on, and life-invested—than what we often see today. Discipleship is down and dirty, often ugly and really messy. We must not be afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life. People are sinners and they need a Savior. It’s hands-on living. That means, we have to be genuine with one another.
In Acts 2:42 the word, κοινωνία (fellowship) is the idea of shared spaced, your burden is my burden, your joy is my joy, and your life is my life. Therefore, this living is to build relationships and be models of healing and restoration.
Jesus is our model as well as our message here. Jesus could have wired the universe with stereo on Mars and woofers and tweeters on Jupiter, and the angel choir singing to us about the gospel. But instead “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
You impress people from a distance, but you impact them up close.
Biblical manhood is about making disciples through building relationships. You will never shape the heart of a man from a distance. You impress people from a distance, but you impact them up close. Get personal. Or as a pastor I often say, you cannot make disciples from the pulpit, you will only make an audience.
Don’t glorify your failures, glorify God.
This life is not about us. This life was given to point to God. As the Westminster Catechism begins with this statement, “The chief end of men is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Why? Because the Bible is for us, but it is not about us. It is about God’s pursuit of His glory.
As you read Scripture with this in mind, it’s impossible to ignore God’s pursuit of His glory:
- To God, who is full of wisdom and knowledge, be all glory, honor, and praise (Rom. 11:3-5).
- To the Righteous Ruler and the Holy King be all exaltation and adoration (Isa. 6:3).
- All creation joins with the resounding of heaven and earth for this one single purpose—to glorify in the beauty and majesty of the Triune God who deserves all worship (Ps. 115:1)
Remember, life is not about our own glory or our own kingdom. No, you aren’t perfect. But, you’re commanded to make disciples. How? Well, one great way is to not point to yourself—but to point to God. The Christian life is constantly in the battle of two kingdoms; the kingdom of self versus the kingdom of God. The question is, which one are you pointing to?
Are you pointing folks to yourself or to God? How would you explain your answer to someone if asked?
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