Read and Grow

Jack is a rapper, music producer and a passionate Jesus-man. He came to faith after leaving school and moving away from his hometown. After returning home, Jack found it challenging to reconnect with his previous circle of friends. He picks up his story sharing an encounter with an old friend.

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This Is Jacks Story

My friend that I used to work with was a Satanist, so he was like, “if you bring up Jesus or if you say ‘Jesus loves you’, I'll take you as a threat and bash you.” I was like, “Whoa okay!”

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Coming back home, being a born again believer was quite difficult. My past wasn't the best. I just wanted to share that love with all my old friends that were still in the same scene, still doing the same things. I knew they thought it (Christianity) was another phase. I knew that I wasn't going to just share Jesus and them be like, “I'm going to believe too.”

Sharing Jesus _{is just sowing seeds and letting God do the rest. Sometimes we never see what we reap. 'Cause you get ridicule. You get people going, “Yeah whatever, like that's not real,” and you'll get questions. But through those questions you get better at defending your faith. I found the way that I kept my faith strong was knowing that whatever I go through, whatever I say or whatever I do, God still loves me for who I am. The bible says that Jesus is our foundation and God is the bedrock beneath my feet. So it's knowing that and knowing how true that is.}

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What stops a lot of people from talking about Jesus is the doubt in their mind. They have a lack of confidence or they're scared about what other people are going to think. Instead of thinking, “What are they going to say?” or “How are they going to judge me?” [Start thinking] “What if this is something that they need?” or “What if they've been asking God for a sign? And I’m the one that God's given you the message to deliver to them?” Like, why would I want to withhold this information from people? It's such a beautiful, beautiful connection - it's a relationship. It's a love that you can’t get anywhere else but from God.

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So when I share my faith with non believers and people in my everyday circle I just try to be the representation of Christ, 'cause we're all meant to be ambassadors of Christ, right? We're meant to have this love and meant to give this love to everyone else. We need to be representations of Jesus and we need to be his ambassadors.

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As an artist, I just love expressing my love for God through music and opening that avenue as a way to talk about the Gospel. Everyone has their own individual strengths and talents and I’ve found, when you find your talent, or you find that connection that you have with someone, using that as a way to share the gospel is such a beautiful thing. There's always an opening to share the Gospel, it's just are you willing, do you have enough confidence and do you have enough faith to share about the love that you've been given?

Be Bold. _{My encouragement to people sharing their faith is just to be bold. You never know what someone's going through or what someone's gone through and you don't even know if God is sending you a message to save their life. So, next time you ever want to share your faith, start thinking, “I could save this person's life through Jesus.”}

^{“What am I here for?”} It’s a question that lingers in the heart of everyone who has ever lived. You see the success of the people around you, the influence that ‘The Influencers’ have. You consider the 7.6 billion people in the world and you feel like a restless child lost in a sea of faces. David Hume once wrote, ^{“The life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster”.} No significance, no purpose, but is that actually true?

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The Bible explains where your identity and purpose can be found, not in social media or success, but Jesus. Saved is your identity and called is your purpose.

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‍The world tells you if you want to be accepted, you must be worthy. God tells you, you are accepted because He is worthy, that’s grace! In Ephesians it says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9.

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God has saved you from a life of being separated from Him (focused on self) to an eternal relationship with Him (focused on God). When He saves you, God gives you a new identity; you are loved, delighted in, forgiven, adopted into His family, and made righteous which means you’re perfect in God’s sight. Having confidence in this as your identity will give you confidence and power when talking to people about Jesus. So wear your new identity like a jacket or a new pair of kicks. Put it on and remind yourself every day of the identity that God has given to you.

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The Bible also outlines your purpose in the very next verse of Ephesians. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:10.

One of the good works God has for you is to share Jesus with people in your life, your ‘life on mission’ calling. To join with the Holy Spirit in the great commission and to tell and show the world the good news of God’s story of redemption. If you’re struggling to find your purpose in life, why not start there? Consider the people in your life who don’t know Jesus and tell them the story of how you found Jesus and how He saved you.

Saved is your identity. Called is your purpose.

Write down your identity and purpose and put it someplace you can access easily. Perhaps you could make it your phone wallpaper or set up a daily reminder. Take time every day to consider and pray what it means for you and let God show you what you are here for.

Some people just have a knack for talking about Jesus. It just seems to come so easily for them. And to be honest for the rest of us, it can be a little bit disheartening. Be encouraged, although not everyone is gifted in evangelism (talking about Jesus), you are still able to share Jesus even if you can’t find the right words.

Every one of us is surrounded by a particular culture. It might not be easy to notice at first, but the values, language, attitudes, and shared experiences within a people group or location determine a culture, and this shapes the way we view the world. When missionaries go into a foreign culture, they will spend a lot of time observing and understanding the culture and language first, Paul did the same thing in Athens (Acts 17:23). To share Jesus effectively, look for concepts and language within the culture that encapsulate the core characteristics of Jesus; love, mercy, hope, redemption, salvation, and sacrifice. For example, you can find many movies which have a ‘Jesus figure’—someone who gives up their life for the sake of others. These concepts are present in all cultures because they are about God, and God is the God of all cultures. Take time to observe your culture and see how you might use cultural language and concepts to talk about Jesus.

In his famous Sermon on the Mount

Jesus tells His followers (that’s you) that they are to be ‘salt of the earth’. You put salt on food to bring out the flavours and make it taste better. In Eugene Peterson’s, The Message (a paraphrase of the Bible), he talks about bringing out the ‘God-flavours’ in our lives so that the people seeing us will see that life following Jesus tastes good and might want a taste for themselves. Live your life on display. Not in a way that draws attention to you, but in a way that draws attention to the goodness of God. You might want to start sharing your faith on social media, record a video testimony of how God has been good to you. Be transparent with your friends of how God has answered your prayers or how He has spoken to you personally.

Jesus also tells his followers to be a light on a hill

The amazing thing about light is that darkness has no power over it. Light will always penetrate through and overwhelm the darkness if it is given a chance to shine. The very fact that we can see starlight from millions of light-years away is proof of this. The same is true for the light that you shine. Let the goodness and power of God shine through you like a light on the top of a hill. Let the fruit of the Spirit be seen in your life; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. People will see it and some will ask you, what’s different about you. Be ready at that moment to talk about Jesus.

Consider how you can put your life on display and let your life be salt and light. Perhaps sharing a video testimony on social media, or sharing more openly with your friends about what Jesus is doing in your life.

Have you ever felt completely unqualified? You are given a job to do at work or an assessment task at university. It can make you feel overwhelmed. You might feel at a loss of where to start, so you keep putting off the task. Perhaps you feel this way about sharing Jesus.

The good news is you don’t have to feel unqualified, because you’re not. God made you on purpose and with a purpose. You are qualified to share Jesus because God created you that way.

You are who God intended and created you to be. You are not a mistake, Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb… I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God has given you gifts, passions, and a personality so you can use them to do the work of sharing Jesus that He has prepared for you (Ephesians 2:10). Don’t try to be someone else when talking about Jesus with your friends, be the ‘you’, God made you to be.

For example, if you love hosting parties and cooking for people, use that. Invite people to your place, cook for them and use that time to share your lives together. As you go, find opportunities to talk about Jesus. If you’re a creative person, find ways to use your creativity to share Jesus on social media or with the people in your life. There are many creative ways you can use your gifts, passions, and personality, the only limit is your imagination.

You are in the right place, at the right time. Your mission field is all around you. Think about your friends, your family, the barista at your coffee shop, the people in your study group or sporting club, these are the people God has placed in your life to share Jesus with. Just like the words said to Esther in the Old Testament, you have been called for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Open your eyes each day to the mission field you already find yourself in. Start by praying for the people in your world and ask the Holy Spirit for opportunities to have conversations and build relationships. Be salt and light. Let God bring out His flavours and colours in your life, and when people ask what is different about you, be ready to give an answer to what Jesus has done in your life.

God has placed you where you are for a reason. Don’t try and be someone else, be yourself.

Think about the people in your life that you have regular contact with, how can you use your gifts, passions, or personality to share Jesus with them?