Monday, 26 November 2007 00:00 | and posted in Sharing Your Faith
One of my favourite characters in the Bible is a blind dude called Alfred. Now, the biblically astute amongst you will quickly point out to me (and anyone listening) that there is in fact no dude in the Bible called Alfred, blind or otherwise. And in fact, you would be right. Blatantly, Alfred is not the blind dude's real name. I made it up. John doesn't give the poor fella a name, so I decided to call him Alfred.*
Now Alfred (a good, solid name) was born blind. He spent everyday begging near the Temple in Jerusalem (in those days disabled people had no rights). One day Jesus walks by Alfred, stops and spits on the ground. Kneeling down he makes some mud by mixing his saliva with sand and puts this on Alfred's eyes... (Lovely!) Jesus then tells Alfred to go and wash. Alfred does this and he goes home seeing!
When I was a teenager I dreaded being asked questions about my faith. I felt like I didn't have the right answers, use the right language or know enough Bible verses to share my faith. Therefore, I kept quiet. Whenever I heard someone teach about how to share your faith I felt intimidated by them rather than encouraged. They reinforced that feeling that I didn't understand enough. I was so scared of giving the wrong answer to how the cross worked that I avoided giving an answer at all. Do you ever feel this way?
I look at Alfred and I find confidence to share my faith.
After he gains his sight, Alfred is forced to appear before the religious leaders of his day and be questioned rigorously about Jesus. This happens twice! Scary stuff! At one point Alfred simply replies to their questions, "I don't know."
How refreshing is that answer? Faith is not about knowing everything. It's about having confidence in what we do know... and this is how Alfred continues: "But one thing I do know for sure: I was blind and now I see!" (John 9:25)
Alfred recognises that his life has changed dramatically since knowing Jesus (it was probably hard to miss this fact). This is all the understanding we need to share our faith! God never meant for it to be hard.
I was blind but now I see. It can be that simple.
Why are you a Christian?
"I met Jesus and he radically changed my life. Let me tell you how..."
Stories capture people's imaginations. They stay with people far longer than facts and abstract explanations do. This is why Jesus frequently used stories to explain his points.
Alfred shared his story. Why not share yours?
FOOTNOTE:
* You can find Alfred's story in John 9:1-41