How to shine your light for Christ in a secular environment?
by Michael Lennox
QUESTION: What do you think is the best or most practical way to shine your light for Christ in a very secular environment?
ANSWER:
This is a great question that deserves to be unpacked more deeply! There isn’t necessarily a best practice or one-size fits all answer of how to do this. Instead, I want to think of the question in this way: “How can I shine my light for Christ in secular environments?” Based on my experiences working and living in secular environments over the past decade or so, here is a framework that I have found helpful!
1. Understand What You Believe
In order to be prepared to share the Gospel, you need to start by confidently KNOWING the Gospel. How can we expect to be a light for the Gospel message in the darkness of the world if we don’t fully know or understand it to begin with? We can’t! It is so important for us as believers to really know what we believe and why. We should be able to clearly articulate the Gospel message. Here are some great verses that outline that Gospel and a great place to start in your journey toward better understanding.
Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
John 3:16-17 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”
Ephesians 2:4-5; 8-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you are saved!...For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast”
2. Prioritize Building Relationships & Live Well
Most of the time (not all of the time) Gospel conversations are borne out of pre-existing relationships in which others see how we act and live our lives. Taking the time to get to know the people that surround is in school, the workplace, and other secular environments is an opportunity to show the love of Christ and reflect his character for people who desperately need him! God is a relational God, and the way he has chosen to reach the lost is through people (you and me). It makes sense then that shining the light of Christ necessitates relationship building. This can be hard, frustrating and it also takes a lot of time, but it is not only worth it, it’s a command (see Matthew 28:16-20)
A caveat - LISTEN - When you are getting to know people and building relationships, don’t just bombard people with your beliefs, bible verses, and statistics. Listen without an agenda and be willing to engage. Most people just want to be heard and to have someone listen. By doing this (even if they have some really crazy ideas!) you are building relational equity with them that God can use in the future.
We are called to pursue righteousness, and daily submit ourselves to the Lord as he works in our hearts to make us more like him by being obedient to his word. This lifestyle of growth and obedience is the process of sanctification. When humans live this way, it is completely countercultural and others will notice and ask questions.
Ephesians 4:1-2 “I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love...”
1 Peter 2:11-12 “Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, and maintain a good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears”
3. Pray for Opportunities to Share & take them when they come
1 John 5:14-15: “And this is the confidence that we have before Him: that whenever we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from Him”
This is essentially a reminder for us to pray because God hears us and when we pray according to His Will, he will provide. We can be confident that the salvation of the lost is part of us his will - so praying for opportunity to share won’t go unanswered.
Sharing the Gospel is almost always awkward or uncomfortable, and that is okay! People lost in sin will likely be offended by the Gospel message because it goes against every grain of their identity. Spend less time focusing on saying the exact right thing and more time understanding the Gospel. Practice articulating it out loud and courageously take opportunities to speak up when those opportunities arise.
1 Peter 3:15-16a: “But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience...”
4. Meet others where they are at (in humility)
Remember that at one time you were just like them! You aren’t some super-duper person who earned God’s favor. We were all lost in sin and only by the grace of God are we saved. Don’t use your status as a Christian to cultivate an “Us vs Them” mentality.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolators, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”
Seek to understand where people are coming from & again, listen!
For a really great example of meeting people where they are at, I encourage you to read Acts 17:22-32 which chronicles Paul in Athens having an encounter with a city filled with Pagan gods. How he approaches these people might surprise you!
5. Remember that it’s not up to you to save souls!
Only God can save sinners. Our job is to be faithful in the spaces that he has placed us to share His love and the Gospel message. You’re not responsible for the salvation of another person (thank God!). That gives us the freedom to make earnest mistakes and fumble through sharing this life-giving message with those who desperately need it. We plant the seeds, but it is up to God to water them and bring them to bloom in the hearts of others.
Practical Ideas to Prepare Yourself for Sharing the Gospel:
1. Write out your testimony & practice speaking it. Make sure to tie it directly to the Gospel narrative and use Scripture. Try and keep it brief enough that you can easily remember it
2. Identify people in your circle who need the Gospel. Write their names down & commit to praying that God would open their hearts to the Gospel and that he would provide you with opportunities to share it.
3. Pursue Godliness and Live Worthy of Your Calling. Live in a way that showcases Christ, no matter what opportunities you may or may not have to share the Gospel message with others.