3 Myths About Sharing Your Faith

By Susan Freese

It’s common to be a little uncomfortable the first few times sharing your faith—but it gets easier each time you share. Sadly, you can sometimes receive negative feedback from your disciple making efforts—surprisingly from other believers!

Here are 3 myths about sharing your faith or roadblocks to overcome. To learn four more myths (and skills to share your faith), take for our free Be a Disciple Maker Course:

1) There is no need to use words when sharing Jesus with others.

You may hear people scoff evangelism saying, “actions speak louder than words.” By this, they believe their Christian life is sufficient testimony to the gospel. They feel there is no need to practice spiritual conversation starter questions or their testimony, and there is no need to learn how to share God’s story or lead a weekly gathering, etc.

People quote theologian Francis of Assisi supposedly saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.”

While our actions do speak louder than words (so let’s watch our lifestyle to make wise choices), it is not true* St. Francis said this, and, most importantly, Jesus modeled a different approach.

Jesus preached the kingdom of God repeatedly (sometimes He said the same message in different ways), but He also commanded us to “go and make disciples…teaching them to obey.” The Bible says, “faith comes by hearing” (Rom. 10:17). So rather than see this as an obstacle, view this as an excuse people use not to obey Jesus.

2) Sharing the gospel (evangelism) takes a lot of time.

While it is important to steward your time to go into the harvest (John 4:34-38)—sharing your faith is not necessarily time-consuming.

The original Greek word, “go” in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) means “as you are going.” Sharing your faith can be done in a few minutes as you ride the city bus or train or wait in line at a store. You can ask to pray for someone when you see them hurting or share your testimony with someone experiencing a similar hardship you’ve endured.

Rather than focus on the amount of time, focus on following the Holy Spirit’s prompts to share your faith. He knows what is important to you and what you need to accomplish for the day. He also knows what is most important and who needs Jesus. People are more important than tasks. You will never regret rearranging your day because someone needed the good news of the gospel, and God chose you to share His love with them.

Take our new Be a Disciple Maker Course to learn strategies to build disciple making into your everyday life, including when to share, what to share, and how to share. You can take our one-hour course for free here.

3) Disciple making is the role of a pastor—I can just bring someone to church.

Yes, you could bring someone to church and stop there, but you would miss out on the blessing. Disciple making is not a task on a spiritual to-do list, but a privilege to work with God. Lives change in the context of relationships, and many people would rather talk with a peer than a pastor.

Picture a gathering of people, and you’ll see like-minded individuals congregate together. Teenagers hanging out together. Sport fans talking about their teams. Business people discussing the economy.

You gather with others when you have something in common. People feel more comfortable sharing their burdens with those who can relate. This commonality factor may be one reason why God called all of us to this great ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

You will never regret working with Jesus to make disciples. Everything you’ve been through can help someone else. As the saying goes, “God does not waste a pain.” Yes, pastors lovingly guide us into biblical truth, but they cannot disciple everyone. The Bible refers to all believers as “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5-9), and God has chosen you for this good purpose.

There are four more myths to sharing your faith you need to watch out for—and you can learn about them in our free Be a Disciple Makers Course.

Yes, sharing your faith doesn’t have to be complicated and the benefits far outweigh your efforts.

Imagine the possibilities when you share your faith. You may not be able to share your faith with everyone, but think about the multiplication when one life is changed. When one person comes to know Jesus, their life changes, and they bring that change to their families and communities. The result is many changes lives—all for God’s glory.

Remember God created you to share your faith, and you are not alone. We are here to help you—take our free Be a Disciple Makers Course today.

People are waiting to hear your story, be prepared to share, and don’t let false myths keep you from sharing your faith with others—their life may change, and yours will also.

*Research on the teachings and writings of St. Francis of Assisi by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College led by Dr. Lon Allison. Read a related article by The Gospel Coalition for more information.