Do you believe in witnessing boldly? - Speaking up when others deny Christ.

kelly · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2002 10:19 am Post subject:

I frequent a childhood arthritis board as my DD, 4, has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Some of the women on the board are christians, but you would never know it. Recently somebody posted info. on an upcoming healing convention in Baltimore. The post was in no way pushy, simply contained an address, a phone number for prayer requests, and dates. Well, somebody posted a very cynical post saying the post was inappropiate and they were very offended by it as the post claimed arthritis can be HEALED. I posted back that with prayer, arthritis CAN be HEALED. I was not met with friendly responses. Although many claimed to believe in God, they did not believe in healing through prayer. Some claimed they tried prayer and it didn't work. I lovingly and gently tried my best to witness. I said you need to pray without ceasing, that if you don't BELIEVE that He can heal, then how will He? I said that the more we follow God's word the more powerful our prayers become. So on and so forth. They responded, "How dare you judge us...", "My God loves everybody, not just those who pray, I don't know who your God is...", not happy people! I tried one more time to answer gently. I said of course God loves everybody, but He is a just God. He has clearly laid down the rules we are to follow in His book, and if you go to church like you claim you do, then you know how we are called to live. The stronger we are in Christ, the more faithful we are to Him, the stronger our prayers become. I was still met by strong opposition. I didn't go any farther. I felt I had said all I could. Then I was feeling pretty beat up...I e-mailed a friend on the same board (a christian) and asked her to help me witness and encourage them that prayer can work. She declined, saying that the Holy Spirit wasn't leading her to. Aren't we called to be His disciples?? Didn't I do the right thing?? I felt I didn't want to be held accountable for passing up the chance to encourage those who were denying the Lord...I remember Jesus saying, "If you deny me, I will deny you before my Father...". What would you have done?

By the way, I'm new here! Hi! I'm a mother of three little ones with one on the way...I am married to an awesome DH and we live in N.Y. We are strong christians growing together everyday. We are young, being 24 and 25, and are in our first year of marraige (the two older children are from my previous marriage). We look forward to making friends on this board...

Smile

webacus · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2002 11:21 am Post subject:

Hi Kelly, and Welcome!

You said the right things. I think your response was right-on.
What you experienced is what I have observed many times in other message boards – some "Christian", some not.

Basically, I think it’s very difficult to “witness” to others in this venue -- because of the impersonal nature of the Internet [email, message boards, etc.] and because such a wide range of people [beliefs, values, personalities, etc.] are there.

[Despite those experiences, I do not shy away from witnessing when appropriate. I just don’t have high expectations.]

I think I would have responded much the same way you did. You were right to stand up for the truth of answered prayer.

Remember that these people come from different places spiritually: Different backgrounds, denominations and different religions. Some may even think they are Christian, but they are not [biblically]. That makes spiritual conversation very difficult – especially in a group setting.

And, remember the nature of those forums. Parenting a child with rheumatoid arthritis must be very challenging. Some of these mothers just don’t want to hear about “God”.

I admire your courage for speaking out. Don’t back down. Don’t be discouraged.
And frankly, I think your friend should have backed you up.

My advice would be, if you want to pursue that topic on the arthritis board, I would try having private conversations [email or private messages] with people who are interested in doing so. Then, when you engage in those conversations, build a relationship. Find out where she is spiritually. What are her beliefs? Move slowly with grace... That’s one-on-one evangelism. I think you’ll see progress.

SAM · Veteran Joined: 03 Mar 2001 Posts: 2164 Location: Chicago

Kelly,
I think you did great.
There is one verse I want to lead you to - Matthew 9:22
where Jesus says, "Your faith has healed you!" Not, "I have healed you." I think that says a great deal about the heart condition of the woman who was healed. Also, James 5:7-16 where we are sometimes called to be patient in suffering. Also, what about Job?
I know God has done His best work in me during times of pain and suffering. Usually during these times we have a choice to draw Him closer to us, or push Him away. That may be where some of the people on the board are at. Angry, rejected, suffering and many more things inbetween.
I agree with Webacus about possibly doing some one on one talks with individuals rather than the open board, if possible.
Don't ever give up on sharing your faith. When you least expect it, someone may hear.

kelly · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2002 4:07 pm Post subject:

Thanks for your responses guys. I was feeling pretty beat up, but that was just the enemy trying to put me down for doing God's work. Your encouragement, and some encouragement from another board I visit, Christian Families board, has built me back up. I have just started getting convicted this year for not witnessing and sharing when opportunuties arose. This is my first year of "boldness" and it hasn't gone as easily as I expected. I used to work in a pre-school, I was head teacher of the infant room, and we were having a halloween parade. I expressed in advance that I was not comfortable participating. My superiors were fine with it, knowing I was a christian. They made arrangments to have another teacher walk my kids around. At the last minute they were short on teachers and demanded that I do it. I was very upset and felt strongly against giving in and doing something I was firmly against. I expressed again to my superior that this was settled upon already and making me do it would be unfair to me. She reprimanded me right in front of all my parents (the kids in my classroom's parents) that this was my job, that everyone else was doing it, etc...Even though my parents were not christian, I had come to have a very good relationship with them and they knew my beliefs as I shared them here and there before. My parents came against my superior and said how dare she put her employees up to something that was against thier wishes etc. Wow! Work was tense after that, but I left shortly after b/c I was having a baby. I had endured being humiliated in front of all my co-workers in the meantime. My flesh was screaming at me to just give in, but the Holy Spirit kept me strong. I cried a few tears as I was leaving work that day! Doesn't the bible say we will be persecuted in His name? In one short year I have already faced more persecution than I thought I would. I don't give in to satanisaliar though. Thanks again for your encouragement and support. By the way, one woman on the board did post that she wasn't a very religious person, but she was interested in what I had to say and I gave her something to think about during the week. Maybe I planted a seed? Maybe I'll try and softly witness to her via e-mail like you suggested...Let you know what happens...! Smile

sydney · Newbie Joined: 04 Mar 2001 Posts: 10

kelly · Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2002 4:13 pm Post subject:

In response to your question, I visit the Christian Families Board @ iVillage. It's a board of very supportive, christian women. We all check in pretty much every day to support, pray for, vent with, and share praise reports and testimonies. Smile

sydney · Newbie Joined: 04 Mar 2001 Posts: 10

You should refer some of your iVillage friends here! Very Happy

BTW I like your avatar.

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