Don’t worry about what you don’t know

Don’t worry about what you don’t know

How do you live out your faith when you come home from the high of a festival? At a recent Limitless Festival, Laura Hancock explained

You know how it goes: you come home on a high after a festival, then everyday life kicks back in. Now what? How do you maintain your enthusiasm without the supercharge of the bands, the speakers and the crowd?

Youth for Christ’s Laura Hancock tackled this challenge at last year’s Limitless Festival with advice that is valid whether your event of choice is Limitless, New Wine, Keswick or Spring Harvest.

“Chances are, your home situation is the same as when you left it, but transformation has taken place in you,” she says. “As you step back into it it’s about being equipped by the Holy Spirit so that transformation will spill out into your home environment.”

With this in mind, Laura had plenty of encouragement around everyday faith sharing and the power we have within us to make a difference at home.

Be brave
“It just takes five seconds of outrageous bravery for someone’s life to be changed forever,” says Laura. Sharing the John 4 example of the woman at the well, she explains: “This woman has an encounter with Jesus. What she could have done then is enjoy her drink of water, kick off back to the village and crack on with life. Instead, she went back into town and said, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!’”

If you have a real encounter with Jesus – at an event or elsewhere – something happens inside you where you have to tell people about him, she says.

That might mean being open about where you’ve just been: “I went to Limitless Festival and had this incredible spiritual encounter with Jesus.” Or sometimes it’s being in a situation with your mates and being brave enough to talk about Jesus or pray for a friend.

Share something
It’s all very well being encouraged to share Jesus – and even being up for doing that – but what if you get asked a tricky question or you don’t know what to say?

“We have this phrase in our church that I absolutely love,” says Laura.

“You don’t have to know everything in order to share something of Jesus.

“Don’t worry about what you don’t know… tell your friends who Jesus is and what he’s done.”

Why does this matter?

“Imagine this person never goes to church for the rest of their life, or never picks up a Bible. You could be the closest thing to an experience of Jesus your friend ever has. That isn’t to scare you; it’s to say what an incredible opportunity!”

Knowing Jesus
A recent Youth for Christ survey of 1,000 young people revealed that 63 per cent knew someone who followed Christ, 44 per cent of these Christian friends talked about their beliefs and 51 per cent said their views on God were influenced positively by these conversations.

Those stats, says Laura, suggest that if you share your faith with two friends, one will be influenced positively to know Jesus more.

And people want to experience Jesus for themselves. While the woman at the well’s neighbours first met Jesus by responding to her invitation, they eventually told her, “We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves and know this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

When people encounter Jesus for themselves, says Laura, things change.

“Your mates aren’t just open to hearing about Jesus; what they really want is to experience him.”

Crying out
There are people in our communities crying out for a touch of Jesus, she continues.

“There are friends of yours who struggle with mental health and their spirits are waiting for the Holy Spirit to impact them and change that situation.”

Have we conditioned ourselves to believe that moves of the Spirit – healing, words of knowledge and prophecy – only happen during response times at services or events?

“When you read the Bible you see the Holy Spirit making a difference in streets, communities and in the lives of people who are broken and hurting,” counters Laura.

“God has put something in you that is desperately needed by the people who live in your communities.

“There are issues there that God is breaking your heart for.

“Sometimes it just takes those five seconds of outrageous bravery.”

Laura’s 3 top tips for sharing Jesus

1. Be normal
Being a Christian doesn’t make you weird, says Laura.

“Following Jesus is the most normal thing you can do; it’s what every single human was created to do.

“You don’t have to be weird about following Jesus either… You don’t have to sit next to your friend and go, ‘Oh, is that a tuna sandwich? Bread and fish… fish and loaves… let me tell you about fish and loaves in the Bible.’ Make it normal!”

2. Be compassionate
“When I say to young people, ‘How do you share your faith?’ and they tell me stories of how they shouted at someone who disagreed with them I’m like, Okay, that’s one method. But I don’t know anyone who’s been argued into relationship with Jesus.

“I do know a lot of people who are loved and listened to into coming to know Jesus – so be compassionate.”

3. Be clear
“When people ask me questions about Jesus I get so nervous. My friends and Jesus are the two most important things coming together. I lose my mind with nerves and stupid things come out of my mouth.”

To avoid that, think about what you might say to your friends ahead of time in a quick and clear way.

“Here are a couple of examples: ‘He helps me be the best version of me and when I pray I see unexplainable things happen.’ Or: ‘Jesus makes life better and makes me better at life.’”