How do the Shy Witness?

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

Those who are shy tend to think they will just let the “Bible thumpers” handle the gospel. But that’s not what Peter is telling us here. First, “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” This part of the verse is crucial to our witnessing. You see, there is a step that is very necessary in order to have a good witness. That comes from our personal respect and honor of Christ. I’ve met loud shouters before, screaming out for sinners to repent! I guess that might have some effect, but it seems as though it’s missing some deep genuineness. Maybe calling it “loud but shallow or even hollow” might put it better.

For the shy, we preach the gospel by the way we live. We adore the Lord. We treat Him as the Glorious One. And we hold Him in the utmost esteem. His returned gift to us is peace and joy. It is the peace we walk in and the joy on our faces that makes the lost curious. No matter what the lost portray in their facial expressions, they are inwardly miserable. They have no connection with God where true life abounds. Sadly, most are walking zombies scraping their way through another day. They have been deluded by the evil one that this is all there is. That is why Paul told us that we fight against principalities, powers, and spiritual forces. Our fight is never against people. God only asks us to be available to give a reason why our lives are different.

There are many out there struggling and wandering through life. Yet, somehow deep inside they sense there has got to be more to life. They hope for something better. And we are that “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We are the representatives of that something better. There are many people in my church that are easy to spot as genuine lovers of the Lord. I would much rather listen to them tell me about Christ than someone shouting at me to repent. Again, maybe there is a time and place for that, but I never saw Billy Graham talk that way. He was humble and sincere and a real voice of truth.

The last part of the verse, “Do it with gentleness and respect.” The power to change a person’s life comes from only one source, the Holy Spirit. We do not need to be loud, only honest. It is in that moment of someone’s questioning that we step aside and trust the Spirit to tell the person  their need for Christ. We are only the mouth through which He speaks. If we are gentle and respectful, then there is not much fight against that approach. We show a caring concern for them which is probably something they are not used to. Let your loving kindness in Christ show itself. Be obedient, open your mouth, and let the Spirit take it from there.

Does that help?