Hope You're Wearing Your Swimmies...

Gonna go a little deeper than normal today.  I just listened to something and had to share/comment on it.  I listen to an Atlanta radio show every morning on my drive to work, The Bert Show.  It is a crazy bunch of radio hosts who basically talk about anything and everything, literally.  I think it's great!  They're on the air from 5 am-10 am, but I'm only in the car from about 7-8, so I normally miss a lot of stuff.  Well, this morning, they were talking about Jenn Hobby's (one of the radio hosts) talk yesterday about her faith.  I also saw Andy Stanley's tweet today saying "Would someone please pass along a message to Jenn@Q100. Your boldness and sincerity about your faith yesterday was extraordinary. Thank you!" Of course I had to go  online and hope they had the clip available to listen to.  Well, they did!  It is incredible.  Jenn was talking about how this past weekend she had gone to a funeral for one of her friend's 16 year old brother who had lost the battle with a brain tumor.  She was so challenged by how strong the family was in their faith and how they were relying on God to get them through that difficult time.  Jenn said she was inspired to be more public with her faith.  She really has always been "embarrassed" to share her faith in fear of what people might think of her.  Basically, Jenn decided that there is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about, but showing the love of Christ to others was something she is going to do more boldly from now on.  She felt that in her 8 years of doing the Bert Show, that she had missed out on so many opportunities to share.  No more.  Which I am really excited about, because sometimes I do think on the show that I wish they had a Christian opinion for some of their topics.  I'm now hoping Jenn steps up in that, I think it will be an amazing addition.

One of the other hosts on the show, Melissa, made an amazing analogy.  She said that her girlfriend is an avid exerciser.  Instead of pushing Melissa to exercise or making her feel guilty for not exercising, she just sets the example and tells Melissa how good she feels when she works out.  Another one was how she is not a parent, and her friends that are parents share good memories/stories with her and the joys of parenthood rather than pressuring her to have children.

Isn't that how it should be with our faith as well?  Instead of pushing the gospel on someone, shouldn't I just live the example in my own life and tell them what the Lord has done and is doing in me?  Shouldn't they be able to see the love of Christ in me and not some pushy "you're going to hell" speech?  Am I doing that?  Are you?  I'd have to admit that I am more like Jenn right now, not necessarily ashamed of my faith, but definitely not bold in sharing.  Is it because I'm shy?  Probably.  I also have a fear that someone will ask me a question I don't know the answer to.  Do I not have enough faith that God will provide me with the answer, or with someone who does have the answer?  I'm not sure.  I do know that I have been inspired by Jenn's story, and am now challenged to be Christ everywhere I am.  To my co-workers, friends, and anyone I come into contact with.  May they all know where I stand.  And may I yearn to grow closer to the Lord so that my boldness can solidify daily.

If you're still with this until the end, I'm impressed.  Will you join me in this?  Or if you're already doing it, please shine a little light of encouragement my way, I'll need it :)

And if you're interested and have a spare 15 minutes, I urge you to listen to this radio slot which spurred this long deep blog post.  You won't regret it, it's good stuff.  :)

http://thebertshow.com/jenn-opens-up-about-her-christian-faith-and-about-why-she-normally-doesnt-discuss-it/