Recently I learnt something useful. It is in how you rightly see yourself, people and God. Skimming through some of my previous posts, I see a pattern that’s not good.

Here’s one of the benefits of writing 📃 – your thoughts are penned down for you to revisit and sometimes you see things in a different light. Do you find it easy to watch a movie 🎥 and evaluate where the characters go wrong? You may likewise do the same when you are able to see yourself from a 3rd person’s view on a blog like this. 🧐

Anyway, here’s what I learnt. We who are easily hurt, what’s our problem? Well, there can be many..! 😓 But a main one is likely to be pride. Who do you think you are? That’s a genuine question to ask myself – who do I think I am..? More than just reflecting on myself, I also remember conversations I had with disappointed people, those who are hurt because they had been kind and hospitable to others but treated poorly in return. I’m not saying you cannot be disappointed, of course you can, but in perspective.

Here’s the issue I now see: I take it personally because I see myself as a saviour of some sort, or a benefactor, or a good samaritan. So, how dare people don’t appreciate my sacrifice. But there’s a big problem with such thinking. It is not true for a start. Let alone mixed motives that we humans have – as we go about doing ‘good’ – but we aren’t even the real giver. All we have are but given. In reality, all I am is but a channel of God’s blessings to others, an extension of God’s grace to others. They don’t owe me anything, instead they owe any blessing they receive in any form (including through me) to God who is the real source of blessing and mercy. He doesn’t need to use me, yet He does use me. It is a gift to be made a steward of all I have been granted. And if I expect to get some reward for doing good, then my focus and motive is problematic. It should only be to point them to God, not myself. To build God’s kingdom, not mine. If I can truly think that way, then I won’t be so easily offended for no good reason than just being narrow-minded. 🤏

The contrary is true, if I can see others ultimately as God’s channel of blessings to me, then I won’t idolise people as easily. Humanly speaking, I owe it to them and should be thankful to them personally. But on another level, I don’t owe them anything, but only God. Hence I shouldn’t hold them inordinately high nor try to pay them back or earn their favour continuously. Again, that would be the wrong focus and the wrong motive to have.

Anyway, I digress too far! I was just thinking about writing on sharing the good news as Christians, and then it occurs to me what is there for us to share if we ourselves often seem so joyless? We’re not living true Christianity if there’s no underlying joy and freedom in our lives. And there’s then no good news for us to share.

Yet we do have. Only our experience often does not synch to the reality we are already living. But thank God He uses us still even when we just mechanically strive in cold obedience when we should instead be cheerfully delighting in the privilege of service in the only Kingdom that lasts, with eyes truly seeing and heart deeply rejoicing. And thank God too He is patient with us and does remove the scales that cloud our vision by and by ☁🌥⛅☀🌞. The joy in the Christian life is more real the more you walk it, and that’s what we should be increasingly eager to share with others as we experience more of its reality.

Back to topic. Recently, I shared with some fellow Christians on sharing the Good News, and I thought I’ll share it here too (in this and the next post, with minor edits) and hope it gives some encouragement to you —

— my sharing (as part of a recent ‘Salt + Light’ session at our church 🧂✨) —

Preliminary

Just to be clear, I’m speaking to Christians i.e., people who’ve experienced God’s love in a saving way – and that’s the whole reason why we want to share it with people we care about – which should be everyone if possible, but of course family and friends (that goes without saying).

And let me start off by recognizing that we’re all at different points. But we start where we are..

Where I was (years ago..), was at a bench in a University in Singapore just doing my Engineering assignment 📚, when two girls approached me in their walk-up evangelism – one is a new fresh-out-of-the-oven Christian 👧 (with much zeal and joy), the other is a more mature Christian 👩‍🦰.  Story cut short, they talked to me and the new Christian ended up crying 😢 (something I said, may be hostile ?🤷‍♀️ Don’t remember..!). But I remember when I saw her tears, I looked straight at her and said,

‘What is wrong with you?’ 🤨

Not very nice. She continued crying. I will apologize when I see her in heaven 😅. But I also remember what the other girl said. Referring to the crying girl, she said, ‘She’s found something really good she wants to share.’ But I rejected it. I’ve rejected something truly good for myself, that’s why she cried.

You bet I was offended (clearly 😠!).  But she was right: I was a fool for rejecting what I needed most back then.

So, that’s where I was.

Where I am now (it’s been a long journey and still a journey), but I’m a Christian. My family, friends and colleagues know I am a Christian, and I try imperfectly to share the same Gospel with people that God in His kindness and sovereignty has placed around me:

• my family and friends
• where I live among my neighbours
• where I work with my colleagues (who are also my friends)
• where I studied here in Melbourne with Univ friends from back then and also current students

I can share more in practice of what I do, how I invest in caring and loving and sharing the good news, but (the earlier speaker) has given you some helpful practical things, so instead I’ll share with you not so much what I do outwardly, but more of what’s within: the perspective about evangelism I’ve learnt and gained especially in the last couple of years that’s been helpful to keep me going and on track. 🛤

(The previous speaker) has given you a practical toolbox, I hope to share a ‘mindset’ toolbox 🧰 – a framework of mind to have / carry as you go about it.    

I’ll share what’s been helpful to me in relation to four things:

1. About the barriers in getting started
2. Things to remember or be cautious about
3. When it’s difficult, the perspective to keep
4. Exhortations or encouragements we can give others and ourselves to keep going

I hope some of that will be useful reminders to you and myself as we go out to share with others. 

— (my sharing to be continued in next post – else this will be too long a post!) —

Meanwhile, here’s a hymn on being a channel of God’s peace that have spoken to me recently.

Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace
Where There Is Hatred Let Me Bring Your Love
Where There Is Injury, Your Pardon, Lord
And Where There’s Doubt, True Faith In You

Oh, Master Grant That I May Never Seek
So Much To Be Consoled As To Console
To Be Understood As To Understand
To Be Loved As To Love With All My Soul.

Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace
Where There’s Despair In Life, Let Me Bring Hope
Where There Is Darkness, Only Light
And Where There’s Sadness, Ever Joy.

Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace
It Is In Pardoning That We Are Pardoned
In Giving Of Ourselves That We Receive
And In Dying That We’re Born To Eternal Life.

(continue to part 2)