Share Jesus without Fear by William
Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd
William Fay opens Share
Jesus without Fear in a startling manner. He offers his audience a look
into his life before he knew Jesus, including involvement with racketeering,
mob ties, and owning “one of the larger houses of prostitution in the United
States.”[1] After this startling introduction
leading into a brief recount of his conversion, he gets on with providing
insights into sharing the gospel with others. Fay relates to his audience his
thoughts concerning those who say, “I live a good Christian life, but never
share my faith.” Of these people, he says, “But the problem is, if you aren’t
sharing your faith, you are not living
a good Christian life.”[2]
Fay offers that many people do not share the gospel because
they are afraid. Therefore, he offers not only a way to share the gospel, but
advises readers that they cannot fail, and thus, have no reason to fear.
Success or failure does not depend upon whether the person commits to Christ.
Indeed, Fay insists we choose obedience and should not fear saying, “There is
no success, no failure, in God’s kingdom when people choose obedience. In fact,
this is the one area of your Christian life you ultimately cannot botch. Even
if you share stupidly, unlovingly, or with poor timing, our heavenly Father can
use it. What he can’t use is your silence.”[3] Readers
are encouraged to drop their excuses so they might “experience the level of joy
so many others have found” when they “practice obedience to the Great
Commission.”[4]
Readers are not just encouraged by Fay to be obedient to the
Great Commission, he gives them an outline as to how to share their faith with
others. This is the way Fay has shared since become a follower of Jesus, and he
offers it to help those who do not know how to share their faith so they might
share confidently and with permission. Fay begins with five questions[5] to
understand where a person’s beliefs are and to get permission to share Scripture
with that person. Fay is adamant that permission is important, and that once
permission is granted to share Scripture, it is vital that the person being
witnessed to does the reading of Scripture “[b]ecause faith comes from
hearing.” Fay continues, “When people read Scripture aloud, you will be
surprised how quickly they become convinced of their need to trust Jesus as
Lord and Savior.”[6]
In Share Jesus without
Fear, Fay presents a no-nonsense outline to sharing the gospel with people.
He offers advice on how to bring a person to a decision to live for Christ, and
makes sure to be clear that God is the one working in peoples’ hearts and we
are just being obedient to the call. Just sharing the gospel and bringing a
person to a decision to follow Christ is not enough, readers are instructed to
follow-up with those who commit to Christ and not just leave them because Fay
says, “To abandon a new believer would be like leaving a baby in a blizzard.”[7]
There will be skeptics, cult members, and other general objections
to the gospel. Fay offers help for this too. He tells readers of common
objections he has encountered and offers ways to address them. With the help of
five appendices, Sharing Jesus without
Fear can be used as a tool for doing just that.
Bibliography
Fay,
William and Linda Evans Shepherd. Share
Jesus without Fear. Nashville: B&H Publishing, 1999.
[1]
William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share
Jesus without Fear (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 1999), 1, Kindle.
[2]
Ibid., 8–9.
[3]
Ibid., 18.
[4]
Ibid., 26–27.
[5]
Ibid., 33.
[6]
Ibid., 45.
[7]
Ibid., 72.
As a further resource, the following page lists the five questions to starting a conversation for sharing your faith, as well as recommended Scripture reading.
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