Austin Ave Unplugged #030 20 Ways to Share Your Faith

Hey everybody and welcome back to the Austin Avenue Unplugged Podcast.

I have something today that I I think will be pretty fun and I hope you all uh feel the same way about it.

I thought, what if we did 20 ways to share your faith, but you only have 20 minutes to do it.

So we each have a few ideas, but you only get one minute to share that idea.

Okay.

And so I brought a little prop with me too.

I hope everyone can hear this.

There it is.

What was that?

I didn't hear it.

We exhausted our budget for the episode on the sound effect.

And I even spent, I think, 86 cents more to get the smiley face one.

I was gonna say the smiley face does not make it any better.

I'll have to bring it back to an episode that we have video.

Yeah.

I was gonna say, we're not on video, so nobody knows what he's talking about.

So I've taken a little bit of shots the one time that we didn't do video.

Right.

And then and and then I took a slight shot the last time because it was kind of a rambling podcast.

So this time we don't have video.

I might take a shot, but but it's highly structured, even timed.

So those will cancel out.

So you only get a minute per each point that you have.

Okay.

So I I'll ring every minute on the minute.

But you might share something, and it's just a quick idea that only takes you five seconds to share it, and then we can talk about it or elaborate.

But at 60 seconds, we move on.

At 60 seconds, okay on.

Yeah, let's do it.

Let's go.

Yeah, let's go for it.

I feel like we need to break out right now.

With hands in the middle.

Yeah, but somebody might accidentally hit the bell and then we're all messed up.

Oh, yeah, and then the timer's off.

Okay.

This first one only gets 58 seconds because that's as fast as I could stop uh my timer for this.

I'll start us off, and then whoever wants to jump in um after us, after me.

Okay.

Can go.

Okay.

First one, here we go.

Is the first of 20 ways to share your faith is be curious about what other people present.

So ask them about the stickers on their water bottle or on the back of their laptop, or if they have tattoos.

Ask them if there's a story behind it, right?

Doug, you have any tattoos?

Is there a Jesus story behind it?

Exhibit A.

Okay.

Uh the jewelry that they wear, a graphic that's on their shirt, anything that they're presenting, be curious, and maybe it'll enlighten you on that person or on their faith or something like that.

All right.

We got 22 seconds.

Uh I have a simpler one.

So I'll I'll save it.

Any thoughts on that one?

It's except for the tattoos one, man.

That is so dangerous.

Asking somebody about a tattoo, sometimes that just goes to weird places.

Okay.

Yeah, I don't know.

Just personal.

No, I'm always about asking about the tattoo.

At least enlightens you about that person.

Me?

You're up.

Oh, okay.

Uh worship him.

I'm thinking of Paul and Silas in prison, in the jail, they're in stocks, they're chained up, they've been unfairly persecuted, and they worship God.

And so I think one way to share your faith is just to worship him, especially during really challenging times.

I've talked a lot about I think it's great when athletes give glory to God.

That's normally done in victory, but victory, suffering, I I don't think it matters.

You worship him.

Okay, so by by doing that, particularly in places of suffering, people might be curious about why is he doing this when things are obviously not going his way, and they'll ask about it.

Yeah, 100% you can share that even more.

I like that.

And even in the good times.

They might not ask what you were saying.

Our songs have both of those.

They can be a praise and a lament within the same song.

That's true.

I was gonna put you on the spot and be like, name one.

Yeah, I was gonna make sure you did not miss that.

Okay, so I'll go ahead and go one.

This is such an uh easy one, but also a difficult one, is just literally say, Can I pray with you?

And I know there's not every uh situation you can do that.

I mean, but obviously there are some times where you can tell people are struggling and just offering to pray with someone anytime that I'm willing to say, I will pray for you, I am willing to say, I will pray with you.

Can we do it right now?

Uh and I've been in lots and lots of hospital rooms.

I don't know that I've had maybe one time somebody told me, No, I don't want you to pray with me.

Uh all the other times, um, even people who I I know that aren't uh don't seem to be believers, they seem to appreciate that, and they certainly don't stop me from it.

So yeah.

Okay, we got three seconds.

Uh so ask your waiter, hey, we're about to pray.

Anything we can pray for.

Absolutely.

That's one of my favorite.

You're not time.

Okay, okay.

Sharing your faith.

Um, I work in spaces at schools, which I guess faith is allowed in schools now.

Um, but just um those little kids, it's so they are not afraid to share their faith.

And they will, if you say something even remotely that sounds like a Bible story that they have heard, it is so cool to hear to let them share their faith.

Um, and then just to be able to be um in that space with those kids in that sweet, innocent, childlike faith and and to build on that or to affirm that I feel that way too.

I know, I know the Jesus that you're talking about, or I know that story you're talking about.

And then kind of just give them that, okay.

Um, it's okay to talk about this, and that encouragement of um like joining in their conversation.

Yeah.

When I was teaching, I would share Bible stories without Bible character names.

They were all anonymous.

And then it was interesting to see the people that would come up and go, Well, you're talking about Are you hiding the you're hiding it?

I'm keeping it uh I wouldn't hunt it every yeah.

Okay, uh here's one that might be a little manipulative.

I'm excited to see how y'all think about this one.

Uh so keep your Bible with you, and then when you're driving somewhere, put it on the or like have it on the dash, and when someone sits in your passenger seat when you turn or accelerate really fast, it'll fall on their lap, and now you can start a conversation.

Have it in your passenger seat, and when they come in, say sorry for the mess, move your Bible to the dash so they see you move it, and then when you take off, it'll fall.

And then you get to the bottom.

So you drive 70 to a red light, you lock them down, and then you hit them over the head with the Bible.

Well, I think if you decelerate, it just pushes the Bible towards the windshield.

So you have to Yeah, when you're freaking when you lock them down, it comes back at them.

No, it doesn't.

Giles is right.

But no, the Bible is not coming towards them, their face is going towards the Bible.

They go ahead or into the New Testament.

That's a Bible thumper for the apologetics.

I'm thinking the West Huff lane.

I'm thinking just always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have with respect and with gentleness.

What's up, first Peter?

No, I said the West Huff lane.

315.

To just be confident enough to where you don't have to have an answer for everything, but to just be confident enough and to know enough and say, yes, um, I am I am assured of certain things about the Bible and certain things about the gospel that I'm fluent in talking about with people that have a question.

You know, you might not have a perfect answer to every question that's ever been raised, but be confident enough to have the conversations.

Yeah, one of my points that was on there was be brave and maybe a little awkward about it.

Like, yeah, just be brave and have the confidence to do it.

Good.

Think you're up?

Oh, I'm up again.

Okay.

I I there are some code words that we can use.

Okay.

Um, that I'm not really sure I love them completely.

But I mean, if we're we want to share our faith, anytime I hear somebody use the word bless, then I know like that that's a word that really is not used outside of religious circles, unless of course you're sneezing.

Um I'm I'm not overly comfortable with the idea that we think we can go around and dole out God's blessings on people.

Like, like God, you have to bless this person.

So that bothers me a little bit.

I'd rather, you know, talk about how, hey, let's let us be a blessing to God.

But still, uh using those language, those words, that vocabulary, uh, to be grateful.

Um, this is not necessarily spiritual or religious, but the idea of just being thankful, you know, I think that that helps when you start using that vocabulary, um, it helps people uh know and and be able to share your faith.

Perfect timing.

Way to go.

Is it my turn?

It is.

Oh my goodness.

Okay.

Back in the lane of just being around people in your community.

Um you can talk about maybe something that you learned on Sunday morning or Wednesday night, just kind of if it happens to come up in conversation.

And I don't think sharing your faith has to happen to an unbeliever necessarily.

I mean, I think we need to be iron sharpening iron and and bounce ideas off of each other, talk about the sermon, talk about the lessons, maybe something you learned in class, and just like if they were zoned out and not paying attention and you bring it up and like, oh yeah, we were supposed to be talking about that in class.

And then you just kind of are sharpening one another and sharing your faith with within your community, and I think that's important.

Well, and just to kind of normalize conversations uh in a workspace, like a secular workspace um around faith.

I think that's a big deal.

Yeah, that's right.

I was hoping you were gonna be talking and I could interrupt you with the bell.

Okay, mine is in that same lane.

I said use the momentum from the lesson.

So if you hear a story on you know someone's first job, right?

I know Doug has brought that up in a lesson, I brought it up recently in a lesson.

After service, ask someone else about their first job and at least starts a conversation with that person, and presumably they're a believer as well.

Um, or if they say, Um, I'm gonna pick on Doug for a second, you say, This is my favorite a lot about almost every story that there is.

And so you can say he brought up his favorite, what's your favorite Bible story or passage or verse or whatever it might be.

Uh, and then that opens the door for opportunity for them to share what their favorite might be.

Yeah.

Oh, that's where you went to like hit the bell and you still had like 18 seconds left.

No, I was hitting the timer to see how long I had to.

Oh, okay.

And if anyone wanted to share, that that's a good idea.

Well, I was going to, but there's only six seconds left.

It's just finding a a way to continue the uh faith conversation.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Okay.

My next one is I feel like I don't own this line.

I feel like both of you do.

So uh the chosen, maybe season one, episode two or so.

What's Mary's famous line?

I was always this.

And then I met him, and now I am different.

Yeah.

Um, to tell your story.

Um I I think about the man in um in John 9 that was blind.

He says I was blind, and now I see.

I think about the guy in the Gospel of Mark that's demon-possessed.

Um, Jesus cures him.

He says, I want to join the team, I want to follow you.

And Jesus says, No, go back and tell your people what I've done.

And so just telling your story.

Um, I don't mind telling people that I've been forgiven of so much, that God has been so good, that he has changed me, that he has loved me, that he has been faithful.

I I'm happy to tell that story.

Amen.

That's good.

We'll do it anyway.

Okay, so I got an extra second on this one.

This one's not gonna take long, and I know I'm gonna get some pushback from Lance on this one, but I'm I'm a I'm a big believer in sharing your faith um by by the the clothes that you wear.

I'm not anti-Christian t-shirt.

Um I'm like anti-knockoff uh Christian t-shirt.

I get it.

Coca-Cola, the real thing, but it changes Coca-Cola to Jesus Christ.

That's that that I'm sorry.

I get that.

Um one of my favorite shirts right now, um, uh shout out uh to Jarek Roberts, Jarick and Kelsey.

They made it for me.

Uh it's a maroon shirt.

Uh it does have a brown wood line on it, but like big letters on the front.

It says Jesus won.

Uh, and so I wore that at a football game the other day.

I probably had like 10 or 12 people like stop me and want to talk about that shirt and where I got it and how awesome it is.

And so I know not everybody reads shirts, but but there were at least 12 out of you know four or five hundred that wanted to stop me to win.

Okay.

I forgot what I was gonna say.

I passed.

Okay, passing.

Uh I say have favorite questions.

If you go up to someone and say, hey, I really love asking this question, or I'm I'm curious about this, about you, I doubt they're ever gonna be like, no, never mind, just pass.

Right?

So have favorite questions.

One of my favorite ones, I I ask this um a lot in cabins at camp or at FCAs with uh the leaders of it.

Um ask, at what age do you think you actually started taking your faith serious?

Because when I was 16, I would have said, Oh, when I was baptized at 10 years old.

Uh when I was 21, I wouldn't have said, oh, at 10.

I would probably would have said at 16 when I started living out my faith at school.

Um and now that I'm 25, I might not say 16, I might say, oh, 21 when I got to the campus ministry or whatever it might be.

So just have some favorite questions uh that you can ask to a lot of different people.

Yeah.

Very cool.

Go ahead.

Um just let the word speak.

When I was young and I was nervous about talking to people about their faith.

I mean, I was in college, I was an intern at the Bible chair, and I was like, oh no, you know, like I I should be talking with people about faith and God things.

Like, I don't know if I know how to do that.

And a preacher told me a story that there was a woman who came in who wanted to study the Bible.

They read the gospel of Mark, a little bit of conversation as they met about the gospel.

They mainly just read the gospel at the end of Mark.

She's like, Okay, I want to be a Christian.

And he was like, All right.

And they they prayed, she was baptized, they did all the things, she joined the church, and somebody said, So, like, how how did you lead her to this point?

And he's like, The gospel of Mark.

They're like, Yeah, but what did you do?

He's like, No, we just read the gospel of Mark, and they kept looking for like that man-made thing.

He's like, No, seriously, we just read the gospel, and I invited her, and she said yes.

So sometimes just allow the word to speak.

It's the greatest story ever told.

Yep.

I don't know that words are cheap always, but I I think that actions are always more important.

Um, and so I think little bitty acts of kindness are huge.

Um, and so like I'm a big fan of sharing um cokes and Gatorades and water with people, especially people um who probably get overlooked and are always, you know, uh whether it's a guy who's, you know, taking out who's picking up your trash, uh, that type of stuff.

We've done that before.

Uh when we go to Walmart, um, I we have the service we use it where we pull up and they they load our car.

I always get out and I start helping unload them.

They always think it's weird, and I always ask them about their life.

Um, and I do leave my Bible out so when they're putting stuff in my backseat, they'll see that.

And if it's if the it we can open up that conversation, I love that.

But just doing those little things, I think, really do help out a lot.

You should put your Bible where they're gonna load.

I do, it's in the backseat.

Yes, I'd have to move it over.

On the opposite side of that, I think um big um acts, like if you forgive big, yeah, um, you have an opportunity to share why why you did that.

Um maybe well can you imagine I mean Christ has forgiven me of so much.

Why can't I forgive somebody of little?

Um and you have the opportunity to say that in its scriptural, it's right there.

Yeah, yeah.

Jean Valjean, right?

Play Ms.

Yeah, right?

Um he he beats the priest, he robs him in the middle of the night, he gets arrested, they bring him back, the priest has got a bruised face, and uh the priest's like, you've done a very bad thing.

Jean, you you took the silverware, but you forgot the candlesticks, and then he puts the candlesticks in.

Yeah, most impressively, he did that all while in song.

Yeah, no, I've never seen the musical.

Would you promise Doug to walk?

I'll sing it right now.

Okay, here we go.

Dang! Oh, I ran out of time.

I know that song.

Maybe at the next minute.

Okay, I was gonna say there's a few ways that you can talk with anyone, and I think you can be interesting or interested, right?

And no matter how interesting you are in this world, there's certain people that just don't care about the things that you care about.

Right?

You could be the best at whatever niche thing it is.

Some people just don't care about that thing.

Tell us about pickleball, Doug.

But everyone loves talking to someone who is interested in them, right?

Where they get to talk about their favorite things.

So be interested in those people instead of trying to promote yourself by being interesting, I think is a good way to show your faith.

But if you're gonna be interested in.

Right.

But they love talking about what they're interested in, and they think that they are interesting, and so that is the the goal is to be interested in the people instead of having them try to be interested in what you are.

Have you got something to say, Doug, about the pickleball?

Oh, we gotta move on, so sorry.

Uh Giles, I think this was your number two.

I forget.

Enter the world of the people that you want to talk to about the Lord.

Doug is the one.

We don't want to talk about um Paul Paul did this, Mars Hill.

He walked around and and looked at all the idols that the Romans had, and then when when he got his chance to talk, he could relate back the gospel to what they believed in their culture and what they were interested in, and he used that as a doorway to talk to them about the Lord.

So um just just know something about the culture and about the people that you're trying to reach.

Okay.

What was the I I was laughing when you mentioned the first line.

So what is the like the one synod summary of that?

Uh to to be interested in their culture and world.

Okay.

To be interested in their culture and world.

Yeah, to use what they already have established and then relate that to God.

I have a longer story about that, but I can't share it now.

Okay, so I'm gonna say there, you know, we talk about sins of co-mission and omission.

I want to talk about evangelism, co-mission, and omission.

And not the things that you say, but the things that you don't say.

Uh I'm in a live group right now.

Giles is in it with me, and one of the books we're reading is called Not Offended.

And there's Unoffendable.

Unoffendable.

I got it wrong.

I promise I've read it.

I've like, I'm I'm almost one chapter left.

Um, but really the thing is like we there are people who will say things and they're almost hoping that it's gonna trigger people.

And when you just act completely unoffended by them and just hear their story and listen to them, it can be very disarming to them.

Uh instead of looking for a fight, uh, being the one that writes that post or makes that comment or says, Well, you're going to hell or whatever, or you're different or weird.

Just, you know, love those people instead of judging them.

And so don't just be angry out of omission, but actively do commission.

Look for good things.

Yes.

There we go.

Okay.

Hedge your bell, Jamie.

I know, right.

I also think we've we've talked a lot about being interested and interest and being interested versus being interesting uh in the last few minutes.

I think also being interesting, having something about you that is surprising, uh, is also a good way that people might be curious enough to ask you about your faith.

Um, so now I love um I love my favorite animal is a moth.

Right?

And that's an interesting favorite animal, and it's a common icebreaker question.

And so I've thought, how could I turn this common icebreaker question to be something Is a moth your favorite animal?

Is your icebreaking question?

No.

What is your favorite animal?

And if I ever get the opportunity to answer that, I say a moth.

And when I was teaching, I said it's because it sounds most like math, right?

But but really, I love a moth because a moth is drawn to the light, it's drawn to the flame, and I'm gonna be drawn to the light in that same way.

Okay, yes, my favorite part of the solar system have an answer for that too.

No, that was your time.

So whose turn is it?

You have one left out of one.

No, I no, I've I did all five.

Okay, I have I have one, and I I again this kind of goes to my last one, but just be the non-anxious presence in the room is almost always a way for people to want to have conversations uh and and for them to think differently.

Again, the book Unoffendable, uh, the guy uh talks about how his neighbor um lost his w wife in a very tragic uh car accident, and he was there and tried to save her and couldn't.

And he really didn't know him a whole lot, but he just knocked on the door and opened it up, and the guy says, uh, he says, Listen, I don't know you that well, but I know your your uh wife died, and I just want you to know I'm so so sorry.

And he said, You you must be religious.

He said, Because everybody else, all my friends that know me, when they see me, they go the opposite direction.

But but you came towards me.

And so I think just being willing to

How do you beep that, Giles?

Yeah, really.

That was a good one.

Man.

That is we could have done 30 ideas in 30 minutes.

Yeah.

That was a lot of fun.

I won't do any more one-minute commercials right now, but I will say Unoffendable by Brant Hansen is an awesome book.

Like Doug mentioned, we're doing it in our life group, but it's a pretty easy read.

I enjoy his writing style.

Yes.

But if you summed it up, it it would be respond differently than the world would predict that you would.

Yeah.

And people will be curious about that, and you'll find that living an unoffendable life is much better than the alternative.

And he has still hard.

Yeah, and he has a really, really solid argument on why we should not walk around as uh Christians believing that God has called us to be offended by the world.

Um, but we have just we have worn that moniker.

We think that we should have righteous indignation and have hatred and anger towards people, and the Bible clearly in no way uh promotes that.

And so it's a great book, and it may be a topic for another longer discussion.

And I think just if you want to just sum that up into one sermon that Jesus did, it's the Sermon on the Mount, and He's calling us to be different.

Um, all of the things that He said in the first few chapters that we've gone through, or not even a chapter that we've gone through on Sunday mornings, are just showing the world that you're not gonna be like that.

You're in the world, but you're not of the world.

Look at how upside down my kingdom is, and look what I'm calling you to.

It's different, it's very different, and you're gonna stand out and you're gonna be a light in a dark place, but even a tiny light in a dark place is very bright when it's completely dark.

So actually learned a phrase for kind of living that out.

It doesn't come from the church, it's kind of a secular thing, but it's uh gray rocking.

It's like when somebody's kind of trying to like provoke you and you just don't give them a whole lot of feedback.

And so I feel like sometimes that like there's almost a script that people follow.

Something somebody's gonna um try to inflame you or you know do something to try to provoke you, and when you just gray rock them, it's like, okay, so that was your choice to say that.

Okay.

Yeah, and they just leave it there.

I haven't seen this movie, but there's a famous scene at the end of Eight Mile, is that right?

Eminem and Anthony Max.

It's so funny.

I know that scene because it's like famous.

I've never seen the movie.

I'm the same way.

Yeah.

But he lays out everything.

I know you're gonna make fun of me because I went to a private school.

I know you're gonna make fun of me because my family's still together.

And then that was his rap portion.

And then the other guy's like, well, dang.

Yeah.

You took all the stuff you owned it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I got nothing to make fun of you about.

But but even that isn't isn't quite the same thing.

The gray rock is you just don't give them any feedback back.

Right.

It's like, oh, okay, yeah, you said that.

Don't be triggered by the choice comment.

Yeah.

And I don't think that's new because we talked about that when I was in first grade.

You were, I mean, it was like, I'm rubber, your glue.

Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

But yeah, I I I do think that I I think people love, they've already scripted the conversation.

They're gonna say something inflammatory, and then you're gonna like bite, and then and then they can then they can justify who they think you were even before you said anything.

And but if you if you don't give them that hook to to take on, then they're like, oh, okay, he's he's not gonna, you know, knee-jerk.

Yeah.

And I think out of our heart, our mouth speaks.

And so if we're prone to anger, we might get angry.

If we're prone to anxiety, we might be anxious by what somebody says.

And so we just really need to, it's a heart check kind of thing.

Like we need to check what's in our hearts so that our mouth will say what our heart believes, and we want our heart to be reflecting what Jesus would want us to, what Jesus would do in that situation.

Well, thank you all for joining us for 20 ideas in 20 minutes.

I had a lot of fun.

I I hope we can do this um again sometime.

Peace out.