by Sally Simmel

Many popular magazines and bestsellers bombard us with check lists: Five Tips for Smoother Skin, Ten Steps to Success in Business, Seven Hints for Organizing Your Clutter, Ten Ways to be a Good Person. Sometimes we get sucked into those lists because we want to be better at something; sometimes they are actually helpful as we sort the many dimensions of our lives.

So how do we make a list of Hints for Sharing Our Faith Story? The July session of Kelly Fryer’s Bible study, "Like the First Evangelists," is a great jumping–off place.

She begins: "Jesus has always chosen the most unlikely people to share the good news." That’s a comforting statement. We meet these "unlikely" types frequently in the Bible, and so we have permission to enjoy our own unlikeliness. We the unlikely are in the majority and don’t forget it.

I certainly qualify. How about you? And yet God has put us here. For what? Simply to do the work God needs done to improve and sustain the world and, profoundly, to be co-creators. Improbable as it sounds, we unlikely humans are the "who" God has to get the work done in the world.

There are some people who think that God resides in a denomination, a doctrine, or a building. But these things are really means to an end — the end being the world in which we work (not always for pay) to do God’s will.

Other people seem to see God everywhere. For them, there is no sacred/secular divide. This unlimited God resides in the nursery, the cubicle, the courtroom, the classroom, the garden, the operating room, in every nook and cranny. Look around. Do you think God might be doing something right where you are? What? Try to describe it. How would you tell someone about it?

We all have work in God’s world
The word world is critical here, because it is where we are the church, where we are called to be the gospel. As Fryer points out, a stranger among us might think that Jesus came to build a church. Yet we hear in John 3:16 that God sent Jesus for the sake of the world, not the sake of the church. So how did our focus get shifted?

Somehow the work of God became seen as the work of the likely: the public ministers, monks, preachers, scholars, and theologians. Then, along came Martin Luther and turned that idea on its head. He reminds us all, the likely and the unlikely, that we all have work in God’s world, we all have ministries. He didn’t say that we would love it all, but that we can see it in a new light.

We are all called — lay and clergy — to God’s work and we each have our piece of the mission. The image that most embodies this for me is the Easter Vigil service at the moment of candle lighting. The paschal candle lights another, which lights another and another, and soon the power of the light fills the sanctuary and the world. The light of the paschal candle is not diminished, but is joined with others to transform the world and the way we can see it. That’s the way it could be if we supported each other by igniting one another to be the gospel in the world.

The way we do church is ever–changing
We see some of that today, as people of all ages and faith traditions are seeking ways to live their spirituality. Many look for a way of being the people of God that speaks to their own hunger and experience, a way that is more relevant to their desire to make a difference in the world.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. Lutheran theologian Joseph Sittler recounts that way back in the early Middle Ages, lay people began drifting away from the practice of their religion because the clergy were preaching judgment and damnation. Searchers were drawn to the chapels of the Virgin Mary because they understood that God is also gentle, forgiving, and loving. They weren’t hearing that from the pulpits, so they searched and found it. The unlikely know something about searching.

So you, unlikely as you think you are, are the best expert when it comes to your own faith, how to live it, and how to share it. You may have already started your own list of hints as you participated in the Bible study and this discussion. Here’s mine.

Hints about sharing faith
First, accept that you are a child of God. That’s not always easy. It means acknowledging that God loves you and that you have accountability for the way you live. In your very living, you share a faith story.

Be attentive. Search your heart. Check out your own life. The angel Clarence in the movie, "It’s a Wonderful Life," shows George Bailey what would have happened if he had never been born. What wouldn’t have happened in your world if you hadn’t been there? That’s worth sharing and affirms your own ministry.

Remember that we are the church, though we often meet one another for worship and other activities in a building we call a church. Maybe you can form an informal group to talk together about the connections in their faith and life. It helps to share your story with other people of faith, holding each other accountable as we go into the world. Consider it not a task, but rather a vehicle for nurturing and growth, coming and going, bringing the world into the church and back out again. If it doesn’t work to organize such a group in the church building, try the workplace, your kitchen, or the playground. Those are places where God will also be.

Shift from attitude to gratitude at work, at home, in school, at the gym, and around the neighborhood. Live out what you believe in all those places.

Look for inspiration everywhere. Notice how others live their lives and how they minister to you: teaching, motivating, supporting, and honoring your call. Notice the beauty of the people you know and what God is saying through their words and lives. This enriches your own story.

How are you ministering in your world? Don’t assume that you have to go out of your way to do ministry. It’s what you do day-in and day-out that counts. Your faith story is told in actions more than words.

Be ready for people to notice how you live faithfully in all areas of your life in response to the love of Christ. Be ready for them to ask about it. Then you can tell your faith story and talk about God. In sharing your own experience, you make it even deeper for yourself.

Don’t use "churchy" language to tell your story. And don’t feel you have to be theological. Talk in whatever way you are comfortable, and be honest and authentic about your own feelings and experiences. Talk about what God is doing in your life. Then ask, "What about yours?"