How to Share Jesus With Others When You're Afraid To

On a summer night, as the setting sun painted the sky pink, and I sat on the queen bed my sister and I shared, my five-year-old heart recognized the love Jesus has for me and my need for Him to be my Savior. 

So with a bowed head, closed eyes, and a simple prayer, I repented of my sins, asking Jesus to forgive and save me.

That was over 20 years ago, and a lot has happened since. 

There have been times of happiness, longing, sorrow, overwhelm, loss, learning, confusion, discontentment, loneliness, trusting, seeking, finding, provision…

Through it all, God has been good. I have been given hope and joy in Jesus.

And I want to share that goodness, hope, and joy with others.

As followers and friends of Jesus, we are called to share Him with others. We are called to point the people in our lives to Christ. We are called to share our testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness.

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’” Mark 16:15

“If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” 1 Peter 3:15

“Each day proclaim the good news that [the Lord] saves.” Psalm 96:2

We have good news, the best news, to proclaim. We have a wondrous hope to share. We have a Savior who is worth sharing. 

So I have to ask myself, why don’t I more often?

If I really believe God is good, if I really believe Jesus is the source of hope and joy and peace and life, if I’m really thankful and overjoyed by the work He has done in my life, why don’t I don’t I talk about it more? 

So often, fear holds us back from sharing. We can be afraid of what others might think of us - that we’re preachy or judgmental or awkward or stuck up or just plain weird. We can be afraid of offending someone. We can be afraid that we don’t have the right words or answers. We can be afraid of messing up and failing. We can be afraid that our testimony just isn’t good enough to convince anyone of God’s goodness. We can be afraid we’re just not good enough to attract anyone to Jesus.  

And on top of those fears, there can be confusion about how to. How do we bring our faith into conversations and take those opportunities to share Jesus, and how do we do it without being preachy or judgmental or awkward or stuck up or just plain weird And this not knowing how can leave us with even more fear of messing up and being rejected.

I’ve found myself in the middle of this, wanting to share Jesus with others and knowing I’m called to, but being afraid and not knowing how to.

Have you found yourself in the same place?

Here are some things we can do to help us share Jesus when we are afraid to:

​Pray for opportunities, courage, and wisdom

“And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for Him, as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20

This prayer request was written by the apostle Paul. Even this man who traveled and started churches and boldly proclaimed the Gospel in the face of persecution and death, asked for prayer for opportunities, for courage, and for wisdom in sharing Jesus.

If you want opportunities to talk with others about Jesus, pray for them. 

But I know, sometimes it’s scary to pray for opportunities, because what if we actually get the opportunity?

As you pray for opportunities, also pray for the courage to share, and the wisdom to know how to share. 

Prayer reminds me to trust and obey God in the midst of fear, rather than listening to the fears. And He will give the courage and wisdom needed to speak and share.

Share your story

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?’ So the people came streaming from the village to see Him.
“Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, ‘He told me everything I ever did!’
John 4:28-29, 39

This is just one of many places in Scripture where someone had an encounter with Jesus, and then they shared that story with others.

And I’m sure you can think of people in your own life whose testimonies about Jesus have greatly impacted your faith in Him. 

It was because of my parents sharing Jesus with me, both in their words and in their actions, that I recognized my need for Jesus and trusted in Him as my Savior.

Each one of us has a story of God’s goodness, a testimony of God’s faithfulness, an account of how Jesus has transformed our hearts and changed our lives.

We don’t need to have all the right answers, we don’t have to know all the theological terms, we can just share our story of encountering Jesus.

Let Jesus do the rest

“We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” 2 Corinthians 5:20

Our job isn’t to save people, but to point people to the Savior. We are to trust and obey God in sharing Jesus, and then let Jesus do the rest.

There may be (probably will be) times when we share Jesus, and we are called judgmental. There may be times when we speak out truth, and we are called intolerant. There may be times we just want to have a conversation about beliefs, but others want to turn it into a debate. There may be times we share our story, and are criticized about our past. There may be times when we try to answer someone’s questions about our faith, and we’re awkward and fumble our words and hours later we think of better ways we could have answered. 

But we’re not responsible for how others respond. We can learn from our mistakes, we can take the time to check our hearts for wrong attitudes or motives, but it is their choice if they will respond to the invitation, “Come back to God.”

Let’s not let fear stop us from sharing Jesus. He is greater than our fears, He is so worth sharing, and there are many who need to hear about Him.