Should A Christian Talk To Someone Who Disagrees With Their Values? (MINISODE)

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Hey friends, welcome back to another mini sode.

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I'm so excited to be back with you.

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First of all, I would like to say a special thank you to those who have been supportive of the podcast, whether it's monetarily or just your comments and your feedback.

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I have appreciated it.

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It keeps me going on this journey.

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There's show notes links for you.

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If you have a review, if you want to donate to the podcast, if you want to leave a message for me and get a shout out on the next episode.

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What did you think of this episode with Constance Hastings?

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The Trouble with Jesus.

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Ooh, that is such a provocative title.

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I love the title of her book.

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The subtitle is even better Considerations Before Walking Away.

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Isn't that just a really profound book?

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And she says she wrote it for those who are doubting.

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There's just so many people out there who are doubting, who are angry and bitter and hurting, and they're blaming God.

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And they're blaming Jesus.

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Jesus is a divisive figure.

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We can't forget that.

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He even said in the Bible that he came to divide.

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I enjoyed talking with Constance.

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She's a wealth of knowledge, very gentle spirit, has such a heart for those who are struggling in their faith, who don't know what to do.

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And I I've been recently thinking a lot about how I've missed a lot of opportunities to be there for people who are doubting.

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Not just myself.

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I had my doubts too, and I just shoved them down deep and didn't do anything about it until I was much older.

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But I'm not talking about my own doubts.

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I'm talking about others.

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My oldest, I didn't know just how much she was struggling to trust God, and now she's not even following God.

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There's been people I've worked with at different jobs that weren't believers.

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Maybe they were struggling too.

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Maybe they had a situation where they had a bad taste in their mouth from the church.

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I have missed so many opportunities to share the gospel with people because of my own doubts and my own worries and being in my head so much.

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I don't know if you can relate, but that is one of the reasons why I've been afraid to share the gospel with anybody.

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I don't know enough.

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I feel ill-equipped.

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I'm nervous.

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I don't like confrontation.

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What if they have doubts?

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What am I going to do?

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What if their doubts make me doubt?

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We have to stop with the what-ifs and the worries and just trust that God is going to do what God is going to do if you're obedient in that situation.

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And that's what I'm trying to work on now.

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I wouldn't necessarily say that I've had opportunities recently to truly share my faith, although it's funny.

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I was walking around the casino because I was going to meet my husband for lunch at Wahlberg's.

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And my son and I were going on the elevator to meet up with him.

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And there was a woman in there.

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She didn't know what she was doing.

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She hadn't been to the casino in a long time.

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So I just helped her.

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I wandered around with her to help her figure out where she was going.

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And I showed her where she needed to go.

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And I was just kind and gracious to her, talking, asking her questions.

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When was the last time you were there?

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And she did at one point use Jesus' name in vain, which really almost viscerally made me twitch, but I didn't say anything about it.

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And I just kept walking with her.

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At the end, we found my husband.

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I introduced her to him, told him that I was going to go help her figure out where she's going and I'd meet him at the restaurant.

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Well, I went and I helped her.

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I gave her a hug and I said, God bless you.

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I hope you have a wonderful time.

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And she said, Thank you so much.

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You could tell how happy she was.

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She didn't feel alone.

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And she just left and that was it.

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But man, was that a huge thing for me to do because I am an introvert.

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I don't talk to random people that I don't know.

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And I certainly don't walk with them and make conversation like that.

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But that was God moving, I could tell.

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And I'm trying to push myself past my comfort zone because I want to be able to be there for those who are struggling.

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I want to be somebody who shares the gospel unashamed and is not afraid to talk to people who might disagree.

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That's what we all need to do.

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But I do feel ill-equipped to do it because I've never had to deal with people not agreeing with me.

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And it's funny, I had somebody on my YouTube channel for the podcast comment back and forth with me for a little bit about things.

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And it felt trollish, but I do appreciate that they at least were open and honest with me on their position.

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In the end, it came down to me having to let it go because it clearly wasn't going to go anywhere.

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But I did tell them that I would be praying for them.

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I want to do more to help those who are struggling, like I used to, whether they're Christians who are on the verge of leaving the church or those who left the church already and are still struggling in life.

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I want to be able to be there for them.

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I want to share my story with them easily.

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And I want to not be hampered by this nagging feeling of I'm not good enough.

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I can't do this.

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I don't have the skills.

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It's not about me.

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I'm not going to be the one who changes hearts.

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It's God.

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And that's what I need to remember.

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That's what you need to remember.

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So your challenge for this week is to share your story with somebody.

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You don't have to go up to just some rando and say, hey, let me tell you my story.

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If you feel God telling you to do that, then by all means do it.

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But you don't have to go do that.

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Just have a natural conversation with somebody.

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Step out of your comfort zone and tell somebody your story and listen to them for their story as well.

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That is also important.

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I hope this has encouraged you.

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Listen to the episode with Constance Hastings if you haven't.

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And also make sure you share it with people you know who have doubts in God and maybe are walking away from the faith.

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I know we all probably know at least one person who is, if it's not us.

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So God bless.

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Talk to you again later.