I confess, this is another blog spurred on by the teaching of Tim Keller. Yesterday I was working out and was struck with the story of a man who tried to share his faith.

But never did. Someone told him he should be sharing the gospel with everyone he could all the time, but the moment he tried, the words never came out. This crushed him with guilt until one pastor gave him a solution. "You don't have to evangelize." The guy was stunned. That didn't sound very biblical. But from the right perspective, the pastor was right. 

The man's problem was not that he didn't share enough. His problem was where he was looking for acceptance. He sought approval through people instead of Jesus. And this was what kept him from sharing. He felt "unapproved" by God because he didn't share the gospel. So he sought this identity, this approval in people instead and that was the very thing that kept him from sharing. 

The day after that pastor told him he didn't have to share, this man began sharing all the time. What happened? The pastor explained that God already accepts him through Jesus Christ, just as the tax collector who cried out, "Have mercy on me!" went home justified versus the Pharisee who boasted of his goodness and walked home under the holy wrath of God. If God really does accept us through Jesus Christ His Son, and if that is the best acceptance in the world—acceptance of the Creator—then to share Jesus with others becomes a joy not a burden; a liberating privilege not a guilt-attacking solvent. 

We share Jesus not so that we are accepted, but because through Christ we already are. Who will you share the gospel with today?