Evangelism No Matter Who We Are - How to Live Jesus Out Loud

“Then the LORD asked Moses, ‘Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.’” (Exodus 4:11-12, NLT)

If you’re an introvert you may be wondering how all this “talk to people all the time in every situation” plays out. It’s a fair question. It can be incredibly discouraging when we start to feel as though we must suppress our personality in order to be used by God. I don’t think that’s what he intends for us to feel. In fact, God gave each of us a unique personality on purpose, to reflect his image.

In all of this talk about engaging, I’m not suggesting that an introvert try to become an extrovert. Nor am I suggesting that introverts try to figure out how to become more talkative. I don’t want to give you the impression that you should (in agony) force yourself to have conversations with people. This is not about being someone different from the person God designed you to be. In her book Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life, Rebecca Manley Pippert says it like this: “Let God make you fully you. Rejoice in your God-given temperament and use it for God’s purposes. This point cannot be emphasized enough. We must be authentic. If we try to be someone we are not, people will see it instantly.”

Now, all of this comes with a caveat: Walking in step with the Spirit will most certainly cause every one of us, regardless of personality type, to be stretched beyond our normal comfort zones. The Spirit will lead us to speak when we otherwise wouldn’t and to say things we normally wouldn’t say. We shouldn’t stifle what God is doing just so we can remain “true to our personality.” But we also shouldn’t think we have to stifle our personality in order to be a part of what God is doing.

What I’m suggesting is that every believer (regardless of personality and other propensities) must learn how to live as a spiritual person.

We all speak. We all communicate. We all have a sphere in which we operate day by day. As spiritual people, we should allow God to flow into our language regularly. If you’re the type of person who gets by on a dozen words a day, let those dozen words be saturated with your love for God. If your word count is numbered in the thousands, let those thousands of words reflect your walk with Jesus. To whatever degree you speak, speak as a spiritual person.

Pray:

God gave each of us a unique personality on purpose. Pray and ask God how he wants to use your personality to reflect his image to others.