Philip's Witness | cont. Acts 8:26-40

HI EVERYONE! (I am really bad about consistency, sorry. I've been in band camp for the past two weeks, and have been on a very weird sleep schedule, lol.) So, today we'll be talking about my favorite Biblical average-Joe that we talked about last time--PHILIP! Remember how the Spirit told him to do a thing or two, and that lead to the salvation of a stranger? And how we talked about Philip's obedience to the Spirit, and how eager he was to obey? Great, then let's talk about another aspect to this story:

PHILIP'S WITNESS APPROACH!

(If you need a brain refresh on the story, or want to read it again, click here.)

So, witnessing to others--or in other words, sharing Jesus--can be pretty horrifying, and it's not something we look forward to doing. As I mentioned last time, my church has been reading Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out, by Alvin Reid, and Pastor Reid uses part of this passage to show an example of witnessing as done by a normal person like you and me. (I have recently finished the book, and it is AMAZING, whether you're a teenager or a grandparent--go read it, you won't regret it!)

What's Philip's approach to witnessing? It's actually one of the ways that we should approach it, too. Now, there's no wrong way to witness. The only thing you should stay away from is being judgmental and forcing it on people, kinda like the Pharisees (the religious leaders that weren't saved, but liked to act like the 'bosses' of the faith and be all 'holy') in the Bible. But, how Philip witnesses to the Ethiopian man is one thing we should all strive to do: starting to witness where the other person is.

Okay, what on earth do I mean by that? Well, some of us have grown up in the church, and have heard Bible stories since we came out tha' womb. But others of us don't frequent church often, or haven't had the opportunity to go. That's okay, so don't freak out if you're in one category or the other. But, because we all have different backgrounds, we have different levels of understanding of the Bible. So, whether you're a new believer or have been for years, when you share Jesus with someone, you want to start at the level of their knowledge, and build on that.

This is what Philip does. Let's take a look.

In verse 30, when Philip approaches the Ethiopian man (who is reading from the book of Isaiah), he asks him if he understands what he's reading. This is another good thing to do, by the way. Asking questions and just having a conversation is a great approach to witnessing. The Ethiopian replies that he needs help understanding, so Philip joins him. The man proceeds to ask him who the scripture is about.

Here's where Philip starts in the Ethiopian's knowledge. The man was starting to get familiar with this passage from Isaiah, so Philip tells him the good news, or the gospel, of Jesus, starting from this point in scripture. Philip starts in this passage in Isaiah, and builds on this.

I think this is pretty cool. If you still need a little help understanding, I'll put it in the 2018 Teenage Dialect for ya', :).

Let's say you've got a friend, and they think there's a God out there but they don't understand anything about the Bible. So, when you guys start talking, God gives you an opportunity to witness. Maybe they ask a question, or need advice for something that just opens the door to scripture and what you believe. So you share, but they're still confused. Start from the beginning--if they believe a god of some sort created the earth, start from Creation in Genesis, and build from there.

So, HERE'S A SUMMARY STATEMENT FOR YA': when you witness, meet the person where they are, and start in their level of knowledge. If you have any questions, feel free to comment! I don't know every answer, but I have some fabulous and knowledgeable peeps in my life I can ask. Remember, don't try to do all this on your own. Pray about it, ask God for guidance. Ask for His clarity.

I hope this helps make witnessing a little less daunting! Go check out Pastor Reid's book as well! Thanks guys!

--Elizabeth :)