“I am a Christian and Lord Jesus is my Saviour” Many blessings of making this confession in public and private
“Oh, so you are a Christian?” my colleague retorted mockingly. Others in the group were quite amused as well. The incident started when my colleague complemented me on my name. I tried to explain about my conversion but his intentions were centred around extracting more information so he can spread it around and make a joke of the whole thing. Obviously, this incident left me feeling humiliated and I thought I was not prepared to present my faith to others at work.
Soon, I joined a new organisation, I decided to address this issue by being quiet about my faith at work place. In this blog, for the purpose of ease, I’ll be addressing it as a “go-silent” project. At Church and within Christian circles, I continued to be vocal about my faith. I enthusiastically participated in various Church programs, spearheaded Church initiatives and even joined the evangelism team for tracks distribution and sharing of Gospel.
Months rolled by and my “go-silent” project at work helped me fit in quite well with colleagues. And when anything related to faith would crop up or if anyone would compliment me on my name, I would just brush it aside and leave it there. Counter intuitively, I did exceptionally well at work – got promoted, managed global projects, had more visibility with senior management and even received a fat hike.
Now the Church pastor, a man of prayer, flowed wonderfully in the gifts of the Spirit. I esteem him a lot. One time, led by the Spirit, the Church Pastor distributed chits to the congregation. Everyone was to pickup one chit. On the chit was scribbled an instruction from the Bible. Ushers quickly got on the job. Soon, one of the usher reached my spot and I prayerfully picked up a chit. When I opened it, this is what I found written: Acts 4:18-20
So they sent for them, and commanded them not to speak [as His representatives] or teach at all in the name of Jesus [using Him as their authority]. But Peter and John replied to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you and obey you rather than God, you must judge [for yourselves]; for we, on our part, cannot stop telling [people] about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:18-20, Amplified version
Suddenly, a great fear of the Lord gripped me. When I had decided about the go-silent project it was known only to my spirit and my mind. I had not shared this with anyone! My countenance fell. I felt guilty and realised my sin. A poor joke from someone who meant nothing to me could compel me to go-silent! I repented and decided to instantly get rid of the go-silent project.
From then on, before retiring for the day, I’d proclaim loudly 120 times “I am a Christian and Jesus of Nazareth is my Saviour”. And I did this daily with conviction. I wanted my spirit to hear it and get delivered. And by repeating this confession daily, the fear and shame started to wane away.
👉👉After having settled the issue within my heart, I was now clear minded and able to share about my faith with others confidently. I sensed a new victory in this area. ✌️
Soon after, whenever there was a faith related discussion or when someone complemented me on my name, I was quick to use it as an opportunity to respectfully share my faith story, This happened at airports, grocery stores, friends’ gatherings, gym, malls, skin clinics and so many other places.
And at work, when sensing an opportune time, I started to share with my colleagues some interesting snippets of the Sunday Church messages. Surprisingly, they were not at all offended rather a few even appreciated the wisdom of the messages. I was able to take some of my colleagues to Church and introduce a wonderful Saviour to them. My peace and joy knew no bounds!
Then, I went a step ahead and started to align my secular choices to the Biblical commands. Please note,I do not condemn those who do not do so. It’s just a matter of personal choice. A few examples are listed below:
Friend: Hey, why do you not partake of the food that is offered to idols?
Me: Because for those who believe in idols, its a part of their faith. I don’t share their faith and so I don’t want offend them by not partaking it with appropriate feelings.
Friend: Why did you not register for the company sponsored yoga classes?
Me: Oh! how I wish my gym sessions were company sponsored! I didn’t register because yoga is more that an exercise. It is a spiritual thing. And it does not align with my Christian faith. I don’t want to expose myself to those things that counter my faith.
Friend: It’s actually quite nice, RivkaGabriel. Why did you delete that sweatshirt from you cart? Me: Well, it’s unisex! I prefer to choose ones that are for women. Bible mentions that we should stick to clothes of our gender.
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].
Psalm 91:14
