But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer or I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. Luke 21:12-15
A common reason that we do not share our faith is because we feel inadequate – that when placed in a witnessing situation we will be asked that question for which we have no answer. We’re afraid we’ll look stupid, we’ll be a bad witness, we’ll be embarrassed by our ignorance. And so we prefer to stay quiet rather than speak up.
But Jesus speaks to the disciples in what is a far more high pressure situation than we face. He’s talking about being hauled before courts, both Jewish and Roman, to answer to the charge of being a Christian. A wrong answer and the consequences are not embarrassment but execution or torture and imprisonment. That is pressure. In such circumstances, where faith is not a private decision but a public interest, the temptation is to rely on oneself. To come up with the perfect answer to save yourself, to protect yourself from the worst case scenario. But Jesus tells his disciples not to.
He says, “I’ll give you the words, I’ll give you the wisdom how to answer; trust me.”
And “trust me” doesn’t mean you won’t be embarrassed, it doesn’t mean you won’t face harsh consequences, but I’ll give you words which your enemies can’t refute. In fact, he says – this is your opportunity. What a great time to identify yourself as belonging to me and to preach the gospel! Christ was brought before the authorities and was accused and humiliated. Though he had the words, he did not use them to defend himself. And his silence was his humble glory. So if we are following him can we not expect glory in that same way.
When Peter and the disciples were hauled before the Jewish leaders in Acts 4:1-22 on charges of preaching Jesus, it says Peter stood up and rather than try and get himself out of trouble, he was filled with the Spirit and he preached the gospel to his accusers with great boldness. And the Jewish leaders noted, “as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognise them as having been with Jesus.”
Could it be that the very situations we fear most – where we feel inadequate and lacking in wisdom to answer questions are the very times where God wants to use as a witness – not so that people see how brilliant we are in answering their questions – but where they see that we have conviction of the truth of the gospel and even though we don’t have all the answers, we may look like uneducated people in many aspects, it is precisely here that the glory of Jesus is shown.
How do we get to that point? We’ve got to be with Jesus. Spend time with him. Rehearse the beauty of the gospel in your life again and again and again. Do it in your community group. And then with courage as a community proactively go out into our workplaces, our families, our friendship circles and stare down embarrassment and feelings of inadequacy – refusing to allow our own fears to prevent from sharing the great news of Jesus. For we are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16).