Sharing Your Faith

​Philemon 1:4-6 ~ "I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.”
 
How much of our joyful communion do we miss with Christ when we do not strive to share our faith? I would venture some speculation upon that, and think that many believers do not directly participate in actively sharing that which Christ has given, and in so doing, they miss much of the good things that God has placed within us. And, as a result, those around them are at a loss to acknowledge the good that Christ has done for the saints.
 
As Paul greeted his friend, Philemon, the apostle opened with the warmth of kinship that they shared in Christ. He thanked the LORD in prayer, and recalled the great love and faith Philemon held toward the LORD and His church. He wanted to encourage such faithful love, knowing that the runaway slave, Onesimus, was returning. It could be that Philemon might hold some great resentment for the way he was treated by Onesimus, or that there was a residual anger held over for the betrayal he experienced. But now Onesimus was coming back, and was returning as a brother in Christ. Paul wanted to make sure that the same love and faith that Philemon held for others would be the same love shared with the one returning.
 
And now, Paul’s prayer for Philemon turned to the effectiveness of his friend’s faith. And that effective faith begins with the “sharing of your faith.” And so it does with all of us. Understand this idea of “sharing” our faith is not just evangelism, but is more aligned with fellowship. It is the willing sharing of all that the LORD has done for you, with the idea that others around you begin to experience your faith in Christ in the outworking of your life among them. Let me ask you, how active are you in the sharing of what the LORD has done for you? This faith-sharing is not only the weekly gathering of the saints in harmonious worship (though that is definitely part of it). It is living out your love for Jesus Christ in the open, willing that others might come to know Him through you.
 
Concerning the runaway, Onesimus, there was some deficiency regarding Philemon. For the slave had encountered the Apostle Paul and through the apostle became a believer in Christ. Philemon 1:10 says, “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.” And though this is speculative, there is some indication that Philemon let Onesimus “slip through the cracks” and never shared his faith with his servant. Truly if there is someone who is close to us, let us not let them slip away without sharing our faith—living out our love for Jesus so that they see and hear the message of hope from the Gospel.
 
And that, beloved, is how our sharing becomes “effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” It is a two-fold experience of effectiveness. First, it brings a greater understanding to the heart of the believer. For when we are actively sharing in our faith, we begin to experience those things promised to the saints, things like the joy of fellowship, the power of His word, the sharing of strength, encouragement and ever-increasing love for Christ. Hebrews 10:24-25 states, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Second, it brings a greater illumination of the LORD Jesus Christ through your life to the lives of those around you. When people begin to see the joy, hope, peace, love and gratitude of your life (not to mention all the other promises of belonging to Christ), they will begin to see that we have within us something good, and something far better than this world can offer. For we hold onto the everlasting life offered in Christ, and anyone outside of Christ have nothing but the dreary concerns of finality looming in their future. We go through our lives with hope—eternal hope.
 
Let us pray, even as Paul prayed for Philemon, that we will be effective in the sharing of our faith—living out what we have in Christ until that day when we shall live with Him forever.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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