Good News
Ben Roberts

Scripture: Matthew 28:18–20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Devotion:
When I was a teenager, I belonged to a church that was deeply committed to missions and evangelism. So committed, in fact, that I regularly participated in the church's street evangelism team. We would go into downtown Denver to share the gospel with people experiencing homelessness. We also spent plenty of Saturdays at the local mall trying to tell other teenagers about Jesus.

I continued doing street evangelism until my sophomore year of college.

Number of times I shared my faith: dozens.

Number of converts: zero.

Looking back, I can see how naïve, and sometimes misguided, we were. Some of it was truly cringeworthy.

There are very few things I can say with certainty about life, but I can say this with a high degree of confidence: people rarely respond to the faith claims of suburban teenage boys.

For a long time, sharing my faith felt intimidating. Even talking about it was wrapped in heavy religious language: evangelism, witnessing, missions. Missionaries would visit our church and show slides from faraway places around the world. They spoke about sacrifice, hardship, and the cost of following Christ.

Sharing your faith seemed like a Herculean task. It felt uncomfortable, awkward, and sometimes humiliating.

Today's scripture, fairly or unfairly, can reinforce that image. "Go into all the world" sounds like leaving everything behind and traveling to some distant country. And don't get me wrong there is a place for that kind of bold proclamation. The church needs missionaries. The church needs evangelists.

But not everyone is called to stand on a street corner or move halfway around the world.

What I have come to believe is that every one of us is called to share our faith. The question is how.

What I see as effective today looks very different from what I practiced as a teenager.

About fifteen years ago, I was on the verge of losing my faith. To be honest, I think I had already lost it.

I still attended church every Sunday. I wanted my son to have a religious foundation. I wanted to support my wife, who was on staff at the church. But I didn't believe much of it anymore. I was going through the motions, quietly looking for a spiritual off-ramp.

Then a friend invited me to coffee.

He said what everyone else could probably see: I was struggling. Then he invited me to join a new small group.

That was it.

No sales pitch. No theological argument. No pressure.

Just one friend inviting another friend to a place where healing might be possible.

And it helped.

The group was filled with disaffected Christians, people carrying doubts, disappointments, and unanswered questions. We were encouraged to tell the truth about our lives, warts and all.

The amazing thing is that when people share their struggles honestly, something changes.

Nobody preached at me. Nobody followed a script. People listened. They shared their own stories. Slowly but surely, the hard shells we had built around ourselves began to soften. Together, we rediscovered Jesus.

Less than a year later, I was leading that same group and helping others who had lost their way.

Here's the thing: this isn't a new idea.

Small groups, spiritual accountability, sharing our struggles, these practices are woven into our Methodist heritage. John Wesley understood the power of small groups. His preaching may have brought people through the door, but the real transformation happened in the class meetings and bands. It happened when people gathered in small circles, told the truth about their lives, and encouraged one another in faith.

That was where disciples were formed.

That was where lives were changed.

That was where evangelism happened.

Those little groups helped spark a movement that changed the world.

And perhaps they still can.

Prayer:
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Tune my heart to the needs of those around me. Give me the humility to share both my faith and my doubts. Help me to be a witness to your love through genuine relationships, building your church one friendship at a time, one small group at a time, one congregation at a time, and one life at a time. Amen.