I Want to Share the Gospel but I Fear Rejection. What Do I Do?

I want to share the gospel, but I fear rejection.

What do I do? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible or the Christian life every day. You can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Of course, you can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Jimmy calling in from Missouri. Jimmy, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi. My concern is this. After the rapture, it's not mentioned in the Bible, but we all know the rapture's going to happen. What happens to the little children? I mean, a mother and father goes to heaven, and what happens to the little children? Are they left behind? That's my question.

Jimmy, thanks for that question. Scary thought. I mean, I have five little children.

I mean, I guess my oldest is 10 years old now, and I could tell you, even though he's 10, they couldn't take care of themselves. It would be really hard, and so it is a scary thought. Now, you said, we all know that the rapture is going to happen. Well, we all know that Jesus is going to come back. There is a question about the way in which Jesus is going to come back, and so there are some Christians who believe in a rapture of the church prior to the second coming. That is, Jesus is going to come, and he's going to rapture his church out, the adults who believe, maybe, and the rest are going to be left behind for a period of trial and tribulation, and it's going to be pretty messy.

It's going to be pretty bad, and of course, if you're a parent, I mean, that's just a terrifying thought to not be with your children during the time of great tribulation, but it is not my view, and it wasn't the view of many throughout the history of the church. That's how the second coming worked, and many of the passages that are appealed to for this idea of a rapture prior to the second coming, I think, just are talking about the one second coming of Jesus, and so, for example, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where the apostle Paul is talking about the coming of the Lord, he says in verse 15, for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord. This is something God said to us. God has spoken to us clearly about this, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord, therefore encourage one another with these words. Here you have the coming of the Lord contemporaneous with, means it happens at the same time as the resurrection of the dead. So when we think about these events, you know, the second coming, the resurrection, the final judgment, we sometimes, you know, can put them at these different places, time places, if you will, whereas I think in the New Testament, they're all happening at the same time, and he goes on to say in chapter 5, concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. And so my view, Jimmy, is that Christ is coming once to redeem his church once and for all, to usher in the resurrection of the dead, to judge those enemies of his who are on the earth, who have rejected his word and his truth, but it is not going to be like the church is raptured first, and then that's going to happen. Again, I think we got to go to the text of scripture. Now, I'm not trying to demean in any way those who hold to that view, because I know that there are many faithful believers who love Jesus, who this is, I mean, they believe that the Bible teaches that there's going to be a rapture, and I would say this is where we need to go to the text of scripture and study it and seek to understand it. And when I go to those passages, I just think, oh, it sounds to me like Paul's talking about the second coming. They're not a separate rapture distinct from the second coming. And so I think when Christ comes back, we're going to be, if we're alive, we're going to be with our families, and there you have the final judgment and the ushering in of the new creation. Hey, Jimmy, thank you for your question, and may God bless you.

Hey, Jimmy raised an interesting point, and I have another question for you, Adriel. So we know there's a lot of Christian airline pilots. What happens to all those 747s if the rapture occurs and those guys are flying those planes?

Bill, I mean, you guess, man, I hopefully somebody else knows how to fly the plane on board. But I mean, yeah, we've seen, you know, those those movies or read the books where you have those those kinds of things happen. You know, cars just crashing into telephone poles and whatnot. That's a sort of the ideas. It's everybody's going to be raptured or everybody who is in Christ is going to be raptured.

And then the world is just going to get a fall into chaos. And again, that's one view that some people have. I just don't personally see that specifically in scripture. And so, you know, our desire on this broadcast is always to go back to the word. And speaking of core Christianity, we want to we want to rally around the things that we know we can all agree on. And one thing that I think with regard to the study of the end times eschatology, it's sometimes called that we can all agree on is that Jesus is coming back bodily.

Right. Just as if he left, he's coming back to judge the world. And we're looking forward to that, that the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in that in that manner. And so that's something that every every Christian who embraces core Christianity has to believe, because it's what the New Testament teaches. By the way, we have a great Bible study on the book of Revelation. You can find that by going to core Christianity dot com forward slash studies. It'll really help you unpack some of the different views of the end times and understand the book of Revelation more clearly, which can be a real challenging book to read.

So check that out by going to core Christianity dot com forward slash studies. Let's go back to the phones. Karen is on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Karen, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, Pastor Adriel, I love your show.

I love to listen to it as much as I can through the week. Hey, it's that time of the year where you're seeing people post in their back to school pictures on Facebook on social media. And I've had several friends who really kind of hung in there till they could, their children went to public school, but now they're sending them to private schools. And in light of everything that's going on in the culture, it's not necessarily the teaching, but even some friends that have been coming alongside of them that are influencing them. So in any event, I was just wondering what your take was on whether you should send your children to public school.

Karen, thank you for that. And I know that there are a lot of people who are very concerned with some of the things going on in the culture and the question of what are our kids being taught in school, especially at that young age where they're so moldable and influences are so important. Are they getting the right, the proper influences? First, when it comes to discipleship and teaching our children about the Lord, which is the most important thing, this is something that falls upon us as parents. You can send your kids to a private school, you can homeschool them, you can send them to public school, but if we are not as parents engaged in the lives of our children, modeling for them Christian charity, discipling them, talking to them about the Lord, reading scripture together, praying together, if that's not the air that we breathe at home, well then there's something that's really wrong. And so I think sometimes people can say, oh man, I'm really concerned about the culture, so I'm going to send my children to a Christian school. I know that there are people who do this who don't even go to church themselves, but they just think, oh, I want my kids to get some morals and maybe a little bit of religion and so this seems like it'd be a better fit. And they hope that somehow this Christian school is going to do the work that the parents really need to be doing. And that's not to minimize, I think, Christian schools at all, it's just to emphasize the priority that should be on us as parents in raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and bringing them to church and talking about the Lord around the dinner table, praying together, reading together, singing together.

I mean, that's I think the most important thing. And I say that because there are some people who think, let me just use myself as an example, I was raised by a single mom and we didn't have a lot of money. It would've been hard for her to send me to a private school and so she did the best that she could to put me in a public school that she felt like, man, the education here is really good, the neighborhood is really good.

And by the grace of God, the experience, at least for me, was a positive one. And I know times are changing and there are a lot of questions and concerns that people have and I think that those are legitimate. I think each of us has to do the hard work of looking into whatever school it is that we're sending our children to, of being involved in their education, and more importantly, being involved in their spiritual growth and development.

I don't think that we should bind the consciences of other believers and say, oh, if you do this, you're just a terrible person. You must be a bad parent or you must have something wrong with you. No, and again, I think every school's gonna be a little bit different. There are maybe some influences at Christian schools that aren't gonna be so great and influences at non-Christian or public schools that could be good. And so this is where we have to do the hard work of investigating, of thinking about our own children.

Children are different. They learn differently and so spending time with our own kids, thinking about what will be best for them, and praying and asking God for wisdom and then exercising charity with each other as parents, especially within the body of Christ. One concern that I have is that we can begin to really look down on other Christians who make decisions differently from us. And especially it matters where it's not a question of, this is a matter of wisdom and everybody essentially has to make a decision that they want to honor the Lord in. So I think so long as we're focusing on that and doing that, great. And prioritizing, teaching our children about the Lord in the home. But let's also be charitable with each other in the body of Christ with regard to this question as well. So Karen, thank you for giving us a call.

And you're right, it is that time of the year, isn't it, Bill? Yeah, and just a follow-up question for you. As a pastor and as a dad of five kids, I'm guessing you would also talk about the importance that we have Christian friendships with other parents who maybe have kids our own age so that our kids have positive role models even outside the school. What a great opportunity for us within the church, within the body of Christ to say, you know what, we're going to stand together as believers. We're going to have social engagements with each other and expose our kids to other Christian families. That's I think another great way to help our kids weather some of the things in the culture.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think a part of it is just being a real part of the body of Christ in your local church, engaging with the people there. And so hopefully, I mean, this doesn't always work out that way, right? I know that there are folks who have young kids and they're at a church and it's like, I don't know a lot of families with kids my age. So that can be difficult, but really trying to invest and be involved and to expose our children also to the life of the body of Christ so that they have those relationships and not just relationships with people who are their same age, but relationships with others, getting to know and learn from the godly people in your church that the Lord has taught so many things to. I mean, there's so many wise godly people in our churches that we want our children to know and to have a relationship with. And maybe that looks like service projects for people in the church, or maybe it just looks like inviting different people over to your home for a meal and having conversations about the Lord. It's interesting, and I've heard other people say this, but when I talk to my children about the Lord, they listen and we can have good conversations, but oftentimes when somebody else comes over and they begin to share about something that God has done in their lives or how Christ brought them to himself, the way in which they came to saving faith, a lot of times I can hear or see my kids, their attention is...

The individual has their full attention. They're interested to hear other people also who are confirming what mom and dad say all the time, but it's just a different voice. And so we want to expose our kids to life in the body of Christ. So many people are concerned that children are growing up, going to college and leaving the church. I think part of the issue is we haven't really ever let them be a part of the church to begin with. We haven't really engaged with the body of Christ, been committed to worship together and cultivated that in our own families.

And so it's really easy for them when they go off to college and say, well, this was never actually really a serious part of my life. And so we want to be conscious of that. And again, to be conscious of our responsibility as parents to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Some great counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. There's a group of people we want to say thank you to today. We call them our inner CORE, and Adriel's going to tell you a little bit about how you could be part of that special group. Hey, if you're encouraged by CORE Christianity, and I hope that you are. We love digging into the scriptures, answering questions about the faith.

I mean, we pray every day before the broadcast saying, Lord, give us wisdom and use this for your glory. And so I believe that he is, and I pray that you've been encouraged and blessed in your walk with the Lord. And if you have, and you want to partner with us, you can join what we call the inner CORE. It's a group of monthly supporters who commit to giving us 25 bucks a month and praying for us. And it's one of the ways you can be involved with us in trying to get the truth of God's word out and applying scripture to people wherever they are in life. We want to see people grow in their knowledge and understanding of the gospel and of God's word.

Your donations also help us, not just with keeping this broadcast going, but producing other materials, Bible study materials that we oftentimes offer on the show. And so please prayerfully consider joining the inner CORE, and thank you for your support. You can learn more about that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash inner CORE again, corechristianity.com forward slash inner CORE.

We'd love to have you consider joining that special group of people. And we'll send you Dr. Michael Horton's book, CORE Christianity as our special gift to you if you would join the inner CORE. Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in, but by the way, we get voicemails here regularly and you can call us 24 hours a day and leave your question for Adriel at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Here's a voicemail from earlier this week. Hello, Pastor Adriel. I'm so grateful for your show. I've called in a couple of times and I just get so much out of your show every day.

I'm so grateful for it. My question is about having the courage to witness. I have been a faithful believer for a long, long time, but when it comes to witnessing to people, I seem to have a block.

And what I came to realize is that it's probably connected to when I was in grade school. My parents were Jehovah's Witnesses and I was the little girl sent to the door to try to give someone a tract and have the door slammed in my face or have someone call us crazy. And obviously I'm not a Jehovah's Witness anymore, but I just want to know how you would suggest that I get past that because, you know, I've done so many different things. I've read the book Tactics. I've done a lot of different things to try to get past this wall and I can't seem to do it.

So any suggestions you have would be helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you for that question. And let me pray for you and let me pray for all those.

I mean, this is something we all really wrestle with, isn't it? And so let's pray and ask God for his help in this. Lord, give us boldness, the boldness that comes from your Holy Spirit, not to shy away from the Gospel. When you give us opportunities, Lord, when we're talking with people.

And Lord, I know it's so easy for us to be afraid of rejection, afraid of, you know, what people are going to think of us. I just ask, Lord God, that you would help us to honor you in our speech and to take advantage of those opportunities, those open doors that you give us for the Gospel. And would you give us those opportunities, Lord, in our lives with co-workers, with family members, with friends. And so I pray for my sister, Lord, that you would help her, that you would fill her with your spirit, that she would not feel shame because of this struggle, but that, Lord, you would give her a sense of your love, your forgiveness, and the empowering of your spirit to be a witness to Jesus Christ. Be with us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. You know, we often don't highlight this when we think about the sending of the Spirit in the book of Acts, in the early chapters of Acts, but Jesus says, you're going to receive power from on high, and you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and the uttermost parts of the earth. And so part of it is just the filling of the Spirit that we pray for, saying, Lord, help me, give me boldness. Because in and of ourselves, we can be cowardly, we can be ashamed.

That's just the reality. And it's something that the disciples themselves struggled with. This is why later in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 4, when they're praying, they say in verse 27, truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. See, the disciples themselves, they knew, hey, you know, this word, this message that we're sharing, that we're preaching, is going to upset some people.

It's going to change our relationships with some people. And so, God, look at their threats, but give us boldness to share your truth. And so the first thing I would say is, we're filled with the Spirit so that we might be witnesses to Christ and to his Gospel. And we need that filling of the Spirit daily, if you will, through prayer, through meditation on God's word, through just asking and saying, Lord, fill me, help me, give me those open doors for the Gospel to share with others. And, you know, when we fall short, and we do, every day in thought, word, and in deed, you know, I've left interactions with friends who don't go to church or wouldn't say that they're Christians and thought to myself, man, I wish I would have just said that differently, right?

I wish I would have taken that opportunity. We take that to the Lord and we say, okay, Lord, help me, forgive me for the times where I'm cowardly or ashamed of your Gospel, and I repent, give me grace to communicate your love and your truth. And I think a part of that is also really apprehending what the Gospel is. As Paul says in Romans chapter 16, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel.

Why? Because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We really need to grasp the glory of the Gospel, the message that God has given to us, the hope of the forgiveness of sins. That's good news for everybody. Everybody's trying to find, you know, some way to deal with their sins.

And oftentimes what they do is they just sort of hide from them, they brush them under the rug, they justify themselves, you know, whatever they can do to sort of put up a bandaid on this mortal wound. But we have the good news of the Gospel, the promise that your sins can be forgiven freely through Jesus Christ. And that Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone, everyone who believes. And so I think, I think, sister, the more we meditate upon that, the more that is at the forefront of our minds, I think the more we'll be emboldened to share the Gospel with others because we know how important it is and we know how good it is. It's not something that we do under compulsion, reluctantly, but something that we just think, man, this is the best news in the world. Sin and death have been conquered.

Lord, help me to see that. Help me to really believe that and to live in accordance with that and to share that with others. And when we fall short, when we struggle, we ask for God's grace and mercy and he gives it to us. And so, sister, may the Lord be with you and bless you. And I'm also so glad to hear that he's brought you out of the Jehovah's Witness organization. Praise God for that. And may he make you a bold witness for Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. Let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This is Casey. I've had a question. You said something about not using the weapons of the world, but in the Bible, we hear and talk about using different weapons, such as when the blade was stuck into the belly of the king so deep, the whole handle went in. I'm just curious what you thought about that. Thank you. Yeah.

Hey. Well, the question is, on a previous broadcast, I said something about we don't fight like the world fights. The weapons of our warfare are not these earthly weapons, physical swords or guns or whatever it is, not when we're talking about spiritual powers. And this is exactly what Paul says in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians 6, verse 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And so it's not for us as believers in Jesus Christ to advance the kingdom of God through earthly weapons, through coercion, through the sword.

No, we don't use the physical sword. We have the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And that's something we need to be reminded of in our politically contentious day and age. I mean, so many people are grasping for power and want to be at the center, want to be in control. Jesus said that the meek are going to inherit the earth and he advances his kingdom by his word and spirit.

And so the weapons of our warfare are not like the weapons of the world. It's the spirit of God at work through the preaching of God's word and may God help us to be committed to that. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.