Faith & Knowledge

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—

Titus 1:1‌‌

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I‌n this verse Paul tells us that the purpose of his ministry, the purpose of his very life, boils down to two things... increasing the faith and knowledge of God’s people.‌‌ I think this is a small but helpful insight for us as we try to witness to those around us.

Trying to share the gospel with someone can be overwhelming, but this perspective that Paul has is wonderfully clear and simple. There are two ways you can have a Christian influence on the people you meet. You can help 1) increase their faith or you can help 2) increase their knowledge. I find that wonderfully simple and helpful. 

As I meet someone I want to witness to, I can ask myself, “What does this person need from me? Do they need faith or knowledge?”‌‌ Most of the time it isn’t that difficult to discern which one people need. As you build a relationship with a person and they find out you’re a Christian, their response to your faith will usually tell you what you need to know.

‌‌For example, some people will come to you with questions. That tells you that they need help with knowledge. It’s pretty hard for people to believe or put into practice what they don’t understand. And you can help them with that. You can be a resource that helps get answers to their questions. You don’t have to have a seminary degree to answer people’s questions about the Bible. Just share what you know with them. And if you don’t know the answer, then tell them you’ll look into it and get back to them. Then ask your Sunday School teacher or pastor or some other mature believer and go back to them with the best answer you can find. When you do this for people you increase their knowledge little-by-little and you clear obstacles out of their path of faith.

When other people find out you’re a believer, they’ll tell you right out that the Bible is wrong or they may even claim to be a Christian but will show you by their lifestyle that they lack living faith. These are the kinds of people you can help by increasing their faith. They don’t need answers to questions. They need someone to encourage them to place their faith in Jesus. They need someone to invite them to church, someone to invite them to a Bible study, someone to challenge them to pray. They need someone to inspire them to take little steps of faith towards God. You can do that for them.

I find it helpful to think in those terms. So, when you have a chance to be a witness to someone try to determine what it is that they need from you. Do they need 1) faith or 2) knowledge? Then simply share with them what faith or knowledge God has given you.‌