Appendix 1. When You Share the Gospel with Your Family

How glad would you be if your whole household became one, received the Lord and lived a life of faith together? But when you look at believers’ homes, very often that is not how it is. If a husband, a wife or the children do not serve the Lord together, the discord at home will go on. And if the believer has no wisdom, that discord will only get worse, won’t it? Because of the church, family members sometimes look at each other like enemies, and homes even split apart. At a time like that, why not try this? If you understand how your family member feels about disliking the church and God, and love them all the more so that they realize you love them, won’t they slowly open their heart to you? Then go to them carefully, very slowly, little by little. If you mention in passing how much God loves them, they will resist less. We believers press unbelievers one-sidedly about why they won’t go to church, and tell them that because of them God won’t bless the family. Isn’t it because of harsh words like these that they drift even further away? God is a personal God, so when we approach people with our own one-sided human thinking, those who are in darkness cannot really know what the light is. That is why they cannot easily understand the personal God, or God’s love, and cannot come to church. If you wait for the other person just as long as the Lord waited for you, they will open their heart and come to you first.

But whatever you do, remember this! If you step down from the rock to meet them at their level, you will both have no choice but to die…

And that, holding on to faith, you must give them ease, like the other person’s own tongue…