Fear Isn't an Excuse Not to Act

By Paul Perkins

While visiting an orphanage in India several years ago, my host asked if I wanted to preach to a group of pastors and widows. I told him "No."

It’s one thing to give my testimony at a youth event, like I did in Indonesia a couple months earlier. It’s something entirely different to prepare and give a sermon to a roomful of adults at a church.

An Uncomfortable Faith

Growing up, I never felt comfortable being a Christian. Perhaps it was because I lived in Oregon, where most people aren’t believers. Automatically that made me different. I learned that lesson on my first day of kindergarten. Everyone sat in a circle and, one by one, shared what their dad did for a living. When my turn came, I proudly declared, “My dad’s a pastor.”

The room went silent.

After that, I never again wanted to talk about religion in public. I didn’t want to mention my dad’s job or that I went to church every Sunday. It made me uncomfortable because I sensed other people felt uncomfortable.

As I grew older, though, I began feeling guilty about my silence. Christians are supposed to speak up and defend truth, evangelize and share the gospel, push against immorality and sin—at least that’s what I thought. That guilt motivated me to begin speaking more about my faith. But I still didn’t enjoy it.

Read the rest of this article at RELEVANT.