SHARE JESUS WITHOUT FEAR

Author Information

The authors of “Share Jesus Without Fear” are William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd. William Fay studied theology under Gordon Lewis at Denver Seminary. Gordon Lewis is a professor of systematic theology at Denver Seminary. William Fay is married to Peg Fay and was raised in an upper middle class family. He was a child who enjoyed the better things in life and soon found himself in the fast lane of life as a young adult with ties to the Mob. William Fay narrowly dodged a bullet when he was busted for running a prostitution ring because he was given a warning not to involve himself in any criminal activity and avoided jail time. William Fay hit rock bottom when he was brought up on charges of soliciting an undercover officer for prostitution and it was during this time that he came to faith as he was continuously ministered to by a long time friend. While expecting to fully be committed to the penitentiary for violating the terms of his parole, to the glory of God he was released and the charges were barred from being brought against him again. Since that time William Fay has met with thousands of individuals and shared his faith in Jesus including the very same police officers that had arrested him on various occasions.

William Fay list five steps to knowing Jesus Christ in his book “Share Jesus Without Fear”:

1. Admit to God you are a sinner.
2. Want forgiveness for your sin.
3. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again.
4. Be willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
5. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. (Fay, pg 192).

Linda Evans Shepherd is an award winning author who is a member of the National Speaker’s Association. Some of her works include; Encouraging Hands, Encouraging Hearts, and Heart-Stirring Stories of Romance and Heart-Stirring Stories of Love. (Fay, pg 195).

Content Summary

William Fay has penned a work in “Share Jesus Without Fear” that uses a systematic approach to sharing one’s faith in Jesus Christ without being overly structured. The process involves asking a series of questions in a conversational tone without offering an immediate rebuttal to any ideas communicated lending to an environment that is conducive to witnessing without coming across as someone who is overly aggressive and trying to force a conversion. The questions that William Fay introduce allow the individual who is witnessing to gauge where the individual is at spiritually and adjust accordingly if he or she judges it is not the right time to present the gospel. One of the first points that William Fay makes in his book is that you cannot fail if you are being obedient to God’s command to be a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of whether or not there is a conversion that takes place and illustrates this point by telling the story of his conversion after being witnessed to for years by a close friend and rejecting and ridiculing the gospel until he was charged with running a prostitution ring. In chapter 2 William Fay attempts to relay the importance of witnessing to the unsaved of the world by using different scenarios that have at the root of the story the message that we must not be silent as Christians concerning the marvelous news of the gospel. Chapter 3 focuses on overcoming ones fear of witnessing and addresses a number of excuses people use to justify their unwillingness to obey God’s commandment to include; I’m afraid of being rejected, I’m afraid of what my friends will think, I don’t think I can share with my coworkers, I don’t know enough, I’m afraid of losing my friends and relatives, and I don’t know how. (Fay, Chapter 3). Chapter 3 concludes with Fay admonishing the reader that if he or she would wishes take part in the joy that so many others have experienced, that it will be necessary to stop making excuses and to step out on faith.
Chapter 4 contains what Fay refers to as the Jesus questions, which is basically a set of questions that allow you to gauge the fertility of the soil before a seed of the gospel is planted. The advantages of this technique are clear, If you deem that the person whom you are speaking with is not ready to receive the message, you can back off, but on the other hand if the soil is fertile, then you can continue the witnessing process culminating with the individual who is being witnessed to accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The “Five Questions” that Fay introduces for tools to use while witnessing are: Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? To you, who is Jesus Christ? Do you think there is a heaven or hell? If you died where would you go? If heaven, why? If what you are believing is not true, would you want to know? Fay also makes mention of the Hmmmmm Principle, which is aimed at being an attentive listener rather than being focused on a rebuttal always. Chapter 5 places an emphasis on using scripture to witness to people who are not in the faith as the preferred method because it is through God’s word that the heart is changed (Fay, pg 41). Chapter 5 also contains seven scriptures which have been labeled “Share Scriptures” by Fay. The purpose of using the share scriptures is to let the Bible speak plainly regarding man’s need for a savior. Chapter 6 focuses on leading someone to make a decision to accept Christ and includes 5 questions called “Commitment Questions” that can be used to lead someone to accept Christ as Savior; Are you a sinner? Do you want forgiveness of sins? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for you and rose again? Are you willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ? Are you ready to invite Jesus into your life and into your heart? Chapter 7 focuses on what to do after someone has just accepted Jesus Christ as savior, while Chapter 8 lists typically objections that are posed by doubters of the faith with responses to these common concerns addressed.
Chapter nine’s focus is on “Developing and Keeping Non-Christian Friends”, Chapter ten focuses on “How to Pray for Nonbelievers” and Chapter eleven’s message is to always be ready to speak the word of God, properly entitled “Let’s Go”. There are also five appendixes for the readers use, appendix 5 being the personal testimony of Bill Fay, and a section about the authors.

Evaluation

I have an appreciation for the candidness and openness that comes across when reading
“Sharing Jesus Without Fear” and believe that Fay achieves his purpose of providing a way for believers to share their faith. The theme of the book is valid and necessary because there are a lot of believers who struggle sharing their faith. I found Fay’s arguments to be well supported and convincing although I am not a fan of such a structured approach to witnessing, I do admit that it is an issue that many believers struggle with and can improve upon if they apply the systems in Fay’s book. The personal testimony of Fay serves as one of the primary means of conveying the effectiveness of God’s word being used to convert lost souls. What is significant about the book is that Fay has communicated that it is God’s word that actually penetrates the heart and converts and has included a series of scriptures that can explain the gospel, leaving no room for debate over the unconverted sinner’s need for a savior. I noticed a theological bias of not getting in to a debate when witnessing, which supports the theme of the book. We have learned that all it takes to be successful in witnessing is to be willing to be a witness and that we need not be concerned with winning souls for Jesus, that is God’s business. The book is a good starting point for believers who struggle in witnessing the good news and can be a good spring board for being ready to witness in season and out of season. All Christians can benefit from reading this book as it provides a baseline for witnessing to individuals who are ready to receive the message of the gospel, in line with the biblical principle of not casting your pearls before swine. I plan to personally use the approaches introduced in Fay’s book “Share Jesus Without Fear” by placing the steps on a website to make them available to fellow Christians.

Bibliographical Entry

Shepherd Evans Linda -William, Fay: Share Jesus Without Fear, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1999.

Tagged as: book review, church, conversation, conversion, evangelism, five steps to knowing jesus, god, jesus, linda evans shepherd, obedience, prostitution, salvation, share jesus without fear, william fay, witness, witnessing