Sharing Your Faith: Why It Was Never All on You

Why Sharing Your Faith Feels Like Going to Work With Dad

Ask most Christians what makes them anxious about their faith, and somewhere near the top of the list is this: sharing it. The frozen moment in the checkout line. The coworker you know you should say something to. The internal script that starts with “I should” and ends with a knot in your stomach.

A recent Christian Business Breakfast panel from The Stone Table put that anxiety on the table and then quietly dismantled it. The reframe they landed on is simple enough to remember and strong enough to change how you walk through your week. Sharing your faith is less like a performance you carry and more like going to work with your dad.

The Pressure We Were Never Meant to Carry

One panelist described the weight she used to feel. Standing in the card aisle at the store, staring at a stranger, running the awkward loop in her head: do you know Jesus? I have to say something. It was uncomfortable, forced, and exhausting, precisely because she believed the whole outcome rested on her.

That belief is the problem. If it is up to you to convict, convince, and convert, then every conversation is a test you might fail. No wonder it feels heavy. The pressure is not a sign that you care enough. It is a sign that you have quietly taken a job that was never yours.

A Better Picture: Going to Work With Dad

Her breakthrough came through a childhood memory. She thought back to Take Your Kid to Work Day, going with her father to his job, and her favorite part being simply meeting his coworkers. She was not there to run the business. She was there to be with her dad while he did what he already did.

That, she realized, is what witnessing actually is. “Now I just think of it as going to work with Dad. I’m working with the Lord on this.” The people around her were not her project. They were people God already knew, whose lives He had already been at work in. Her job was not to initiate. Her job was to show up and join Him in a moment already in progress.

As she put it, “It’s not dependent on me to do something. I’m just partnering with what He’s already doing in their life.” That single shift, she said, took all the tension and stress out of it.

You Are Not Writing the Story

The host built on this with a line worth sitting with. We are not the authors here. We’re not writing our own story or blazing our own trail. We’re participating in the story God is already writing.

This is enormously freeing, and also humbling in the best way. It means the outcome does not hinge on your eloquence or your timing being perfect. You are stepping into a narrative that started long before you walked up, and will continue long after you walk away.

Surrender Over Striving

Another panelist named the mechanism underneath the reframe: surrender. He admitted to putting the same pressure on himself, until a shift happened. “God was like, just let Me work through you. I just need your obedience.” For him it became an act of surrender, then simply letting the Spirit flow.

And then he named the wonder in it. God does not need us. He could reach every person on earth through a dream or a vision. “But He chooses to partner with us.” That truth, he said, still blows his mind, and he hopes it always will. Being used is not a burden God places on you. It is an invitation He extends to you.

What Actually Happens When You Speak

So what about the moment itself, when the words have to come? The oldest voice at the table offered the most practical assurance. When you surrender, when you set your pride and your bubbling anxiety aside and speak in faith, the Holy Spirit comes right in behind that and gives you the words.

That is the quiet promise underneath the whole reframe. You are not asked to script the perfect sentence in advance. You are asked to be willing, to be present, and to trust that the same God who has been working in that person’s life will meet you in the moment you open your mouth.

The Takeaway

If sharing your faith has felt like a weight you can never quite carry well enough, here is the invitation: put it down. You were never the one holding it up. Show up to your ordinary week like a kid tagging along to work with a father who knows exactly what He’s doing. Stay present. Surrender the pressure. Speak in faith when the moment comes.

Ready to live on mission without the pressure? Start here: thestonetable.org/start.

Full Transcript

Sarah: When I was a kid, we still had Take Your Kid to Work Day. Do you guys remember this phenomenon? It was amazing. You got to skip school and go to work. It’s a good episode of The Office, too. I went with my dad to the auto parts place, and I remember it being the most mesmerizing experience. My favorite part was getting to meet his coworkers.

I used to carry so much pressure about how to witness and tell people. I remember being in Meijer, at the card aisle, just looking at this lady, thinking, “Do you know Jesus?” It was so awkward, but I felt like I had to tell someone. Now I just think of it as going to work with Dad. I’m working with the Lord on this. These are people He already knows, whose lives He’s already been working in. I just get to come into that moment with Him. Doing that has taken all the tension and stress out of it. It’s not dependent on me to do something. I’m just partnering with what He’s already doing in their life.

Josh: That’s beautiful. And it reminds me that there’s a bigger story we’re a part of, one we’re invited into. That’s all we’re doing. We’re not writing our own story or blazing our own trail. We’re participating in the story God is already writing. Bryce, do you have anything?

Bryce: Absolutely. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice is kind of what I heard from that. And it’s interesting, because sheep are dumb animals, they really are, and they need a shepherd. But to go off your point, I put so much pressure on myself. Sarah, I feel like I hear that from you too. There was a point where God was like, “Just let Me work through you. I just need your obedience. Just let Me be.” For me it was an act of surrender, and then letting the Spirit flow. And it’s so beautiful, because He doesn’t have to use us. He could encounter everyone in a dream or a vision. But He chooses to partner with us, to use us for His Great Commission. That still blows my mind, and I hope it always does.

Greg: Did you hear what Bryce said? An act of surrender. That’s maybe the most vivid thing I can think of when we talk about this. When we surrender, when we put our pride aside, the anxiety that may be bubbling there, we set it aside and surrender it to Him and speak in faith. The Holy Spirit comes right in behind that and gives you the words. It’s unbelievable. If you’re listening to this and you don’t know that, trust it, because it’s true.