Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. (Psa 51:12-13)
I will teach transgressors your ways
Do you ever feel bad about not “witnessing” enough? Don’t “share your testimony” enough?
It’s normal and natural for Christians to want to share their faith, to tell their story of what Jesus has done for them. But Jesus never meant for this to be artificial, a kind of “sales-presentation.”
There is a discipline-aspect to telling people about Jesus—I’m a pastor and sometimes I feel sheepish talking about Jesus with our church! There’ll always be an anti-gravity surrounding the name of Jesus—it’s just too powerful to be spoken unopposed!
But God never intended our faith, the story of His salvation, to be spread by dutiful salespeople. He expects it to be shared by people who are excited about His Son!
God made us so that our joys spread. As C.S. Lewis said, “All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise… Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: ‘Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?’” Or as both Paul and John say, “Make our joy complete…” (Phil 2:2; 1Jo 1:4)
You never have to encourage a joyful person to tell you what’s on their heart. That’s God’s plan. “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, uphold me with a willing spirit, then I will teach transgressors Your ways.” Joy, first. The eagerness of joy, second. And then watch out! When we feel Joy because of Jesus, and when our spirits are energized by His mission, then—well, Church History has proven this out: nothing can stop us from talking about Jesus!
We will teach His ways. “His ways” is the same thing as “Your salvation” referred to in the previous verse. God’s ways are the Way of Salvation, the Good News of the Gospel. This is what we’re joyful over, full of, and so naturally this is what spills out. "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Jesus, Luke 6:45)
We will teach His ways to transgressors. Unbelievers. Disbelievers. Anti-believers. Immature believers. Yes yes and yes (and yes). These are people who need God’s saving work.
Here’s a very Christlike irony: the more full of joy we are in Jesus, the more we’re interested in people who are very unlike Jesus. Which is like Jesus Himself: He was most like God, most full of God’s glory, and most welcoming to those who were most anxious about God and His glory.
We will teach. “But I’m not a teacher.” This isn’t the teaching of the classroom or sermon. Rather this is that which God used to “restore joy” to us. It is joy-sharing.
This resembles teaching in that it is careful, planned perhaps, prayed over certainly; it is purposeful. Because we do not believe that sloppiness is a sign of deep concern or that being haphazard is a true mark of authentic passion. When a person gets excited, their speech or manner can veer into excesses. But carefulness is a mark… of care. Some planning and praying goes into our witness. We want the arrow to reach the mark.
Joyful is the proper condition in which to talk about Jesus. Jesus wants to give us joy and lift our spirits. We want joy in Him and hope. And our world needs His joyful, hopeful, presence and message.
[TLDR: get happy in Jesus and then, go get 'em!]
