You cannot keep your parakeet sealed up in Tupperware! I’m not saying you should not; I’m saying you cannot. If you attempt such a thing, you won’t have a parakeet any longer. You will have a pathetic little heap of feathers!

Steps to Christ, page 78, says,

“No sooner does one come to Christ than there is born in his heart a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus; the saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart. If we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and are filled with the joy of His indwelling Spirit, we shall not be able to hold our peace. If we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good we shall have something to tell.”

You can find similar statements all through the spirit of prophecy.

“Jesus did not bid the disciples, ‘Strive to make your light shine;’ He said, ‘Let it shine.’ If Christ is dwelling in the heart, it is impossible to conceal the light of His presence.” – Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 41.

“The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour.” – The Great Controversy, p. 70.

The desire to share the good news with others comes naturally to the genuine Christian. The desire to share good news comes naturally to anybody! Perhaps you remember the story of the lepers in the days of the famine in Israel. The city was under siege, and people were starving. A group of lepers decided to venture outside the city, hoping to find a morsel of food. They reasoned that if they were killed in the attempt, that they would have died soon anyway.

To their amazement, the enemy had fled in the night, leaving their tents and supplies. The lepers ate and drank and then carried away silver and gold from the first two tents they came to. And then the natural desire to share the good news caught up with them! You can read it in 2 Kings 7:9.

“Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.”

So they went into the city to share what they had discovered.

In spite of the fact that the desire to share comes naturally, it is possible not to share. If you resist the natural desire to share, you lose it–-just as you lose your parakeet if you shut it up in Tupperware.

“The grace of God will not long abide in the soul of him who, having great privileges and opportunities, remains silent. Such a man will soon find that he has nothing to tell.” – Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, August 22, 1899.

Which brings us to another important truth: not all of us will share the good news in the same way. All will have a natural desire to share, which all will lose if they refuse to act on it. But not all will use the same method in sharing with others.

The Holy Spirit chooses the gifts of service that He bestows. Not everyone can work by the same method, and not everyone can be reached by the same method. But as Christian witnesses we will each have something personal to share about what Jesus Christ has done for us. One person may have an outgoing personality and feel comfortable stopping strangers on the street to tell them of Christ. Another person may be more retiring and may work best among those with whom he is already acquainted. The Ministry of Healing, page 143, says,

“Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’ “

The “gospel bomb” theory should be exploded! Perhaps you’ve seen the film “The Gospel Blimp,” a satire on some of the witnessing methods used by the immature. People are not saved in masses; they are saved as individuals. And the personal testimony of what Jesus has done for you is still the most convincing argument that you can present.