When I played college baseball, we used to play games on the road to make the time go by faster. My games of choice were either Spades or riddle word games. My favorite riddle was “The Green Glass Door.”

If you haven’t heard, it goes like this:

There is a Green Glass Door. A goose can fit through the Green Glass Door, but not a duck. A deer can fit through, but not a doe. What else can fit through the Green Glass Door? Any guesses?

You might be rattling off guesses right now, or you could be sitting there, like several of my teammates, with more questions than answers.

Here’s the thing—some people would get it, but most wouldn’t.

I would give hints, or maybe dance around the answer, but they still wouldn’t get it.

It didn’t matter how hard they tried to think or come up with different ideas; they couldn’t get it.

Ultimately, they would need someone who knew to help them by clearly speaking the trick to the riddle.

I think this is very similar to how we share our faith in Jesus with others. I hear people talk about sharing Jesus, and I certainly don’t think any follower would disagree with the Great Commission. However, there seems to be a tendency for many believers today to separate showing Jesus in actions from speaking Jesus to the lost.

Don’t misunderstand me; we absolutely must show the love of Christ in our actions and be the ones out front leading the charge to serve our neighbors and community.

However, we should be just as concerned for the Lord to give us opportunities to speak about Jesus, and then have the courage to step into those moments. This is what Paul is speaking of in Colossians 4:2-4:

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

We should be praying that God would open a door for us and then pray that we would have the conviction to step through that door and speak the gospel clearly.

So, how can we speak it clearly? Thankfully, Paul gives us further insight in the letter to the Colossians:

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:5-6

Make it important.

Paul, in verse 5, is praying that we would walk in God’s wisdom to be aware when it is a moment He wants us to speak. God is drawing all men to Himself, so we want to be looking for those moments and then jump on them.

Make it beautiful.

We live in a culture that is starving for beauty and transcendence. Paul, in verse 6, says our speech should be appealing. It should draw others in. We have the greatest story ever and the answer to dried-up, weary souls. Share it with confidence knowing you aren’t talking about some product but the very thing we all were made for.

Make it personal.

Paul says if we do these things, we will then be able to answer anyone whenever they have questions about the gospel. The major reason we don’t share Jesus is that we are afraid of not knowing how to respond if someone asks us a question we don’t know.

I understand that fear, but can I ask you to reflect on a question?

How often in your daily life are you interacting with theoretical astrophysicists asking you questions about string theory and superfluidity?

I would bet that’s pretty rare. However, even if you do, just because you don’t know it doesn’t mean that there isn’t an answer.

Tell the person, “I don’t know,” and ask if you can do some research and then meet up again in a week. There are amazing saints who can speak to these questions.

Additionally, yes, the gospel speaks to the cosmic reconciliation of all things through the person and work of Jesus, and God wrote you into the story.

If you don’t know what to say, share your story. Share how Jesus took you from death to life. Share how He delivered you from darkness into light. Our testimony is the most powerful witness we have, so if the conversation gets too “in the clouds,” bring it back down and ask the person, “Can I share with you how Jesus changed my life?”

From there, connect Jesus to their story. Alvin Reid, in his book Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out, put it beautifully, saying, “Sharing Jesus is as simple as connecting with others around their passion or their pain.”[1] Make it personal because Jesus is personal.

Conclusion

So, did you figure out the riddle yet? I could give you more hints, like: What do Apple and Rooster have in common? I could tell you to focus on how Green Glass and Door are spelled, and you might get the trick. However, it isn’t until I tell you that the key to the riddle is the double letters back-to-back that you finally see it clearly. Green Glass Door.

Just like this riddle, we need to make the gospel clear to those who don’t know Jesus, and the only way to make it abundantly clear is by speaking it.

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[1] Alvin Reid, Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out: Evangelism the Way You Were Born to Do It (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2017), 2.