Matthew West Shares His Excitement for Revival Across the Country
By Movieguide® Contributor
Matthew West encouraged his fans to be unashamed of the Gospel by sharing multiple high profile people or events who have boldly shared their faith.
“Are you willing to be unashamed for Jesus? Has He changed your life? If so, that should fill you with a level of excitement and a desire to tell others, right. When you’ve had your life changed, you want to tell other people so their lives can be changed as well,” West said. “I think I’ve been stirred lately just to think about, what does it look like for me to live a life that lives out those words from Paul, that I live my life not ashamed [of the Gospel].”
West shared how the boldness of multiple people in the media recently has inspired his faith and challenged him to live as an ambassador for Christ at every moment, not just when he is expected to be. For example, leading up to the Super Bowl, many players shared about their relationship with Christ, even when discussing things not directly related to religion.
“Mind you, these guys are being interviewed about the game of football and they’re saying, no, I want to use this opportunity to tell people about what Jesus has done for me…” he said. “These celebrities could easily stay quiet about their faith for fear of losing endorsement deals or whatever it is, but they’re being unashamed.”
Staying in the realm of sports, West also brought up a really cool example from the NBA when player Jaden Ivy was asked by reporters to walk them through a game winning shot that he hit. Ivy is currently at the highest peak of fame he has ever experienced, finding a revival in his game three seasons into the NBA and given more opportunities on the court because of an injury experienced by one of the starters. Rather than taking all of the glory for himself, he turned his success back to God.
“Ivy didn’t start his answer at the beginning of the play though, he wanted to go back further… [he] shared that prior to the play, he prayed to God and asked Him to take control of the situation,” West shared. “I love the idea that God cares about the big and the small details of our lives. [Ivy said], ‘Before I even did the play, I was just talking to Jesus.’ He said, like, ‘Lord, just do something special,’ and He delivered… What a great example of what it looks like to walk and walk with God in any and every situation.”
West has also found great encouragement from revivals sweeping across college campuses. At Ohio State, for example, many players on the football team focused on their faith throughout the season and used the platform given to them after winning the National Championship to continue to elevate God. Their faith has impacted the campus as a whole and at one event in February, over 2,000 students gave their life to Christ.
READ MORE: 2,000 OHIO STATE STUDENTS CHOSE TO FOLLOW CHRIST AT CAMPUS EVENT LAST WEEK
Similar events are breaking out in even the most unlikely of places, like Florida State University – the second largest party school in the nation – where an event was held that 5,000 students attended and over 200 were baptized at.
These stories inspire West because it helps him realize that God truly is on the move in our country and you never know when you are going to have a life-changing impact on a person by showing them the Gospel. Whether it be through your actions or your words, he encourages all who believe to take their faith seriously and live every moment as though it could impact another.
“A lot of times people might say, ‘well, Matthew, you already live your life unashamed,” He said. “You spend your whole life singing songs.’ And sometimes I fell like I come up short. Like, okay, I’m unashamed of the Gospel when I’m on stage singing a song or when I’m doing my podcast but what about the rest of my life? And I seeking out opportunities where I could witness to somebody?”
Movieguide® previously reported on living unashamed of the Gospel:
Willie Robertson sat down with his daughter Sadie Robertson Huff to discuss his new book, “Gospeler,” which explains why Christians need to share their faith and helps them understand how to do it.
“I think a lot of people come to faith, and I think later on, they’d be like, I didn’t know [sharing my faith] was part of the deal. I didn’t know I was supposed to tell anyone about it,” Robertson told Huff. “I kind of make the case that, what if it’s the whole deal? The whole deal is about giving it away; it’s about telling others.”
“And so, in the book, I start building out this premise of where this comes from…I’m really interested once Jesus has come back from the dead, he’s only here for a few weeks, and what does he tell people to do? Like…here’s what needs to happen,” he continued. “So, we can clue in right there, you can clue into a couple of things but especially what you may know as the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28: ‘All authority has been given to me.’ And he says three things there. He says, ‘Go make disciples, baptize people and teach people.’”
“So those are three specific things,” Robertson added. “He doesn’t say, ‘Go to church and be a good person…’ He says to go be active, and those are the three things. And so, what I found was in my life if I’m not around any of those three things, then maybe I’m on the wrong mission…maybe my mission is wrong. So I feel like I’ve run into a lot of believers who, they just don’t have the right mission…[And they feel like,] I need something…and I really believe it’s because they’re not going back to what Jesus said this is your mission.”
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