The playwright Murray Watts tells the story of a young man who was convinced of the truth of Christianity, but was paralyzed with fear at the very thought of having to admit to being a Christian. The idea of telling anyone about his faith and being called a religious nutcase scared him to death.
For weeks he tried to run from these new thoughts of God, but it was no use. It was like once he got a taste of it, he saw it everywhere and heard it in every sound – Jesus repeating over and over again: “Follow me.”
Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer and he went to a very old man who had been a Christian for almost a century. He told him of this terrible burden of hearing the voice of Christ calling him to be a witness and how the very thought of having to talk about Jesus to someone else stopped him from becoming a Christian.
The old man just shook his head. “This is a matter between you and Christ,” he said, “Why bring all these other people you are afraid of into it? Go home,” said the old man. “Go into your bedroom alone. Forget the world. Forget your family. Forget these ideas of what you think its going to do to you, how you think it will compromise your quality of life, and make it a secret between you and God.”
The young man couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You mean, I don’t have to tell anyone?” “No,” said the old man. “No one at all?” “Not if you don’t want to.” No one had ever given the young man that choice before.
“Are you sure?” Asked the young man, beginning to get excited. “Can this be right?” And the old man said, “It is right for you.” So the young man went home, knelt down in prayer and completely surrendered himself to Christ. Immediately, he ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his wife, father, and three friends were sitting. “Do you realize,” he said, breathless in excitement, “that it is possible to be a Christian without telling anyone?”