To most people who recognize him, Barry Meguiar is a car guy. But the former host of Velocity Channel’s “Car Crazy” television show and president of Meguiar’s Inc., a California-based international car care products company founded by his grandfather, has a passion much greater than cars or business. Meguiar is the founder of Revival Outside the Walls/IgnitingAmerica.com, and he believes it is every Christian’s calling to “move everyone, every day, closer to Jesus.” Meguiar recently spoke with Decision and offered some important advice for Christ-followers returning to their jobs and daily routines.
Q: You grew up in a Christian home and became a Christian early in life. But you have talked about how the spiritual fruit of joy was missing for a good portion of your adult life. What happened?
A: A guy named Herb Ellingwood introduced me to the joy of sharing my faith with others. Herb was then-Gov. [Ronald] Reagan’s secretary of legal affairs and was very bold in sharing Jesus with others. I never realized there was a connection between sharing faith and the joy of the Christian life. I said, “God, that’s what I want.” I started sharing with people very intentionally but respectfully, and what an adventure it has been. It took me a few years to learn to do it well, but the Holy Spirit would move as I obeyed. My walk with Christ has been different ever since.
Q: What advice would you have during this time for Christians, some of whom are returning to work and others remaining in some level of quarantine?
A: Today and every day, God wants us to move everyone, every day, closer to Him. During this quarantine, we can do that on the phone and with text, emails, etc. The point is, every form of communication available to us at all times, even our non-verbal actions, moves everyone watching or hearing us closer or further away from God.
God’s agenda is being rapidly fulfilled, and we don’t know when the Lord might return for us. Nearly everybody has contemplated God more in the last several months. They’re open. The Holy Spirit is using this to get people thinking about their own mortality and about God. So as we go to our offices, to the grocery store, in our interactions with others in person or online, we have an urgent role to play in pointing people to the Savior. It’s great news, but few Christians are telling others and too few pastors are equipping them to do it. We cannot afford to squander this moment.
When we have peace and joy in the eye of the storm, it moves those watching and hearing us closer to God. There is no “off” button. It’s every moment of every day until our last breath.
Q: Why do believers so often shy away from sharing their faith?
A: People often think, “I don’t have the gift of evangelism,” or “I might offend someone.” But the world is starving for love and meaning. You don’t have to have a special gift to tell someone what Jesus has done for you or for someone else. I often tell people who are hurting about the story of Joni Eareckson Tada as a bridge to the Gospel. There are a million stories. It doesn’t always have to be your story, or a script you have memorized. Each of us is called to do this. We are not going to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28 by depending just on preachers. Every believer is called. If we stop focusing on ourselves and start focusing on others, it is so easy. The Holy Spirit is there for you as a helper, and if people sense you are genuine, they will talk to you.
That might be the start of a conversation that leads to a person coming to faith in Christ right then, or in a week or a month, or maybe years later. If we are obedient to the calling, there is joy abundant. John 15:11 comes to mind. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” Regardless of circumstances, Jesus wants us to have joy.
Q: What are some other passages you have leaned on through the years?
A: One is Isaiah 43:10: “‘You are My witnesses,’ says the Lord, ‘And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me.’” That verse came alive for me about a year ago. Guess what happens when you’re a witness? Your faith grows. You’re in the Word every night. You’re praying. And then Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We often quote only half of it—“all things work together for good.” He says, “I’ll make everything work for good—if you love Me.” And I find it interesting that loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself completes the law. They go together. If you love your neighbor as yourself, then you’re as concerned for their salvation as you are your own. And if that’s the case, then you’re going to do everything in your life to move them closer to Jesus. And when you live your life for God’s purpose, to seek and save the lost, God will make everything in your life work for good.
Interviewed by Jerry Pierce, managing editor
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.
Photo: Courtesy of Barry Meguiar