INTERSECT

Essentials for Evangelism

New Christians have an instinctive desire to share their faith. For example, immediately and without any training, after experiencing the living water found in Christ, the Samaritan woman (John 4) left her water jar and went back to those within her circle of influence and urged simply, “Come see a man who told me all the things I have ever done.” In the Gospel accounts, whenever someone experiences salvation in Christ, the immediate reflex is to go and tell others.

Sadly, as believers, we do not always follow through with this simple practice of sharing our faith. None of us can claim a perfect record of evangelism, and we all know what it is like to make excuses for our lack of evangelism. And, truthfully, sharing the gospel with others isn’t always as easy as preachers make it out to be. After all, we will encounter challenges, both culturally and personally, when we attempt to help others come to know Christ. The purpose of this brief article isn’t to detail these challenges but to remind you (and me) of basic principles for effective evangelism and outreach.

Prayerful

A pastor who has been in ministry 40 years recently told me, “The people I have prayed for [to be saved] have all been saved.” The fact is, God works when we pray. It’s true our prayers don’t guarantee anyone salvation because every person has a free will. Additionally, we know God doesn’t “need” our prayers. However, the Bible is clear. God has chosen to unite His work in the world with the faithful prayers of His people.

We need to be prayerful, so the Lord might open the heart of those who hear the gospel from us (consider Acts 16 and Lydia’s conversion). Many church prayer meetings and individual prayer closets could use more prayers for the salvation of those outside of Christ.

Intentional

While we certainly want our lifestyle to bear witness to the gospel, at some point the “visible” gospel has to become the “verbal” gospel. If we aren’t careful, we can miss opportunities to share the gospel because we aren’t looking for ways to swing conversations in a spiritual direction.

Donald Whitney suggests we use questions to move our conversations toward the gospel. He states, “Much of the time, the biggest problem is simply moving a conversation from small talk to ’big’ talk, the biggest subject of all—the gospel.” [1]

Conversational

Sometimes in marriages, disagreeing couples can appear to be listening to one another when, in reality, all they are doing is internally forming a “killer comeback.” This type of conflict resolution doesn’t help matters at all, because the couple isn’t really having a healthy conversation.

Conversation involves two persons having two-way communication. When it comes to our evangelistic efforts, do we listen to the worldview of the person in front of us? Do we really understand where he or she is coming from? Are we actually hearing the longings and fears of their hearts? Yes, the person is a sinner and needs the Savior, but he is also made in the image of God. This reality demands you respect him as a person. Listening also helps us understand the specific and personal touch points of the gospel for each person’s life.

Some may frown at the idea of memorizing an approach to sharing the gospel. They object to reciting the gospel message in a mechanical or “canned” fashion. But it doesn’t have to be. Memorizing approaches—and more importantly memorizing Scripture—is a fundamental practice of effective evangelism. Having an approach is better than not sharing the gospel at all. However, we want to make sure we approach every person with the flexibility necessary for real spiritual conversations. Rest assured. Most evangelistic encounters don’t fit into neat and tidy boxes!

About the Columnist: Dr. Barry Raper pastors Bethel FWB Church near Ashland City, Tennessee. He also serves as program coordinator for ministry studies at Welch College and is a member of the Tennessee Christian Education Board. Barry and his wife Amanda have five children.