Sharing the Gospel in Day to Day Life.

[Quatchu]

Typically in your day to day interactions and conversations (co-worker, friends, family) how do you bring up the gospel to unbelievers. What are some ways that you use to to stimulate conversation towards spiritual matters, and give brief opportunities to share the gospel.

 

[Leslie]

I never used to bring up spiritual issues with unbelievers. This needs changing. This past week one of the girls who is in my English program approached me with a sheet of paper with questions. She basically was asking what the gospel is all about: What is sin? What does it mean that Jesus saves us? were two of her questions. Using the little English she knows and the little Wolaitta that I know, I was able to explain the gospel to her. She was appreciative. Once I got done, I didn't know what to do. I have an aversion to "ask Jesus into your heart," and I think she needs to think about this for a while rather than making a snap decision. Anyway, this experience gave me a jolt, like I want more experiences like this and what can I do to initiate them, rather than waiting for someone to come to me.

 

[earl40]

I never used to bring up spiritual issues with unbelievers. This needs changing. This past week one of the girls who is in my English program approached me with a sheet of paper with questions. She basically was asking what the gospel is all about: What is sin? What does it mean that Jesus saves us? were two of her questions. Using the little English she knows and the little Wolaitta that I know, I was able to explain the gospel to her. She was appreciative. Once I got done, I didn't know what to do. I have an aversion to "ask Jesus into your heart," and I think she needs to think about this for a while rather than making a snap decision. Anyway, this experience gave me a jolt, like I want more experiences like this and what can I do to initiate them, rather than waiting for someone to come to me.

Mary I think you did perfect! You told her Who Jesus is and what He did and she may have believed you, and there is NO REASON to have her make any decision at all on that. Just encourage good biblical behavior and God will finish what may have started with your witness.

 

[Leslie]

I find it amazing that this thread is not so active. Is this indicative of the PB culture, that hairsplitting theological issues are higher priority than evangelism?

 

[Vladimir]

Here is a man who has a little bit of aversion towards "asking Jesus into someone's heart": Please Come to Christ (Paul Washer) - YouTube
Paul Washer once said that the first time he went out into the street to share the Gospel, he just stood there with the Bible in his hand, terrified and with no idea what to say. He was like that until people started coming up to him and asking, 'Why are you standing there doing nothing?'

He also says that usually when he is flying somewhere, he takes out his Bible to read and puts it in front of him to maybe interest his neighbour. If he doesn't, somewhere along the middle of the flight he will turn to them and say, 'Hello. My name is Paul Washer, and I am a Christian. May I ask for five minutes of your time to share the Gospel with you?' And if the person disagrees, he drops the subject and talks to them about anything else, so that they could not say afterwards that a crazy evangelist latched on to them during the flight.

He once said that a neighbour saw that he was reading the Bible and asked him, 'Hey, how do you go to Heaven?' To which he replied, 'Oh, it's simple. You just have to be a morally perfect person from the time of your birth until the day you die', and turned back to his Bible. The man just sat there for a while, astonished. Then he spoke to him again and asked, 'Well, what if I'm not?', to which he replied 'Then you've got a problem. Have a nice day.'

I don't fly very often, and the only time I did since I was convinced I need to share the good news, I was sitting next to a young man and woman who just met and were flirting the whole flight. I never said anything to them.
I have a problem with witnessing. I am not a very shy person, I am confident in my theology, but when it comes to witnessing, I am speechless. Even at my job, people know that I am a Christian, I pinned up church organ concert invitations on the pin board once, and that's it.

 

[sevenzedek]

My method has been to simply ask what others think about Jesus, morals, life, heaven, hell, or whatever else that comes to my mind. If they don't close off the conversation, I talk more. If they refuse to talk about important things concerning their souls, I let them have their way. I try to ask many questions. This helps keep the conversation flowing.

Sometimes I ask if they have ever heard the gospel explained before.

I have tried to force others to have a conversation about spiritual matters. So, boldness is not a problem for me. But, it rarely works for me to force the conversation.

I try to avoid cliche statements and questions too. For instance, I avoid the question, "If you were to die tonight, would be absolutely sure..." Instead, I might ask the person if they have ever considered heaven or hell. To a question like that, someone is likely to give the answer that fits for him or her. Then I might ask, "What do you mean?" Then I might share how I thought about the issue they might be having. If I run out of things to say, I might ask another question like, "Earlier you said this about that. What do you think about such and such?"

I don't carry the burden of the whole conversation. If a person does not want to talk about things, I just move on. To him who has, more will be given. If they reject it, I try to avoid giving it most of the time.

When I first started sharing the gospel with people, I was like a panicking elephant in a china shop. It took me awhile to learn when to not say certain things and when to say other things. I had to start somewhere. I recommend to others to do the same. Just begin to share. You will make mistakes. Learn from them and move on. Ask many questions too. It shows others that you are interested in them; not just your gospel agenda.

 

[a mere housewife]

I read this yesterday and was reminded of this discussion:

. . . faith has in it the urge to speak. . . . Schaff says: "Faith, like all strong conviction, has a desire to utter itself before others -- 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.'"

(Herman Hoeksema, The Triple Knowledge) This was in the context of the church being a confessional church -- having a creed to which it openly confesses. But I thought that perhaps one of the best ways to be ready to take opportunities to speak to unbelievers where they arise is to ask the Lord to increase our faith, and to develop in us a heart overflowing with the reality of the things we confess.

 

[VictorBravo]

I believe quoting Scripture in an apt and timely fashion is an excellent way for a discussion to open up.

As an example, a while back I was discussing cases with another lawyer. We came to an agreement on how to proceed and he said, "You're a good man, Vic."

I responded: "There is none good but one, that is God."

That caused him to ask where the quote came from, which led us to Matthew 19, which opened a discussion on the law of God, and so forth.

If you know your Scripture well enough, it does the talking and the leading. I think that is where most of our work lies: knowing and being able to repeat with understanding God's Word.

 

[Jack K]

The fact that I'm a believer comes up naturally enough in general chit-chat:

THEM: "What do you do?" ME: "I'm a writer." THEM: "Oh, what do you write?" ME: "Corporate training materials. Also Bible lessons for kids."

or...

THEM: "What's new with you?" ME: "I'm teaching at a Bible camp next week." or... "We're getting together with some friends from church tonight."

At that point, they usually will either ask more about my church or my faith, or they will subtly make it clear that to bring up church or the Bible made them uncomfortable and they'd rather not talk about that. Either is okay with me.

The real issue is for me is not how to bring a conversation around to my faith. That happens naturally enough if I'm just honest with people about my life when we make small talk. My problem is that I often want to avoid either awkwardness or involved discussions, and so I'm dishonest when people engage me in small talk. I avoid anything related to my faith, and give them only a Christ-free snapshot of my life.

 

[Jake]

I've been very blessed this summer. Where I am working has many foreign people from different cultures and I have noticed a general openness toward talking about spiritual things. I've simply been able to share from my perspective in conversations that someone else starts... This includes having defended the trinity and simply talking about the gospel to one fellow who asked me about it. Thankfully, the owner is a Christian who frequently evangelizes his employees and encourages us as well.

 

[Jake]

I find it amazing that this thread is not so active. Is this indicative of the PB culture, that hairsplitting theological issues are higher priority than evangelism?

I sincerely hope this was just because the thread was started early Sunday morning in the US. After the sabbath the thread seems to have picked up more attention.

 

[reaganmarsh]

I find it amazing that this thread is not so active. Is this indicative of the PB culture, that hairsplitting theological issues are higher priority than evangelism?

I sincerely hope this was just because the thread was started early Sunday morning in the US. After the sabbath the thread seems to have picked up more attention.

I was thinking the same thing.

To the OP: I seek to take a genuine interest in a person's life and to communicate that that to them in a way that is meaningful for them (ie, in a way that clearly communicates to them that I care about them). I also communicate to them that, because they matter to me, a major part of my concern for their wellbeing involves the state of their soul before a holy God to whom they will give an account.

 

[Leslie]

Something I did (only twice) when encountering a M casually was to ask him to tell me about his religion. After a long discourse during which I asked questions, it was only natural for him to ask me if I was a Christian and what Christianity was about. In both cases the encounter was with a taxi driver in London and then we arrived at Heathrow. Too bad.

 

[AThornquist]

I struggle to be intentional in sharing the Gospel outside of work. While at work, however, there have been wonderful opportunities to share the Gospel. I work (as my primary employment) as a deputy at the local county jail and talking about God and Christianity is very normal since this is the Bible Belt. However, I seem to be one of the few people that inmates talk to who a) really believes the Bible, b) can answer their questions, and c) doesn't bend toward accepting "what works for you". One of the trustees (i.e., an inmate worker who I supervise during the shift) follows me around and tries to be alone with me as much as possible so we can talk about the truth, and he genuinely seems interested in Christianity. I can't even guess how many questions he has asked me.... but please do pray for him. Last name is Walls. May he come to know the Christ as Lord.

 

[Bob.Huuton]

I was sitting on a bus, once, reading New Testament when a man in a nearby seat asked me if I was reading the Bible. When I showed him the cover of the NT he was very open and said that he once had one and found it "uplifting". This gave me an excellent opportunity to pass on a spare Gideon NT that I had in my bag.

 

[Pergamum]

I try to drop all theological jargon and speak in simple terms. I try to focus on what our faith promotes rather than primarily on what it condemns. I try to make my testimony personal and first-person rather than abstract. I try to ask the other person their thoughts about questions to draw them into thinking beyond shallow platitudes or sound-bites. I try to avoid secondary issues if the person doesn't know Christ (who cares if they believe in the death penalty or global warming or not if they are willing to discuss the person of Jesus, etc).

 

[ThyWord IsTruth]

Great question to ask someone that you are chatting with right before you end your conversation. "So Joe I have a question for you. You don't have to answer it now if you don't want to, think about it and let me know next time we talk..............What do you think is the purpose for our existence??"
I have had people say "wow that is a tough one" or "I have never thought about that."
Most of the time it will point right to self and then you can point right to God and if the Spirit is working on them they will feel cut to the heart.
Then you can show them the righteous, just holiness of God, the depravity of man and the law/gospel distinction.