Thoughts and Musings and Ideas on Evangelism

Its funny how words distort throughout time. In Latin, when we say "The beginning of the holy Gospel according to St. John" during Mass for example, it goes "Inítium sancti Evangélii secúndum Joánnem", the word "Evangélii" being "Gospel" n English.Since we have being saying this for 2000 years, I guess you could say that we are the original Evangelicals.

I don't think that witnessing to random people while they are working (like your banker) is effective. I think we come off seeming sort of nuts. Your banker is wanting to do his job, answer your question and get to his next task, not answer your "survey" on the state of his soul. I also think people don't respond to tracts. I don't like strangers giving me any sort of literature.. I always pitch it. I ESPECIALLY don't want it left on my car. But I admire your zeal. I think Jesus DOES want us to share our faith. I think the best way to do that is through our personal relationships with people we already know. Are you the very best neighbor you can be? Do you help in times of trouble or offer your prayers when your neighbor needs it? Do your non-Chrisitan family and friends know you as someone who is true to your word, compassionate, willing to help and of good character? Do they see the joy of the Lord in you?? I think our actions speak so much louder than our words. If every single Christian actually LIVED the life Christ has called us to live, what an awesome witness for him that would be. People would WANT to know the reason for our joy. There is so much sadness and despair in this world.... people are really WANTING.. needing something that will give them hope. They want something to believe in. If people were able to see that hope in all we do and say, they will want to know our secret. And then we can tell them all about Jesus. I also think we need to listen to people. Rather than asking your banker "are you saved?" you could look him in the eye and ask, "Are you having a good day?" And then listen for his answer. Maybe he'll say "yeah, sure" (because he's busy) but maybe he'll say, "Well, I just got a call that my daughter is sick at school and I can't get ahold of my wife... blah blah blah... " And then you can say, "Hey, I'm going to pray for you that it all works out.. or that your daughter feels better.. etc." And the next time you're in the bank you can ask him, "Is your daugther feeling better...?" In that way you'd be devolping a relationship with him... and he'd know you are a person who prays. I think those "seeds" are much more fruitful.

At college we use to have outreach days we would go into town sing some uplifting songs. Its good if can find a christian shop keeper who will let you use their electric for youir amps and PA system we would also have the drama group put on a few short sketches and they allso did mine. then the rest of would mingle with the crowds handing out tracts and basically looking for any door that would open to you. We also had someone in a clown costume handing out ballooons sweets etc.We would also do alot of survey's either door to door or on the street in fact we would go almost any where to get a chance to share the Gospel, railway stations, pubs, markets.You dont have to jump straight in with the Gospel every time either. I remember once in a Pub some just committing on how loud the music was and we just got into every day conversation. I told them I was at Bible college and eventually invited them to come and join us on our table, OK the guy may not have got saved that night but he did get to here about jesus and we did pray for him. Sometimes you have to show the world you care and earn the right to be there friend before so they can see Jesus in you.other outreach activities we did. visiting the old. going to homeless shelter and going into prisons. Someone even used something called "Color Me Beautiful" as an outreach tool.Theres a good little tract called "dont you dare open this book" but I dont know where you can get it fromI hope some of this helpsKevin

I disagree with PeaceBeWithYou. Tracts definitely work! I've heard numerous success stories (many are in Mark Cahill's book "One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven")--even if the person who got it on their car doesn't drop to their knees and surrender their life to Christ, they at least got to thinking about spiritual things. Even if they got ticked off about it being there, it got them one step closer to hearing the gospel.

Unfortunately there aren't enough workers (harvesters) who are willing to share their faith, and tracts are SO useful for picking up the slack. I don't have time to talk to everyone on my college campus, but I could hand out tracts! Then maybe later down the road when they meet and have a relationship with a Christian, their heart will be a little more receptive. We HAVE to work together in this!

And as for Kevin (Beano), that's awesome about the Outreach stuff you do... but I'm a little confused with why you were in a pub. As long as you weren't drinking and participating in what went on their I guess it's okay... Just make sure we aren't tainting the gospel by our setting. Although standing outside of the pub might be a great idea!

For the past couple weeks my friends and I have been witnessing to the kids on campus. Sometimes we just ask students walking by "do you have a minute?" then jump into the "Good person test." Another thing we've tried is first asking "Can you name 10 beers?" then ask "How many of the 10 Commandments can you name?" that seems to work well because it breaks the ice then moves right into a spiritual conversation

Sometimes I've asked people "What do you think happens after you die?" The other day my friend just asked these 3 guys "Hey, can you tell me about your... (unique object they were holding)" and we talked to them in a coffee shop for 20 minutes.

The important thing is to just be open to what the Lord has you say... you won't know if you're a planter, a waterer or a harvester until you get out there and just start talking! 10 out of 10 people die! And if you DO happen to get to share the gospel.... make sure they hear about repentence.. to many people "Pray the prayer" but don't change--those people aren't saved!

If you feel called to do the work of an evangelist, then preach The Gospel, for that's what the duty of an evangelist is. Apostle Paul is a major example.

Some of the greatest success stories with preaching The Gospel in our era is with Christian missionaries in foreign countries. In the Christian west, there's already many Churches in each little town, but not in many foreign nations.

I don't agree with creating new-fangled ways of presenting The Gospel of Jesus Christ. If it is done God's Way, then those given to 'hear' will come, wherever you are. And God's Way of preaching The Gospel (evangelizing), is to preach the Witness and Testimony of Christ Jesus having come in the flesh and died on the cross for the remission of sins of those who believe on The Father through Him, and that God raised Christ Jesus from the dead to sit upon the right hand of God's Throne in Heaven. The object is to preach that we all... need saving, and that God sent His Son The Saviour to redeem us.

You will never change how the self-righteous put Christianity in a bad light simply because they see how believers on Christ are still subject to sin even after having come to Christ. Some people in the word hate The Father and His Son, and others want to destroy Christianity; this world will always be against Christ. Only God can change their minds and way of seeing. We cannot spend a lot of time worrying about what those think, but go to those who are ready to 'hear' and that are seeking His Salvation. Put on the whole armour of God to do that (Eph.6).

This is a great thread - I should have looked for it before starting my witnessing thread. I am convinced that witnessing the most important relationship in my life - Jesus - requires investing in a relationship with the person I am witnessing to. I believe it is part of loving my neighbor. Without a relationship, the person might feel like an object or simply another person to check off some list. People are objectified in our culture why too often - the gospel is personal and needs to be presented in a personal way. If you are just spouting off doctrine - you are not witnessing - it is just a bunch of noise. We should witness in a manner that invites the person to investigate further and look forward to the next Christian they meet - rather than run the other direction. I think one of the biggest problems we have when we witness is that we are rewarded no matter what - if they are receptive we rejoice - if they reject the message we rejoice in the rejection for the sake of the gospel.

Peace