When counseling a guy who would come into CareNet Pregnancy Center with his wife/girlfriend I would have about 45 minutes to get to know him, learn his needs, tell him about the center and what it provided, persuade him to choose life (for the ~20% or so that were abortion minded) and to share the Gospel (if he was interested). There wasn’t a lot of time for idle talk, but we wanted to keep things relaxed and conversational.
The most challenging thing in evangelism for me is getting spiritual discussions started. I have yet to find the perfect one-size-fits-all evangelism book (other than the Bible, of course), but one method I have used a lot came from Share Jesus Without Fear. The author uses a very conversational and successful method of sharing the Gospel. One of his main themes is that God is in control and that we are just being obedient in sharing the Gospel where we have opportunities.
One of the best parts of the book is the discussion starter/diagnostic questions. He suggests that you ask them and then just listen. Suppress the need to correct the person. He may say all sorts of odd and contradictory things, but at this point you really just want to know where he is coming from.
Diagnostic questions like this aren’t very threatening and they build a rapport. You are sincerely interested in what the other person believes, and you are listening to him carefully. That demonstrates respect.
Here are the suggested questions:
1. Do you have any spiritual beliefs?
2. To you, who is Jesus?
3. Do you think there is a heaven or a hell?
4. If you died tonight, where would you go? If heaven, why?
5. By the way, if what you believed were not true, would you want to know?
If 5 = “yes,” then say: May I share some Bible verses with you? You can use the Roman Road verses to lay out the Gospel for them. Have them read verses and ask, “What does this say to you?” But that is another post . . .
If they say, “No,” then just move on to another topic and pray for them. (By the way, I never had anyone say, “No.”)
I don’t have any specific experiences to share with respect to these questions, but I used them many times to get the conversations going. They never failed to generate some good, back-and-forth dialogues. It was all about sharing the Gospel as accurately and clearly as possible and planting seeds.
I find that it is easier to guide the conversations this way with strangers than with people I know well.
Do you struggle with getting conversations like this started as well? What have you found to be effective in getting conversations headed in a spiritual direction?
Filed under: Evangelism | Tagged: Bible, Evangelism, God, Jesus, religion
My personal testimony helps break the ice. I explain that I was an agnostic for over 40 years and was convinced that there was no way anyone could know for sure that there was a God. I then tell them the events that took place in my life over a period of several years that showed me not only that there was a God but that He took a personal interest in ME of all people! I became aware of the presence of evil as well, and though I’m sure the devil wanted a different result, it actually helped solidify my realization that there was a God, that He did have a plan for my life, He did talk to us here on earth through His Word, and He had a plan of salvation for me that required nothing of me but faith.
I think personal testimonies are great icebreakers.
Neil said “If they say, “No,” then just move on to another topic and pray for them”
Good point. When I was a teenager, a group of CCC came by witnessing. They found us, a group of 5-10 teeenagers and started witnessing. One girl left the group, because she didn’t want to hear it.
One of the guys in the CCC group went after her to ask more questions. She politely asked him to leave, but he persisted. She began cursing loudly at him and interrupted the other witnessing.
This one CCC that went after her ruined the witnessing opportunity. Jesus never went after anyone who walked away from Him (the Rich Young Ruler is a case in point)
Good post Neil.