When people evangelize, what, exactly, are they doing? You realize, of course, that Christians are not the only ones who do this. Evangelization is nothing more than expressing one’s worldview beliefs for the purpose of convincing other people to convert to those beliefs. So not only do Christians do it, Atheists do it, Muslims do it, Jehovah’s Witnesses do it, Mormons do it, and on and on. Everyone who has a worldview belief – which is everyone – does it.
There are, of course, many who deny that they do. In fact, many people deny that they even have a religious belief in the first place, so they couldn’t possibly be evangelists. But even those people have some kind of belief that they assert to be right, and they try to convince others that their approach is true. Everyone is an evangelist.
As Christians, though, sharing our faith is an actual part of our calling. Most biblical Christians acknowledge that. However, there is a lot of diversity in the way people conceive of that thought. There are some who are very uncomfortable with the idea of evangelism and are very passive in the way they express their faith. There are others who are the exact opposite and are “in your face” about it. Most people probably fall somewhere in the middle. Let’s take a little deeper look at this topic to see if we can come to a better understanding of what this should mean for us personally.
Methods for Sharing
There have been a number of different methods people have developed and promoted in order to encourage Christians to share their faith. These methods fall into three basic categories.
Show Christ by Your Life
The first method is a rather passive approach – to witness by your lifestyle. The basic idea here is that it is not necessary to verbally share your faith. It is considered that if you live your life rightly, your light will shine for Christ and people will get the message.
Share the Gospel Message
A second method is a more direct approach. In this one, individuals learn a technique for specifically sharing the gospel message, and intentionally create opportunities to share it with other people. Using this method, people typically use some system such as the Four Spiritual Laws, Roman’s Road, Evangelism Explosion, FAITH, and the like.
Lay a Worldview Foundation Before You Share the Gospel
This method is generally necessary when the person one is sharing with believes in a faith other than one’s own. These non-believers typically do not already understand Christian concepts, and biblical ideas need to be explained to them before they are in a position to make a decision about changing their faith.
Attitudes for Sharing
There is another dimension to the evangelization process beyond the technique. Typically, people’s approach to doing evangelism is also influenced by the attitude they have concerning the very process of witness itself. There are several different attitudes that are prominent.
The “Do Nothing” Attitude
One fairly common attitude is that Christians really don’t need to be active in sharing their faith at all. Most of these people do not have a negative attitude toward sharing about their faith, but they don’t see a need to overtly go out and do it. They believe that if God wants them to share a witness, he will drop the opportunity in their lap. Beyond that, they believe that he will deal with people as he sees fit.
The “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em” Attitude
Another common attitude is one that is held by people who tend to be very active in their witness. These are people who try to find anyone they can to share their faith with, and aggressively go out and do it. Then, after they share a witness, they don’t hang around to disciple the person, but just go and look for the next prospect. They may make some effort to put them in touch with someone else, but their major focus is to just share the gospel message.
The “Fight for Them” Attitude
A third common attitude is found in those who do all they can to find someone who does not know Christ, invest in the person’s life by developing a friendship, then use that friendship to share their faith. Generally, this approach requires a long term view and an investment in a person’s life.
What Do We Need to Do?
As important as it is to understand the nature of these methodologies and attitudes, there is one more thing that must be grasped; none of what is mentioned above is, in itself, right or wrong. There are times when “letting your life be your witness” might be the right (or only possible) thing. There are also times when it will certainly be the wrong thing. The exact same can be said about the more aggressive approach to sharing the gospel message, and of the approach of first laying a worldview foundation. Beyond that, what is true concerning the various methodologies is also true concerning the attitude. There are times when we can do nothing, and there are times when we must do something. There are times when we need to share and move on, and other times we should deeply invest in people’s lives. Different circumstances open up different possibilities, and different situations require different approaches.
The truth is, no single person is in a position to witness to everyone. That is why God wants every Christian to be active in their own circumstances. Those you yourself can’t reach can be reached by someone else, and those you can reach may not be reachable by anyone else. Beyond that, sometimes God wants to use you as the sower, other times as the cultivator, and still other times as the reaper. The important thing is not what part you play, but that God use you appropriately in whatever circumstance is needed.
But there is one more thing that every believer needs to be aware of; it is impossible to be used effectively by God if we do not put ourselves in a position to be used by him. No matter what opportunity opens up to you, you need to be ready. So how do you do that?
1. Gain Knowledge
There is a knowledge base you need to acquire. If you don’t know how to share the gospel, you can’t do it even if someone actually walked up to you and asked you to tell them how to know Christ. You need to train yourself how to share that message. You also need to get a foundation of worldview understanding. When the opportunity comes to share with someone from a different worldview, you need to know how to communicate across the worldview barriers.
2. Gain Experience
The second thing you need to do is get experience. Different circumstances require that we interact with people in different ways. We need to know how to work with people in whatever circumstance emerges, and be able to discern when to use different approaches. We only get experience by putting ourselves out there and actually being intentional about sharing our faith.
3. Take Advantage of Opportunities
In some places, taking advantage of opportunities overlaps with getting experience, but it involves another element, as well: It involves an act of the will. We have to intentionally decide that we are going to learn how to make ourselves aware of the opportunities that come before us, and figure out what we need to do to take advantage of them.
What Approach and Attitude Is Right for You?
The fact is, there is not a single approach or attitude that can be considered “the right one” for any given individual. The right approach and attitude is dependent on the situation, not on the individual person who will share a witness. With any given opportunity, you will have to discern the way you need to deal with it. Every approach is right in the right situation. And all of them are wrong in the wrong situation. If you will prepare yourself to be ready for any situation, God will guide you in the right way in every situation.
© 2018 Freddy Davis