Are you plugging people into the faith?
I want to talk about how to do it through evangelism.
Unfortunately, the word “evangelism” or “evangelical” has gotten a bad rap over the years. For many people, outside of the faith, the word connotes T.V. preachers asking for money and blowing on the sick to heal them or street preachers wearing clapboards that read, “The end is near” or shouting into a megaphone that we’re all sinners and destined for hell.
Yet evangelism, in its truest and purest sense, is none of these things. In fact, the term “evangelical” encompasses a “born-again” religious experience, a commitment to the authority of the Bible, and an emphasis on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. Basically, an evangelical is someone who personally understands and wants to share the good news.
How we evangelize, or share the good news, is how we will shape the gospel for other people. There is a better way to tell people about Christ without beating them over the head with the Bible or man-handling them into church! Evangelism can, and should, be like telling a friend about a new restaurant you loved or your new life-changing book you read. It should be with the same fervor and excitement and it should always come from a personal level, which is much more effective in today’s postmodern, fake-news, and hyper-skeptical world.
We’re Just Asked to Share
The Bible is quite clear about Jesus asking all those who have had an experience and testimony of Him to share it with others. That’s it. Share the good news of the Gospel and then the rest is up to God! We don’t need to concoct a sophisticated argument, or utilize tactics of fear and guilt to turn someone on to God. We simply need to let them know what accepting Jesus in our own lives has meant to us and invite the curious to pray. Prayer is the best way to get others to knock on God’s door. Once there, God promises to answer… “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)
So, before you feel like you need to pick up the megaphone or pester a non-believer into believing, change your approach. Just simply let them know how God’s grace has changed your life and how He can change theirs too.
