How to Share the Gospel – Part 1

Sharing the gospel with others can be a challenging proposition. We know that God has commanded us to share the gospel message that Jesus Christ died for the sins of mankind. We all have our “Ones” who need to know Christ. We desire desperately for them to do so and experience the peace and joy of knowing Him. And yet, we can find it hard to actually do.

But the good news is that God has given us all the tools we need to share the gospel! In your toolbelt he has given you many items. First, each of us has a story of how we became a follower of Christ. He has also given us the Holy Spirit as a guide in our witnessing efforts. Furthermor, God has given us the Bible with a step-by-step path to follow in sharing his eternal plan of salvation. And he has promised us that we can never fail by being obedient and sharing our faith because he has all the responsibility for the results.

START WITH CONVERSATION

So where do you start? It’s as simple as starting a conversation. Talk about anything that is easy to discuss or relevant to your relationship with that person. Build a rapport during your discussion. Then, after a while, turn your conversation to the spiritual. For instance, talk about a positive aspect of your life and how God has been a factor in that. Discuss how you enjoy your church and ask if they attend anywhere. You might ask: “I am just curious, but do you have any spiritual beliefs?” You might be surprised how often people are very open to discuss such matters.

TELL YOUR STORY

Now that you have built some nice rapport and have steered the discussion to the spiritual, you have several tools that you can select to have a more in-depth, gospel conversation. The first is telling your faith story of how you came to Christ. This tool is very powerful because it is your story, and no one can deny its truth. Also, they can hear how God has changed you, forgiven your sin, removed your guilt and provided peace in knowing your eternal home is in heaven after you die. I would suggest that you take the time to concisely write out your story, cut it to about one to two minutes, memorize it and practice until you are comfortable with sharing it.

After sharing your story, it may be appropriate to ask: “Do you have any spiritual beliefs?” or “Has there been a time in your life when faith in God has impacted you?” To keep the conversation going and interactive, you might additionally prompt them with, “Tell me more about that experience.”

You are now having a spiritual conversation. Well done! Of course, each conversation is unique and will take its own path based on what is said. Whether you realize it or not, you have already planted a seed of faith with this person regardless of the discussion’s outcome. At this point, it may be suitable to share with them “The Gospel Message” outlined below.

SURVEY QUESTIONS

Another approach before introducing the gospel is to learn more about their spiritual level through a few survey-type questions. This could be done in addition to or instead of sharing your faith story. Their answers will provide you with valuable insight as to their spiritual beliefs and how to proceed. For example:

• “What do you think happens after we die? Is there an afterlife? Is there a heaven and hell?”
• If they answer “Yes,” to heaven and hell, another good one is: “If you were to die today, where would it be for you, heaven or hell, and why?” Your hope, of course, is that they believe they will be going to heaven because they believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins, and not that they are worthy because of being “good”, which none of us are (Romans 3:23).
• “On a scale of 1 to 10 of you going to heaven if you died today, 10 being you are 100 percent sure you will be in heaven and 1 most likely not, where would you be?” Anything less than a 10 indicates they are not sure of their salvation and may need to hear the gospel message and accept Jesus. You can share with them 1 John 5:13, which assures believers of their salvation: “I write these things to those who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

There are many effective ways to share the gospel message. I prefer to do so through the authority of scripture. Here is one approach:

“I wanted to share with you something from the Bible that has been impactful to me. When God started making this beautiful world, his first humans were Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, they sinned against God and since we all come from them, we all have a sinful nature and are prone to sin. The Bible discusses that:

Romans 3:23 states: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every person who has ever lived has sinned. But God is perfect and holy. He hates sin and has to punish it.

Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This means that our sin causes a separation from God and eternal punishment to hell if we die with unforgiven sin. But God doesn’t want that.

Romans 5:8 shares: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God provided a way for us to have sin removed from our account and allow us to have a relationship with God by sending his son Jesus Christ to live a perfect life and pay the penalty for all our sins when he died on the cross and rose to heaven.

Romans 10:9-10 explains that knowing about God intellectually is one thing but that we must believe in our heart that he has forgiven us of our sins by what Christ did for us on the cross and not by any good efforts on our part. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.”

HOW TO RECEIVE CHRIST

It may be fitting at this point to ask the following: “Do you believe that you are a sinner?” “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins?” “If you haven’t ever done so, would you like to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and share your desire to follow Him?” If the answer is “Yes,” you could have them pray this prayer silently as you say it out loud:

“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and have made many mistakes in my life and for that I am very sorry. Help me as I desire to turn away from past and present sin in my life. I believe that all of my sins are forgiven by Jesus who paid my penalty by dying on the cross and being raised to heaven. Because of what Jesus did for me, I believe that when I die, I will be in heaven forever. God, please help me to know you more as I seek to follow you as Lord. Amen.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

I believe an important element for sharing your faith is prayer. Before meeting, it is important to ask God to open their heart to God’s message that you will share and for his spirit to give you wisdom and the words. After sharing, it is imperative to pray for God to continue to guide this person to where he wants them to be and how you may be of service to them. It may be necessary to provide additional information or find answers to one or more of their questions. The Hope Point pastoral staff can be an excellent resource.

Again, remember that regardless of how long or well the conversation goes, you can never fail! God can use us to plant seeds of faith for a future time of salvation according to His will and timing. Coming to faith is usually a multi-step process and God can use us to be one of those steps. Trust me, the more you do this, the easier it gets. You can do this! God will bless you for it!