10 Suggestions for Evangelism

I know lots of people who want to share the Gospel but either don’t know where to start or are afraid of taking the first step. I thought it might be helpful to share some ideas or methods that can be used. There are some big suggestions that may be daunting. But, also, some more discreet approaches. Some are things you can do individually, others are for a church group or in partnership with a church. 

There is no “one size fits all” and no method that will necessarily be more effective than another. God chooses when to open a person’s heart and draw them to Him. Our job as Christians is to be faithful in planting the seed. Most importantly we need to pray about every contact with a non-believer.

• Choosing and Distributing Tracts. A tract is a small leaflet containing a Gospel message. It can be on a particular topic or theme. There are good tracts and bad ones. Colourful or unusual looking tracts can be effective because they get a person’s attention. Ideally, choose tracts that clearly present the Gospel with at least one Bible verse—it is the Word of God that convicts. Some organisations offer sample tract packs—LivingWaters or Birmingham Gospel Outreach. If you don’t like any of the available tracts, you can create your own and even include your testimony. But, don’t make it too long and it’s a good idea to ask a church leader to check it over. Take tracts with you wherever you go and leave them in public places—trains, restaurants after a meal, shopping malls, libraries etc. If you are feeling bold you can write an email address for further contact. You could also give a tract to someone after a conversation. It’s always a good idea to say something about what it is if you do that. 

 

• Door to Door. I know a church that uses a detailed street map of their town to plan their evangelism. A small team meets once a week for prayer, they then take tracts and church leaflets and put them through every door on every street detailed on the map. They have covered the entire town and started again with a new tract which means that every person in their area has had the opportunity to read the Gospel. It is also non-confrontational. Always make sure there are details if someone wants to ask further questions or to go to a church. 

 

• Social Media. The internet has created opportunities to reach people around the world, even in closed countries. Make sure your social media profiles reflect your Christian faith. You could put Bible verses prominently on your pages or post them to walls. Like and share Christian posts. Write your own testimony and share it. Read and review Christian books and recommend them online, try to be honest! Don’t hide your faith online, make it obvious that you are different and try to bring biblical values into discussions. The Christian Institute deals with a wide-range of issues that impact Christians in the UK. Read and share their posts and consider supporting their work. 

• Prison Writing and Visiting. The Bible specifically reminds us to remember those who are in prison. There are Christian organisations that facilitate contact with prisoners—Daylight Christian Prison Trust  and Prison Fellowship. Sign up as a volunteer and write letters to prisoners around the world. If there is a prison near your church, consider asking your church leader if you could organise regular visits to build relationships with the prisoners. The biggest need is usually for practical help on release from prison, make sure your church plans for this.

• Street Evangelism. This is probably the most well-known form of evangelism and the most feared! But it doesn’t need to be confrontational. You could be a supporter—join a team preaching on the street and stand in the crowd ready to answer questions or to discuss what the preacher is saying with those watching. You could even just give out tracts to those nearby. Setting up a small book-table is a good way to start conversations and distribute Christian literature especially with the sad demise of many Christian bookshops. If you are led by God, get involved in the preaching yourself. It’s good to join with others and to be linked with a local church for follow-up with enquirers. There are Open Air Missions you could join or take a trip to a Speaker’s Corner. 

• Personal Contacts. These are the people you already know through daily life—relatives, friends, neighbours, work-colleagues. They may be the most difficult group to witness to because they know you, have seen your ups and downs and you could risk losing the relationship. But, they are actually the people that you bear the most responsibility to witness to. You might be the only Christian they know--make sure your lifestyle and decision-making reflects Jesus. Try inviting them to a special event at church or include a Bible verse or tract in a card for a Birthday or Christmas. Offer them a Christian book that deals with an issue they are facing. It may not be necessary to keep hammering them over the head with the Gospel, but it’s really important that they hear or read it clearly at least once through your contact.  

• Coffee Shop Outreach. There are a lot of churches now that have places where people can talk to a Christian informally. Sometimes these places sell books or host a small library which could be good for starting conversations. Independent bookshops are disappearing but church shops usually operate on a not for profit basis due to being charitable. You could get involved in this friendship evangelism or ask your church to consider beginning a ministry for this purpose. A lot of people have problems and need someone to listen, but face to face contact is being lost due to the unstoppable march of technology. People are lonely, give your time. 

• Write a Book! Not everyone will have the ability, motivation or time to do this but it can be a great way to get the Gospel out there and to make people think about issues from a Christian perspective. Alternatively, start a book club with some friends or work colleagues and when it is your turn to choose, be bold and opt for a Christian one. Plan what you will say in the subsequent discussion to make the best use of the opportunity. 

• Become an Online Evangelist. There are organisations that recruit online missionaries and evangelists. I volunteer for Chatnow (formerly Groundwire.) We chat online to people all around the world who have questions about faith or who need spiritual advice. It is anonymous, there is training and a team leader oversees the conversations. If you have a few hours a week to spare, sign up now! 

• Missions. Those who are called into long term mission work probably won’t need to read a post suggesting basic ways to evangelise! Short-term missions can be a good option for people who want to test the water. However, they can seriously damage long term work that is already taking place if they are not planned properly. That is part of a larger discussion, but the golden rule for STM’s is to make sure that you partner effectively with either a church or with long term workers on the ground that know what they are doing. Choose a mission that includes evangelism or if it is a specific practical project, that is facilitating future evangelism. Remember that help without hope is the ultimate tragedy.

I hope this list is useful and has given you some new ideas. Feel free to make suggestions as there are a lot of other ways to share the Gospel. Innovation can also be exciting. God created us all differently so maybe your idea will start a trend! In an adaptation of a quote from Chinua Achebe:

“If you don’t like someone else’s idea then come up with your own.”

 Matthew 28 vs 18-20

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Help, I've Committed the Unforgiveable Sin!

I was thinking about writing a post on prayer, but I’ve had some discussions recently with people about something that troubles them a lot—the “unforgiveable sin,” mentioned in Matthew 12. 

“Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Matthew 12:31-32 (ESV)

Who was Jesus talking to in this passage? He was speaking to the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who had just suggested that He was using power from the devil to perform a miracle. 

What was Jesus talking about? Jesus is referring to those who deliberately and purposefully state that an act of God is actually an act of Satan. They knowingly lie by attributing the glory due to God to the devil. This is referred to as blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Why is the sin unforgiveable? These people are so steeped in evil that they are beyond redemption. They have caused much harm to God’s holy name and have led others astray through their deliberate falsehoods. They have crossed a line and it is not possible for them to turn back--nor would they want to.

Have I committed the unforgiveable sin?

I once heard a Pastor say that he had asked his church congregation to raise their hands if they thought that at some point they might have committed the unforgiveable sin. Nearly every hand went up. That’s a lot of people serving God but lacking assurance, or worse, a lot of people terrified that they have said or done the unforgiveable and cannot do anything to combat it.

I have observed similar concerns during one to one conversations with people troubled by these thoughts. Some think that when they have doubts about God or try to exercise discernment when they witness apparent miracles that they might be committing this sin. Unfortunately, I have even heard believers accuse people who question certain phenomena as potentially having committed this sin or of being in danger of doing so. That’s a sure way to swiftly silence your critics!

One of the saddest things is that people who are worried about this very often carry the burden alone. They allow themselves to be troubled in mind and heart and think that if they seek counsel or ask questions they might receive the response they dread--that they have indeed committed that sin and are therefore excluded permanently from heaven. They don’t realise that most Christians have considered this subject at some time or other and depending on how the Scripture was explained to them either found peace or continued to wrestle with the matter in private.

Firstly, let’s think about this from a purely rational point of view. If this is the only sin in the entire world that cannot be forgiven, it has to be seriously evil. If it is worse than genocide, child abuse, murder, rape, torture, etc then it must be something truly terrible. Consider Paul who persecuted Christians and watched many of them die at his hands, Peter who denied Jesus three times and David who committed adultery and murder. They were all forgiven, it must be worse than this.

Most people that are concerned about it think they have committed it by accident. Is that possible? No, it is not. It is a deliberate and final act of defiance towards and rejection of God.

Other people fear that they have committed it at some point prior to being saved. Is that possible? No, it is not. Those who are worried about possibly having committed this sin haven’t. The point is that anyone who ventures so far into enemy territory will never want to receive forgiveness and mercy from God, at least in this life. They will remain at war with Him until they die. 

It will not be the case that there are people desperate for God’s mercy who cannot receive it due to either a mistaken belief or some evil acts that they have committed in the past. Our churches are not filled with people who cannot be saved due to having done the unforgiveable.

Doubting God is a sin but we are all sinners and on some level we all doubt God at times by failing to love Him wholeheartedly or by failing to trust Him completely. This sin is not what Jesus is talking about. 

Similarly, exercising discernment or questioning whether or not something is actually of God is not the unforgiveable sin. The Bible teaches us to practice discernment and to test the spirits to see if they are of God (1 John 4.) It is when we know that something is of God and instead proclaim that it is of the devil that we are beyond reach.

We need to remember as well that it is God that draws us to Him via His Holy Spirit. Why would He draw a person to repentance and faith if He had already condemned them for eternity?

There is another passage in the Bible that causes similar fears:

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”   Hebrews 6 vs 4-6 (ESV)

I came across this one day after I had been backslidden for six years and it made me seriously panic! But as with the unforgiveable sin, my panic was actually evidence that the passage didn’t apply to me. Those who are being dealt with in these verses will not care that they cannot be saved. They have rejected God rather than the other way around. 

I was also reassured by the Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son which is closely related to my life story. The son (you and me) in the parable, on repentance, is welcomed with open arms by the Father who represents God.

To deal with this second section, I will link to a short article from John MacArthur. In brief, he explains that this passage is addressed to unbelievers and not to Christians. Christians cannot lose their salvation. 

The verses are warning non-believers that they are at the stage where they know as much Gospel truth as they will be given.  Therefore, they must make the decision to trust Jesus then and there, there won’t be another opportunity for them. That is sobering, but it should spur us on in our evangelistic efforts. 

I hope this post will assist in helping those who struggle with either of these areas of the Bible to find peace once and for all. Christians have nothing to fear from either of these passages. God will forgive if we ask Him through Jesus.

1 John 1 vs 9

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Romans 10 vs 9

“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.”

The Fool Says in His Heart, "There is No God."

There is a story about an atheist minding his own business whilst standing on the shore and looking out to sea. He is approached by a man who gives him a Gospel tract. Glancing at it, the atheist becomes angry, tears up the tract and throws it at the by now slightly fearful evangelist. He stamps on the pieces on the ground, curses and then storms off, ranting about the encounter. Arriving home, he removes his jacket and a tiny remnant of the shredded paper falls to the floor. He picks it up and reads the single word “God,” on one side. Flipping it over he reads “eternity” on the other. He has a sleepless night as the two words turn over and over in his mind. The next day he arises early and humbly heads out in search of the evangelist…

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

You attend a family gathering or social function when the subject of religion comes up. Some slink away, others express loud opinions about the damage religion has done to the world, humanity in general or even more specifically to themselves. But, most people just look down awkwardly, they feel uncomfortable and hope for a swift subject change—the two unmentionables in polite company, politics and religion.

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

A woman takes a walk in the country. She breathes the fresh air and feels the warmth of the sun. She looks up at the blue cloudless sky. She observes the beauty of the trees and mountains in the distance. She smells the fragrance of the flowers. She sees the animals in the fields. She hears the birds singing. She feels grateful for the beauty of the day, her surroundings, and the “accident” that brought her into existence. 

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

You wake up excited. You are taking your family on the trip of a lifetime. The long hours at work have finally paid off and you can get away for two whole weeks. Your kids can go to the movies, shopping malls and whatever else it is that they want to do. You refuse to think about the build-up of work that will inevitably be waiting for you on your return. You have been planning this trip for nearly the whole year and looking forward to it for just as long. In recent months, the details have basically consumed your life and taken over.  You can finally relax, but you wonder, when did life get so busy?

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

These scenarios are representative of the lives of many people who claim not to believe in God. They deny Him through anger, avoidance, assumed ignorance or by filling their lives with distractions and busyness. They give us insight into the human heart which focuses on ourselves rather than the God who created us.

The first man becomes angry when he is approached by someone who forces him to think about that which he has been ignoring. He is not angry with the person themselves, although it may appear that way, he is actually angry with God—a God who He claims doesn’t exist. This man is proud and refuses to acknowledge God until confronted with the reality of his situation here on earth. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16 vs 18)

The social gathering where someone mentions the unmentionable and everyone feels awkward. They don’t want to face the implications of there being a holy God due to their many sins. They bury their heads in the sand and feel safe with others who do the same. But, judgement day will not be a group activity, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14 v 12)

Avoidance seems like a sensible option—no conflict or emotional turmoil. However, Psalm 139 vs 1-3 reminds us that we cannot hide from, ignore or avoid God, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” If that isn’t sufficient, remember what happened to Jonah?

The lady who enjoys and is amazed by all that God has created but chooses to believe the lies of evolution despite knowing the truth in her heart. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1 vs 20)

Finally, we have the distractions of this life—busyness, materialism, relationships. Basically, anything that consumes our minds and hearts and takes the place of God in our lives. “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.” (1 John 5 vs 21)

 

Anything that stops us thinking about the meaning of life or our purpose here and instead has us dealing with secondary matters or living for the moment. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2 vs 15-17)

Why do we become angry with someone who genuinely wants to help us? Why do we fear talking about faith or religion? Why would we rather believe a nonsensical version of how we came to be here than the truth? Why do we keep ourselves so busy in the here and now rather than focusing on eternity? 

Why do we deny what we know in our hearts to be true?

What if God exists and we will one day stand before Him? What if the Bible is true and we are accountable for our sin? Would we get angry with, ignore, avoid or distract ourselves from any other issue of such significance? 

Surely it’s time to seriously think about the meaning and purpose of our existence. To learn the truth about our lives here on earth and thus resolve the ongoing struggle in our hearts. Surely this issue is important enough to take time over and consider in detail.

God created us with an innate and natural desire to be in a relationship with Him. It is sin that keeps us at a distance. God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sin on a cross so that we can spend eternity in heaven with Him. It’s time to get right with God and prepare for eternity.

Psalm 14 vs 1-3

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, any who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”