Any or responses to these letters can send them to this email: alwaysreadyforchrist@gmail.com
In another post I talked about being prepared can increase your enthusiasm in Evangelism. I know I have been writing a lot on sharing your faith but I don’t want you to think I have spiritual conversations every day. I spend a lot of time thinking how I will share my faith in different situations. Evangelism involves some training like sports teams do. In any sport, teams spend great amount of time in practicing their skills and game plans. In soccer, teams spend several weeks of practicing between matches especially Olympic teams. Football usually practice a week between games, basketball have a game every few days, baseball almost everyday. Individuals even practice their skills and study their opponents. There is a team aspect and there is an individual aspect to Evangelism. Remember I mentioned Greg Koukl’s analogy of gardening to get to a harvest and Jesus telling the disciples about the sowers and the reapers will rejoice together in the harvest. So each of us has our job to do to help in the “game” of Evangelism.
As individuals we need to practice on our skills in sharing our faith. Remember I said in another post that praying for opportunities to share and being able to see those opportunities helps prepare us in sharing our faith. Reading and studying our Bible is another way to prepare as well as conforming our character to the image of Christ. Looking at the evidence for Christianity and explaining how you see Christianity is true is another tool. Studying other different worldviews and religions adds to your “tool bag”. Jim Warner Wallace compares Christians who share their faith to first responders like paramedics, fireman, or policeman which they have bags with the tools of their trade. A Christian who wants to share their faith need to fill their bags with all the tools they can use. Why? Not every person who accepts Jesus in their lives does it the same way.
I do still look at evidence for Christianity but I also spend some time thinking how my Christian worldview fits into this world which best explains the chaos in this world. I also try to think how I can explain the gospel in words other people who don’t go to church can understand. I’m going to share one of my thoughts while it doesn’t relate to the gospel specifically but can possibly answer someone’s question why the world is the way it is. I believe God is spaceless, timeless, all knowing(past, present,, and future), all powerful, and very very intelligent. God created time but why? Maybe to limit our suffering with trials. God created time before He created Adam or Eve so I think he already knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him causing sin to spread through mankind therefore suffering would exist. God had it all planned out before Adam and Eve existed. It’s thoughts like these I consider when trying to prepare myself to share my faith.
I’m currently reading a book by Greg Koukl called “The Story of Reality”which shows how Christian worldview fits into our reality in this world. He does it in five main points 1)God 2)Man 3)Jesus 4)Cross 5)Resurrection. You’re thinking “What does this have do with the gospel?!” The gospel doesn’t start with Jesus but with God, “In the beginning God created…” People who are searching for answers to life don’t think about God as a starting point usually and some Christians think all they need to say is “All You need is Jesus!.” People do need Jesus however they need to know WHY! The why starts with God in the beginning. Greg’s book can help you understand how the gospel works from God’s view and help develop your Christian worldview. Also learning how God, Man, Jesus, Cross, and Resurrection fits into the problems of the world and the solution can help you explain it to someone else.
There a lot of tools we can learn to be able to share our faith effectively but who is willing to put the effort. What is in your tool bag as a first responder for Jesus? I’m trying to fill my bag with all the tools I can get what about you? Jesus gave the Great Commission to his disciples just before he ascended up to heaven at God’s throne and this is a command for every Christian not just pastors, missionaries, or traveling evangelists. God wants to use us in his pursuit of nonbelievers and He expects us to do our job and collect the tools do it even with our imperfections. We don’t need to stress about it but just do the task at hand at each opportunity and leave the results to God through His Holy Spirit. Ok that’s it for now.
