How to Share Your Faith: The Dos and Don’ts (Part 3)
This is the final segment in my three-part series on how to share your faith. Miss anything? Click HERE for the first part and HERE for the second.
13. DO ask thoughtful questions.
We can only help someone spiritually if we know where they are currently in their relationship with God. We discover this by asking thoughtful questions and listening attentively.
Not to mention, when the person senses that we genuinely care—something our questions and focused listening will communicate to them—they'll respect us more and, as a result, be more likely to pay attention to what we have to say.
In my experience, it's best to start with "natural" questions—that is, questions that aren't faith-related. These can be questions about the individual's work, family, interests, education, or upbringing: basically, anything you would ask someone you're trying to get to know.
Show real interest in the person's life, and watch God use your natural questions to effortlessly transition to faith-related ones. Before you know it, you'll find yourself deep in a conversation about spiritual things!
14. DO respect their "no."
Don't force the conversation. If someone clearly indicates with their words, body language, or facial expressions (wandering eyes, a caged look) that they would rather you wrap it up, thank them for their time, and move on.
Let's remember that, as we go about sharing the Gospel, we represent Jesus. Also, we are but small parts of a much bigger picture. If we can leave the person with a positive impression of Christians, they'll likely be even more open to the next representative of Jesus that God sends their way!
15. DO NOT interrupt your teammate.
This one is a big pet peeve of mine. When sharing our faith in couples or teams, we need to keep in mind that when our partner is speaking, they—like us—are being led by the Holy Spirit. So, jumping in and disrupting their train of thought is extremely counterproductive. Beyond that, it's plain rude!
If you have something to add, even if you know it’s God placing it on your heart, and you're so eager to share that you can barely stand it, take a breath and wait a few minutes until your partner finishes, or they hand it over to you.
The best thing we can do while they are talking? Zip the lip and pray silently for God to speak clearly to the unsaved person through them!
16. DO share your story.
Listen for commonalities and encourage the person with parts of your story that they can relate to.
If they can relate, they'll pay attention—AND they'll trust you more easily!
I remember this young man I was witnessing to…Eric was his name. He wasn’t very interested in hearing about the Lord the first time we spoke. But then, as God caused our paths to cross a second and third time, he began to confide in me about the stress and sadness he was experiencing because of his brother’s mental health issues.
As Eric unburdened himself, I listened with interest and compassion. A little later in our conversation, it felt natural to relate something of my own story, so I briefly shared about the trial my husband and I went through two years earlier when Christopher got sick and almost died.
Seeing that I had Eric’s attention (his teary eyes were a clue!) I tried to sow another seed by mentioning that I'd received great comfort from the Bible during the many grueling months we were rehabilitating Christopher at home and we still had no guarantee he would pull through, let alone ever eat normally again.
Although Eric had made it clear that he wasn't open to the Gospel, it could very well be that God still used something from my story that day to soften Eric’s heart toward Him and His Word! You never know, right?! :-)
The bottom line is that when sharing your faith, you’ll want to leverage your story if you can. Your story is powerful because while people can take issue with the Bible and try to disprove it, they cannot argue with your testimony. It is, after all, your personal experience!
17. DO give them a "next step".
Their next action step may be to review the tract you gave them. It may be to meet up with you for a church service or start reading the Bible. Or it may be to surrender their life to the Lord.
Don't give them too many things to do, but do give them something.
If their next step is to read the Word, where should they start? The Bible is a big book!
For a brand-new believer or someone who isn’t a Christian yet, I recommend starting with the very first book, the book of Genesis. It only makes sense: starting with the beginning is what they would do with any other literary work they read for the first time, right?!
Genesis is also the perfect place to begin familiarizing yourself with the Truth: it provides insight into many different subjects, detailing how God intended the world to operate and why it is the way it is today.
At the same time, I would encourage the person to skip over to the Gospels in the New Testament every few chapters and go back and forth a little so that they won't have to wait to learn about the life of Jesus until they're done with the entire Old Testament.
18. DO take action with what you learn.
Probably none of us will ever completely master sharing the Gospel, but we will get better with practice.
In my evangelism trainings, I share flowcharts, scripts, and outlines. However, I tell my attendees that if they try to memorize everything on paper without taking action, they'll feel overwhelmed and confused. It's only when they start doing that the pieces will come together!
Often, it's fear that is keeping us from sharing our faith. We play out the worst-case scenario in our head where we run into the hardcore atheist with his thousand brilliant questions that we don't know how to answer. But the truth is, it almost never happens that way.
God, in His sovereignty, will direct you and me to people we will be able to talk to! I've seen this again and again: when we just obey God and step out in faith, He does His part and guides our feet to those whose hearts He has prepared.
Well, friend, that's it for this time around! I hope you found these tips helpful. Happy witnessing!
L.B.
PS: If you haven't already done so, be sure to grab your free copy of my downloadable Gospel-sharing outline on my home page. It will equip you further!
Still got unanswered questions about how to share your faith? Please use the comments section right below!
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