Sharing Jesus
with friends who don't know Him... yet
Frequently Asked Questions
"I want to tell my friends about Jesus, but I don't how to bring up the subject."
"I want to tell my friends about Jesus, but I don't how to bring up the subject."
My early experience was very frustrating. I was eager to tell people about Jesus. I was concerned for their salvation. I learned several different evangelism outlines. I received training. I practiced. And then when I tried to explain the gospel to someone, the response I received was never good. It was frustrating.
Then a friend shared with me a bit of advice: If you meet a person who is not a Christian and you try to tell him about Jesus, your words will just fly past him. Why? Because your church language -- your Christian jargon -- and his worldly language are different. Your point of view and his point of view are different. The way you think and the way he thinks are different. If you want to communicate with non-Christians, you must first learn how non-Christians think. But how do you learn that? It's easy. You just ask them. They will be glad to tell you.
When I heard that, I realized that was my problem. So I made it my goal for one year NOT to tell people about Jesus -- just keep my mouth shut. First I needed to learn THEIR point of view. I needed to learn how a person who is not a Christian thinks.
Here is what happened.
When I met a person who was not a Christian, I set aside my goal to tell him about Jesus. I needed to learn how he thought and how he felt -- his world view. So I asked him. I was amazed at how much he unloaded. It happened the same way every time I tried this. Everyone I asked shared so much personal information. They were happy to tell me their stories, their goals, their experiences, their joys, their griefs, their good ideas, their rotten ideas. During the first five minutes of our first conversation they gave a ton of information about themselves. It was amazing!
It always happened that when they gave me all this personal information about their lives and what was in their hearts, I saw something in their story that related to something in the Bible that had touched me and helped me in my life. I saw a clear connection between Biblical principles and their lives.
So in the course of our conversations, as I listened to them discussing the things that concerned them, when I had earned the right to respond, I said, "I would like to share something with you." Then I would share with them the Bible's wisdom about their situation. Sometimes I could show them the text of Scripture. Other times I would simply share the wisdom of Scripture without telling them the source -- God's Word still touched them and had its effect on them.
When God's story interconnects with their story, you will see Him touch them.