Introducing Others to Christ

There are many means of sharing the good news of Christ with those who are under the dominion of the evil one. Some doubt that people need to be saved. If you are one of these, please click here.

Christians vary in the means of evangelism they emphasize but two points need to be made:

Jesus shared the good news of the kingdom of Heaven both by means of words of truth and by means of actions of compassion demonstrating the heart of God and the value of the person. The two should not be separated.

Whatever means you use to express the truth and grace of the Gospel, some will of course disagree.  Rather than debate it is usually better to expose your friend to a range of expressions of the Gospel.

It is important of course to spend purposeful time with those who don't know Christ. For some this is unavoidable because the vast majority of those they know don't follow Christ. For others it will be necessary to step out of church activities to free up time to interact with those who don't know Jesus. For a guide to more purposeful relationships with friends, neighbours and colleagues, please click here.

In the course of a conversation you can ask a person, "What is the best thing that's every happened to you?" After you've listened attentively and understand their story they may ask you the same question or you can ask, "Can I share the best thing that has happened to me?" If the response is positive you can share your story of responding to Christ. Try to keep it to just a minute at first: how you came to recognize your need of Christ, how you accepted Christ and how Christ's grace and Lordship has shaped your life for good.

In the course of a conversation, or even in a brief exchange, you can ask: "Can I share the purpose of the Bible in a nutshell?" If they agree, you can draw a circle (please pardon my artistic lack):

In a few seconds you can share that God's intention for the world was that it be paradise for us to enjoy with him forever. However humanity turned away from God and a brokenness we can see in our lives and the lives of people around us followed. However Jesus is God's provision through the cross and his resurrection to restore us to God's original purpose. There is more to it but this is the heart of the message of the Bible.

You could invite a friend to watch the Jesus Film with you (available here).

After the Jesus Film, you could invite your friend to join you, or ideally to invite friends to join them, in a Discovery Group. More here.

The Gospel can also be shared in briefer encounters with people by offering tracts or portions of scripture.

Shawn, a British friend, shared with me he had 5 encounters with Christians on the street between ages 15 and 20, several of which gave him simple printed information about the Gospel. He committed his life to Christ while reading one of the tracts.

The story of Frank Jenner shows also that brief, focused encounters bring people to Christ. The story is currently available on YouTube. If the video is removed the amazing story is is also available in print here.

You may prefer to express the Gospel in simple terms using your own words. A simple introduction to Christ I've shared in the hope of stimulating interest in considering Jesus is available in PDF here. You can write your own.

A brief exchange may only share the Gospel in brief but even a start is better than leaving those around us without a pointer to Christ.

Many have been led to a basic understand of the Lordship of Christ through a simple booklet called the Four Spiritual Laws.

Some may ask more detailed questions. You could invite them to listen to a more detailed explanation of reasons to turn to Christ like this.

As we connect with people we will have the opportunity to hear their stories. As we do and hear their needs we can simply ask, "Can I pray with you?" If they agree, pray verbally with them while they listen. You can then also share that aspect of the Gospel story, or ask permission to share several verses which address their pain or need, always pointing to Jesus as the source of grace.

There are great helps to share the Gospel online. Some currently available are...

https://zumeproject.com/ - focus on making disciples who make disciples to the fourth spiritual generation.

http://witnessesintraining.com/ - focus on equipping to share Christ.

http://foclonline.org/content-listing?terms2%5Btid%5D=38 - a major library of resources provided to top teachers.

You may not resonate equally with these means of pointing people to the Lord Jesus Christ. The point is however, above all, is to identify one or more means of regularly sharing Christ and to do so, so others can know also him who is know is life eternal (John 17:3).