Friday, September 12, 2014

Evangelism: However …

Having said all that I have about these three root issues, I now need to interject this thought. Those three - guilt, shame and fear - lie behind so much of what people feel and do, but you don't have to always bring them up when talking with someone about the Gospel. They are tools that can be helpful. You can use them to understand the people you talk with. You might even have occasion to bring one of them up as you discuss the Gospel with someone - if doing that will make it easier for that person to understand the Gospel. But you might be able to communicate the Gospel well without any explicit reference to any of these three.

Consider Jesus when He did evangelism. There were times when He didn’t bring these into play when He talked about the Gospel - at least not obviously. So, there's Nicodemus. Jesus' point to him was clear. 'Nicodemus, something dramatic has to happen in you. The Spirit has to do a work in your life. And if He doesn't, there is no hope for you. You must be born again.' And then, there's the Samaritan woman at the well. 'It is clear to me - and to you - that your life just isn't working. You are thirsting for something more. You've thought that a man could deal with your thirst, but you've found that isn't working. I can make life work.'

In neither case did Jesus talk about guilt or shame or fear - though I would almost be willing to bet that both of these people had issues with one or more of those three. My point is there are many tools that you can use - tools that the Bible describes - as you try to help people place their lives in Jesus' hands. Talking about these three root issues are only some of the tools that you might use. Get to know the other tools by getting to know your Bible.