Hey Andy, how do you evangelize? What are some ways that you like to evangelize? I really love to tell people about the Lord and want everyone I see to be saved. Does everyone have this passion, or is it hard for you when God says GO, tell that person about me?
Hi there! I think it’s great that you have such a strong passion to share Jesus with others – I also wish more Christians had such a strong passion. Unfortunately, though, many these days seem to be so afraid of “offending” people, or of how that person might react to them, that they choose instead to refrain from saying anything.
My Favorite Style to Evangelize
The nice things about evangelism is that there are so many different ways of going about it. For instance, one of the best ways that I’ve found to evangelize to people is something called “Relational Evangelism” or “Friendship Evangelism”. In other words, I take the time to get to know people, let them get to know me, and form genuine friendships. Tradition has it that Francis of Assisi once said “Evangelize always. And if you have to, use words.” In other words, let your Christian life and love for Jesus radiate and speak for you.
Along with that, often times, it’s when people see us during our low and rough times, and how we endure them that makes the biggest impact in our witness. I mean, it’s one thing to say that somebody needs Jesus in their hard times, but it’s another thing to set the example of relying on and trusting Jesus in those hard times yourself. Remember also, you’re witnessing not only to bring them to salvation in Jesus, but also to create disciples of Jesus, and Christian siblings. So it only makes sense to befriend them.
There are also many other ways of introducing people to Jesus. Some of these include:
Small Groups
You can evangelize by starting up a small group, or Bible study among your peers. In his book, “The Purpose Driven Church”, Rick Warren said that while in college, he began inviting peers in his dorm to come over one night a week and just talk about God – anything about God. And these weren’t Christians that he invited, so they would bring their thoughts and theories, they’d discuss them all on equal level, then towards the end, Warren would read what the Bible says about God, and they’d talk about that.
Street Evangelism
I have seen people stand on the street corners passing out flyers, but unless you break the motion and actually engage in a conversation, you’re probably not going to reach them genuinely. That’s what I’ve noticed most of the time. Seeing the flyers in the garbage or on the ground also showed this. But there are some who have had much success with this, so don’t count it out.
Online Evangelism
There are a bunch of forms of this style, and I’ve been seeing more and more over the years. I find that it’s especially good for introverts, or people who are better at typing than talking. Many are on Twitter, also Instagram, while others like to jump into forums and chat rooms. Places like Yahoo Answers or Quora are also great venues through which to evangelize, for people there actually ask questions about God, hoping people like you will answer them. That’s why I say it’s great for introverts, because there’s no need to worry about offending anyone by starting up a conversation about God, because that’s what you’re there for.
Website or Blog
Something I’ve been doing lately is, I’ve had some business cards printed up via Vistaprint, which I designed and pass around to promote this website. I get into conversations with people about God, and hand them one of my cards, encouraging them to read more about everything we’re talking about, as well as hype what else they’ll find on here. So I actually evangelize by encouraging people to check out my website and search for answers to questions they may have.
So if you can type, and like to answer questions or evangelize, but don’t really get out much, I’d suggest starting up a blog and promote it.
…Or, you could just do what I did in the picture – I saw some interesting people in a group, walked up, and asked a funny ice-breaking question, which gave a runway for more conversation.
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