April 1, 2025 • 21 mins
Feeling anxious about sharing your faith? You're not alone. That flutter of nervousness when evangelism comes up is something many Christians experience—even those who deeply desire to share Christ with others.
The good news? Effective evangelism doesn't require theological degrees or extraordinary speaking skills. In this episode, we explore how to integrate gospel conversations naturally into your everyday life, just as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman and Zacchaeus. These weren't planned outreach events; they were divine appointments that occurred as Jesus lived his normal life.
We examine the biblical foundations for everyday evangelism, demonstrating that while not everyone has the specific gift of evangelism, all believers are called to share the good news. Practical strategies discussed include living a life that provokes curiosity, leveraging ordinary moments for spiritual conversations, asking thoughtful questions, and sharing your personal testimony. Rather than focusing on one-time gospel presentations, we explore evangelism as an ongoing journey where relationship and invitation play crucial roles.
The most significant barriers to sharing faith—fear of rejection, feeling unqualified, and not knowing what to say—are addressed with biblical encouragement and practical wisdom. Remember Paul's words: the power isn't in your eloquence but in the gospel message itself. Your job is simply to serve it up faithfully—like a waiter bringing food to the table—while trusting the Holy Spirit to work.
Ready to move beyond fear and into faithful witness? Challenge yourself to look for just one opportunity this week to share your faith, and pray specifically for God to provide it. As ordinary people telling other ordinary people about our extraordinary Savior, we participate in God's redemptive work through the simple, faithful moments of everyday life.
Stock Music provided by wolfgangwoehrle, from Pond5
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hi and welcome back to the Pleasing God podcast, a
show focused on helpingChristians to think biblically,
engage practically and livefaithfully for the glory of God.
I'm your host, jonathan Soule.
On this episode, I want to talkabout evangelism in everyday
life.
Now, even just hearing thatmight make some of us nervous.
Evangelism can be an excitingword and also, for some of us,
(00:30):
can be a frightening wordbecause there's just so much
involved talking to strangers,talking to people and engaging
and there's a whole ball ofanxiety that can come from it.
And I know, trust me, I knowthe feeling.
So I definitely want toapproach this subject because I
think it's helpful for us tothink through as Christians and
(00:52):
understand why it's importantand how we can kind of create a
rhythm of evangelism in our ownlives.
Even if we're not giftedevangelists, I still think it's
important to address.
So evangelism in everyday life.
I want you to think for amoment when was the last
(01:13):
opportunity or time that you hadthat you shared your faith with
someone?
Was it just recently?
Has there been some time?
Has there been some time Maybethe question even is answered
that I can't even remember thelast time that I shared my faith
with someone.
Well, I hope that by listeningto this show and thinking about
(01:36):
some of these ideas, it mightencourage you and build
confidence in you to be aboutthis work of sharing the message
of Jesus Christ with those inneed.
There's common misconceptionswhen it comes to evangelism.
Some think, well, it's only forthose that are gifted.
Well, that person is a giftedevangelist.
(01:58):
That's what they do.
Well, I would say that is amisunderstanding of evangelism.
I think we're all called toshare.
Now, some of us might be moreeffective, some of us might get
more opportunities, but all ofGod's people are called to share
God's message of Jesus Christwith a lost world.
Now the thought is, it's onlyfor pastors, it's for the
(02:20):
professionals, it's for theprofessionals.
Again, that's just amisunderstanding and almost kind
of a punting of responsibilityto someone else.
So the goal here is I want tohelp you, as a believer, to
integrate evangelism into dailylife where it's natural and it's
(02:41):
biblical.
And so, to start, we need tounderstand the biblical mandate
for evangelism.
This is found in one of myfavorite passages in Matthew 28,
verses 19 and 20, known as theGreat Commission, jesus looks at
his disciples at the end of hisearthly ministry.
According to Matthew's record.
(03:02):
He summons them to the mountainand he says to them that all
authority in heaven and earthhas been given to me.
Go, therefore, make disciplesof all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and ofthe Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe allthat I have commanded you and,
behold, I'm with you always, tothe end of the age.
(03:22):
You might've been listening tothat and you said well, I didn't
hear evangelism in there.
Correct Discipleship, makingdisciples.
The first part of that isevangelism, because you have to
share the message of Jesus, youhave to share the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and so theevangelism is not its own, and
(03:47):
so the evangelism is not its owndiscipline or practice.
It really is the first part ofobeying the Great Commission and
making disciples.
It's discipleship, but not justthere.
Also in Acts, chapter 1, verse8, this is how Luke records the
final words of Jesus to hisdisciples.
He gathers them and he tellsthem that they will be his
(04:08):
witnesses in Jerusalem, judea,samaria and to the ends of the
earth.
Their job was to bear witnessto the things that they had seen
and heard.
They were eyewitnesses of theresurrection of Jesus Christ.
They are living eyewitnesses ofthe gospel that was played out
(04:28):
before them and they are to goand they are to tell others what
they have seen.
This is evangelism.
Now, clearly, we are 21centuries removed from the
resurrection of Jesus.
We are not eyewitnesses ofJesus and his resurrection, but
we are earwitnesses.
We are earwitnesses of themessage from the apostles that
(04:49):
has been passed down faithfullythrough 21 centuries.
And so now that apostolicmessage, that message of Jesus,
is given to us, the baton is inour hands and we are to carry on
this message as ear witnessesto the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
We tell others also.
(05:13):
So I want us to think ofevangelism not as simply an
event, an outreach event that wedo, or we go to a place, or we
set up shop in a public area,pass out tracks, show a movie,
do a thing, not like that.
I want us to think ofevangelism more as a lifestyle,
part of our daily obedience.
If we can partimentalizeevangelism simply to events,
(05:37):
it's kind of like dropping astrike, dropping a Jesus bomb in
the park, and then going offand going back to our
quote-unquote, normal Christianliving.
And we want to incorporateevangelism into our daily
routine, into the habits of ourlife.
Think about Jesus's example.
Jesus the evangelist how did heapproach sharing the message?
(06:02):
Was it simply as an event?
Well, there were events that hedid.
I mean feeding of the 5,000,miracles in front of large
crowds.
But there's also just thesimple lifestyle.
In John, chapter 4, we have theaccount of Jesus and the woman
at the well, the Samaritan woman.
This wasn't an event.
He was going to the well to getwater at midday and he came
(06:27):
across a Samaritan woman andthrough his dialogue with her,
he reveals to her who he is, heevangelizes her and the outcome
is that she goes back and shetells all the people of her town
who she has met.
She goes and evangelizes as aresult of being with Jesus.
(06:50):
It wasn't an event, it was justgoing to the well to get water
and the outcome was staggering.
Luke, chapter 19, verses 1through 10, also record an event
of Jesus's life, this kind oflifestyle, natural, just as you
are going evangelizing.
And this is the account of Jesusand Zacchaeus.
(07:12):
And we read in chapter 19,verse 1, he entered Jericho and
was passing through.
He wasn't stopping there, hewas just passing through.
He's on his journey toJerusalem.
He's on his.
Really, jericho is the lastcity before Jerusalem of
significance.
And when he's going toJerusalem, he's going because he
has set his face to Jerusalemto carry out the work the Father
(07:35):
had given him.
He has set his mind on thecross that is before him and
he's going to die to be asacrifice for the sins of his
people.
But as he's passing throughJericho, we read that, behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus,a terrible man.
He was a chief tax collector.
He was rich and he was seekingto see who Jesus was, but on
(07:57):
account of the crowd, hecouldn't see.
He was small in stature, so heclimbed up the sycamore tree.
If you grew up in the church,you probably sung songs about
Zacchaeus climbing up the tree.
And what does Jesus do?
He looks up at him and saysZacchaeus, come down.
And I can almost hear thejingle in my head.
I'm not going to sing it, buthe comes down and he says I'm
(08:19):
going to your house today.
And when the crowd saw it, theyall grumbled, saying he had
gone to be the guest of a manwho is a sinner.
And Jesus spends time with thisman, evangelizes this man and at
the end, in verse 9, jesus saystoday, salvation has come to
this house, for the Son of mancame to seek and to save the
(08:43):
lost.
As he was going through Jericho, he had so many other things on
his mind.
He could have just continued onhis way to Jerusalem, but he
stops and he touches the life ofZacchaeus and makes Again this
is everyday life, but this isalso the example and the mandate
that we see from Jesus.
So what is it then for us thatcauses almost a disconnect from
(09:08):
what we see in the New Testamentto our practice in our lives
when it comes to evangelism ineveryday life?
Well, I can think of three frommy even own personal experience
, and I'm sure you can relate toone, if not all, of these three
barriers to evangelism.
And the first is fear ofrejection.
(09:29):
We're afraid to be rejected byothers.
I know that is something that Ihave struggled with Fear of
rejection.
Let me just remind you here ofthe Apostle Paul's words in
Galatians 1.10.
He says For am I now seekingthe approval of man or of God,
or am I trying to please man?
(09:51):
If I were still trying toplease man, I would not be a
servant of Christ.
And so Paul's saying here itdoesn't matter what people think
about me.
I'm not here to please peoplebut to please God, and I think
that is so important for all ofthe Christian life, especially
in everyday life.
Evangelism If our focus is onpleasing God, then it doesn't
(10:15):
matter who we displease.
But if we focus only onpleasing man, we will become
paralyzed.
Fear of rejection will sink in.
Remember, brothers and sisterswe share in obedience to the
scriptures.
Let the results be up to God.
So fear of rejection iscertainly a barrier.
(10:36):
Also, I think there's a senseof feeling unqualified, that I
don't know enough or I haven'ttaken enough classes, or I
haven't been trained inevangelistic practices and so
I'm not qualified.
Let me just leave that up tothose that are trained and,
again, more professional in this.
(10:58):
I just want to again remind youof the apostle Paul's words in
first Corinthians, chapter two.
He says when I came to you,brothers, I did not come
proclaiming to you the testimonyof God with lofty speech or
wisdom, for I decided to knownothing among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified, and Iwas with you in weakness and in
fear and much trembling, and myspeech and my message were not
(11:20):
in plausible words of wisdom butin demonstration of the spirit
and of power, so that your faithmight not rest in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God.
Here Paul is saying I don'thave eloquent speech, because
the power in evangelism is inthe gospel.
We proclaim not in our methodof persuasion or our eloquence
(11:47):
the word at work and we are tobe faithful in delivering that
word.
We are to deliver up that word.
Think of evangelism as being awaiter.
Your job is to serve the plate,is just to bring out the plate.
How you bring it out, as longas you get it to the destination
(12:10):
, that's of the most importance.
We are to serve up the gospeltruthfully and faithfully.
And the third kind of barrierkind of goes along with this is
that sometimes we just don'tknow what to say.
We don't know how to get toJesus, or we don't know how to
start that conversation, or evenjust you know, we get kind of
(12:34):
tongue-tied in our own thoughtsand our own minds.
It is a true and it is a rightfeeling that we have and there
is sometimes a place forevangelism, training kind of
knowing categories, how to talkthrough the gospel.
Start with God, who he is man,his condition, condition when
(12:57):
you set God and man is kind ofan understanding of who God is
holy God, man, sinful, fallen.
So that raises the need forChrist and then we call in
response.
So there's God man, christresponse.
This is a great framework forwalking through the gospel
message with somebody.
But we have to understand thatin the moment, in that time,
(13:19):
that sovereign moment,opportunity, appointment that
God has given us to share hismessage, we need to rely upon
the Holy Spirit.
In Luke, chapter 12, verse 12,speaking of acknowledging Christ
before men, jesus says the HolySpirit will teach you in that
very hour what you ought to say.
The Holy Spirit will teach youin that very hour what you ought
(13:42):
to say.
So we need to trust theministry of the Holy Spirit to
take even our fumblings and ourbumblings and our best efforts
and attempts, because he is atwork and he convicts the heart
and he shows people the beautyof Christ.
Our job, like the waiters, toserve it up.
So, as we think about some ofthese fears and barriers to
evangelism, what are somepractical ways then we can
(14:05):
evangelize, naturally, withoutseeming clunky, overly
aggressive, just trying to kindof shove Jesus down the throat
of people.
How do we do this in a naturalway.
Well, the Bible tells us, andthe first I would say is make
sure your life is one that wouldprovoke curiosity.
(14:28):
What do I mean by that?
Colossians, chapter 4, verses 5and 6, says outsiders making
the best use of time.
Let your speech always begracious, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how you oughtto answer each person here.
Paul's talking about yourmanner of life.
(14:49):
Let it provoke curiosity.
Hey, you don't laugh at thosejokes at work.
You don't talk and use thatsame profanity in that language
that other people do.
Wow, you're someone that alwayshas something nice to say.
Or you look for the best, evenin a bad situation.
Oh, wow, when in doubt, you'resomebody that is always
(15:11):
charitable.
I don't hear you griping andcomplaining.
You don't grumble often.
Some of these things.
That's a life that provokescuriosity, and living in this
way, this kind of lifestyle ofevangelism, can spark gospel
conversations.
Why do you have so much joy?
(15:32):
Questions like that, people seethat, they look and they see.
I mean, as Jesus says, let yourlight shine before men so that
they may see your good works andglorify your Father who is in
heaven.
Let your life spark curiosityand conversations.
Another practical way toevangelize is use everyday
moments.
(15:53):
This is where we need to besensitive to opportunities.
We need to be prayerful aboutthem, whether it be at work, in
line at the store, with yourneighbors on social media.
Find the moments when thereseems to be a door open.
Be tactful, be thoughtful, bedeliberate, be intentional about
using the everyday moments oflife for evangelism.
(16:17):
And here's a really good oneAsk good questions Instead of
forcing the conversation.
Are you trusting in Jesus Christas your Lord and Savior?
Man?
You might put someone on thedefensive real fast.
Maybe you ask open-endedquestions that you want to know
the answers to.
It doesn't take someone verylong before they realize you're
(16:38):
asking them questions becauseyou want to get them somewhere
and you don't actually want tohear their responses.
Maybe start with questions as amoment arises and a
conversation leads itself tothis direction.
Do you have any spiritualbeliefs or what gives you hope
in difficult times?
Those are deep questions, butthey again can open
(17:02):
opportunities for greaterconversations with others.
So live a life that provokescuriosity.
Use everyday moments, ask goodquestions.
Share your testimony.
What has God done in your life?
It is an amazing and powerfultool, the testimony of the
redeemed, and you see thatthroughout scripture.
(17:22):
Paul does it in philippians,chapter 3, and he talks about
that everything that he hadgained in his life was rubbish.
He counted everything as lossfor the sake of christ.
He talked about histransformation in his life.
We also have in Revelation,chapter 12, verse 11, talking
about the saints, and it saysthat they have conquered him,
(17:45):
satan, by the blood of the lamband by the word of their
testimony, for they loved nottheir lives, even unto death.
The testimony of the saints ispowerful.
Do not underestimate your ownpersonal stories and how they
open doors for the gospel.
Everyone who is a Christian hasthe story of what God has done
(18:08):
in their life, and so use andshare your testimony.
Think about it.
Maybe, if you haven't before,write it down and so that you
can really think through yourjourney and what God has been
doing and is doing in your life.
Also, invite, don't justinstruct so in evangelism.
Invite people to church, invitepeople to Bible studies, invite
(18:32):
people to read the Bibletogether.
Maybe it's a journey.
Maybe you know you don't getfrom A to Z.
Death, burial, resurrection,response.
Believe on the Lord JesusChrist.
You might not get that in oneconversation, but we can
continue that conversation overmultiple meetings.
So don't just instruct, butalso invite, so that that door
(18:57):
keeps open, because remember howI began, so that that door
keeps open, because remember howI began.
Evangelism is a subcategory ofdiscipleship.
Once evangelism has gonethrough and the outcome of
evangelism, somebody puts theirfaith and trust in Jesus Christ,
the journey begins, not ends.
Evangelism is initiation, andso we want to keep those
conversations open.
Invite to church, don't justinstruct.
(19:18):
So let me encourage you as youthink through evangelism in
everyday life.
Remember evangelism is a journey.
It's not just a one-time event.
It's not the big outreach eventat the church, at the park,
whatever it is.
It's the way in which youconduct and carry your life.
Every Christian has a role.
(19:39):
God works through ordinarypeople and we are all ordinary
people.
There's only one who isextraordinary and that's Jesus
Christ, and so our job asordinary people are to tell
other ordinary people about ourextraordinary Savior.
(20:00):
So let me challenge you as youventure off this week and you go
about your everyday life in theworld that God has you in in
your sphere of influence, lookfor one opportunity this week to
share your faith and make theattempt Again.
You might not get to death,burial resurrection, but you can
(20:21):
open the door for conversation,whether it be through your life
, through the questions youasked, through a chance to share
your testimony.
Look for one opportunity thisweek to share your faith and
pray for that opportunity.
If you are earnestly andhonestly praying that the Lord
would give you an opportunity toshare his gospel with an
unbeliever, I am convinced thatis a prayer God delights to
(20:45):
answer.
So my prayer for you and forall of us is that we would be
bold, we would have wisdom andwe would have discernment in
witnessing to the resurrectionof Jesus Christ to the world
around us.
I want to thank you forlistening to the Pleasing God
podcast.
If you have any questions, I'dlove to hear from you.
(21:06):
You can reach out at questionsat pleasinggodpodcastorg.
And remember 1 Thessalonians4.3.
This is the will of God yoursanctification.
Hi and welcome back to the Pleasing God podcast, a
show focused on helpingChristians to think biblically,
engage practically and livefaithfully for the glory of God.
I'm your host, jonathan Soule.
On this episode, I want to talkabout evangelism in everyday
life.
Now, even just hearing thatmight make some of us nervous.
Evangelism can be an excitingword and also, for some of us,
(00:30):
can be a frightening wordbecause there's just so much
involved talking to strangers,talking to people and engaging
and there's a whole ball ofanxiety that can come from it.
And I know, trust me, I knowthe feeling.
So I definitely want toapproach this subject because I
think it's helpful for us tothink through as Christians and
(00:52):
understand why it's importantand how we can kind of create a
rhythm of evangelism in our ownlives.
Even if we're not giftedevangelists, I still think it's
important to address.
So evangelism in everyday life.
I want you to think for amoment when was the last
(01:13):
opportunity or time that you hadthat you shared your faith with
someone?
Was it just recently?
Has there been some time?
Has there been some time Maybethe question even is answered
that I can't even remember thelast time that I shared my faith
with someone.
Well, I hope that by listeningto this show and thinking about
(01:36):
some of these ideas, it mightencourage you and build
confidence in you to be aboutthis work of sharing the message
of Jesus Christ with those inneed.
There's common misconceptionswhen it comes to evangelism.
Some think, well, it's only forthose that are gifted.
Well, that person is a giftedevangelist.
(01:58):
That's what they do.
Well, I would say that is amisunderstanding of evangelism.
I think we're all called toshare.
Now, some of us might be moreeffective, some of us might get
more opportunities, but all ofGod's people are called to share
God's message of Jesus Christwith a lost world.
Now the thought is, it's onlyfor pastors, it's for the
(02:20):
professionals, it's for theprofessionals.
Again, that's just amisunderstanding and almost kind
of a punting of responsibilityto someone else.
So the goal here is I want tohelp you, as a believer, to
integrate evangelism into dailylife where it's natural and it's
(02:41):
biblical.
And so, to start, we need tounderstand the biblical mandate
for evangelism.
This is found in one of myfavorite passages in Matthew 28,
verses 19 and 20, known as theGreat Commission, jesus looks at
his disciples at the end of hisearthly ministry.
According to Matthew's record.
(03:02):
He summons them to the mountainand he says to them that all
authority in heaven and earthhas been given to me.
Go, therefore, make disciplesof all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and ofthe Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe allthat I have commanded you and,
behold, I'm with you always, tothe end of the age.
(03:22):
You might've been listening tothat and you said well, I didn't
hear evangelism in there.
Correct Discipleship, makingdisciples.
The first part of that isevangelism, because you have to
share the message of Jesus, youhave to share the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and so theevangelism is not its own, and
(03:47):
so the evangelism is not its owndiscipline or practice.
It really is the first part ofobeying the Great Commission and
making disciples.
It's discipleship, but not justthere.
Also in Acts, chapter 1, verse8, this is how Luke records the
final words of Jesus to hisdisciples.
He gathers them and he tellsthem that they will be his
(04:08):
witnesses in Jerusalem, judea,samaria and to the ends of the
earth.
Their job was to bear witnessto the things that they had seen
and heard.
They were eyewitnesses of theresurrection of Jesus Christ.
They are living eyewitnesses ofthe gospel that was played out
(04:28):
before them and they are to goand they are to tell others what
they have seen.
This is evangelism.
Now, clearly, we are 21centuries removed from the
resurrection of Jesus.
We are not eyewitnesses ofJesus and his resurrection, but
we are earwitnesses.
We are earwitnesses of themessage from the apostles that
(04:49):
has been passed down faithfullythrough 21 centuries.
And so now that apostolicmessage, that message of Jesus,
is given to us, the baton is inour hands and we are to carry on
this message as ear witnessesto the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
We tell others also.
(05:13):
So I want us to think ofevangelism not as simply an
event, an outreach event that wedo, or we go to a place, or we
set up shop in a public area,pass out tracks, show a movie,
do a thing, not like that.
I want us to think ofevangelism more as a lifestyle,
part of our daily obedience.
If we can partimentalizeevangelism simply to events,
(05:37):
it's kind of like dropping astrike, dropping a Jesus bomb in
the park, and then going offand going back to our
quote-unquote, normal Christianliving.
And we want to incorporateevangelism into our daily
routine, into the habits of ourlife.
Think about Jesus's example.
Jesus the evangelist how did heapproach sharing the message?
(06:02):
Was it simply as an event?
Well, there were events that hedid.
I mean feeding of the 5,000,miracles in front of large
crowds.
But there's also just thesimple lifestyle.
In John, chapter 4, we have theaccount of Jesus and the woman
at the well, the Samaritan woman.
This wasn't an event.
He was going to the well to getwater at midday and he came
(06:27):
across a Samaritan woman andthrough his dialogue with her,
he reveals to her who he is, heevangelizes her and the outcome
is that she goes back and shetells all the people of her town
who she has met.
She goes and evangelizes as aresult of being with Jesus.
(06:50):
It wasn't an event, it was justgoing to the well to get water
and the outcome was staggering.
Luke, chapter 19, verses 1through 10, also record an event
of Jesus's life, this kind oflifestyle, natural, just as you
are going evangelizing.
And this is the account of Jesusand Zacchaeus.
(07:12):
And we read in chapter 19,verse 1, he entered Jericho and
was passing through.
He wasn't stopping there, hewas just passing through.
He's on his journey toJerusalem.
He's on his.
Really, jericho is the lastcity before Jerusalem of
significance.
And when he's going toJerusalem, he's going because he
has set his face to Jerusalemto carry out the work the Father
(07:35):
had given him.
He has set his mind on thecross that is before him and
he's going to die to be asacrifice for the sins of his
people.
But as he's passing throughJericho, we read that, behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus,a terrible man.
He was a chief tax collector.
He was rich and he was seekingto see who Jesus was, but on
(07:57):
account of the crowd, hecouldn't see.
He was small in stature, so heclimbed up the sycamore tree.
If you grew up in the church,you probably sung songs about
Zacchaeus climbing up the tree.
And what does Jesus do?
He looks up at him and saysZacchaeus, come down.
And I can almost hear thejingle in my head.
I'm not going to sing it, buthe comes down and he says I'm
(08:19):
going to your house today.
And when the crowd saw it, theyall grumbled, saying he had
gone to be the guest of a manwho is a sinner.
And Jesus spends time with thisman, evangelizes this man and at
the end, in verse 9, jesus saystoday, salvation has come to
this house, for the Son of mancame to seek and to save the
(08:43):
lost.
As he was going through Jericho, he had so many other things on
his mind.
He could have just continued onhis way to Jerusalem, but he
stops and he touches the life ofZacchaeus and makes Again this
is everyday life, but this isalso the example and the mandate
that we see from Jesus.
So what is it then for us thatcauses almost a disconnect from
(09:08):
what we see in the New Testamentto our practice in our lives
when it comes to evangelism ineveryday life?
Well, I can think of three frommy even own personal experience
, and I'm sure you can relate toone, if not all, of these three
barriers to evangelism.
And the first is fear ofrejection.
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We're afraid to be rejected byothers.
I know that is something that Ihave struggled with Fear of
rejection.
Let me just remind you here ofthe Apostle Paul's words in
Galatians 1.10.
He says For am I now seekingthe approval of man or of God,
or am I trying to please man?
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If I were still trying toplease man, I would not be a
servant of Christ.
And so Paul's saying here itdoesn't matter what people think
about me.
I'm not here to please peoplebut to please God, and I think
that is so important for all ofthe Christian life, especially
in everyday life.
Evangelism If our focus is onpleasing God, then it doesn't
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matter who we displease.
But if we focus only onpleasing man, we will become
paralyzed.
Fear of rejection will sink in.
Remember, brothers and sisterswe share in obedience to the
scriptures.
Let the results be up to God.
So fear of rejection iscertainly a barrier.
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Also, I think there's a senseof feeling unqualified, that I
don't know enough or I haven'ttaken enough classes, or I
haven't been trained inevangelistic practices and so
I'm not qualified.
Let me just leave that up tothose that are trained and,
again, more professional in this.
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I just want to again remind youof the apostle Paul's words in
first Corinthians, chapter two.
He says when I came to you,brothers, I did not come
proclaiming to you the testimonyof God with lofty speech or
wisdom, for I decided to knownothing among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified, and Iwas with you in weakness and in
fear and much trembling, and myspeech and my message were not
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in plausible words of wisdom butin demonstration of the spirit
and of power, so that your faithmight not rest in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God.
Here Paul is saying I don'thave eloquent speech, because
the power in evangelism is inthe gospel.
We proclaim not in our methodof persuasion or our eloquence
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the word at work and we are tobe faithful in delivering that
word.
We are to deliver up that word.
Think of evangelism as being awaiter.
Your job is to serve the plate,is just to bring out the plate.
How you bring it out, as longas you get it to the destination
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, that's of the most importance.
We are to serve up the gospeltruthfully and faithfully.
And the third kind of barrierkind of goes along with this is
that sometimes we just don'tknow what to say.
We don't know how to get toJesus, or we don't know how to
start that conversation, or evenjust you know, we get kind of
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tongue-tied in our own thoughtsand our own minds.
It is a true and it is a rightfeeling that we have and there
is sometimes a place forevangelism, training kind of
knowing categories, how to talkthrough the gospel.
Start with God, who he is man,his condition, condition when
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you set God and man is kind ofan understanding of who God is
holy God, man, sinful, fallen.
So that raises the need forChrist and then we call in
response.
So there's God man, christresponse.
This is a great framework forwalking through the gospel
message with somebody.
But we have to understand thatin the moment, in that time,
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that sovereign moment,opportunity, appointment that
God has given us to share hismessage, we need to rely upon
the Holy Spirit.
In Luke, chapter 12, verse 12,speaking of acknowledging Christ
before men, jesus says the HolySpirit will teach you in that
very hour what you ought to say.
The Holy Spirit will teach youin that very hour what you ought
(13:42):
to say.
So we need to trust theministry of the Holy Spirit to
take even our fumblings and ourbumblings and our best efforts
and attempts, because he is atwork and he convicts the heart
and he shows people the beautyof Christ.
Our job, like the waiters, toserve it up.
So, as we think about some ofthese fears and barriers to
evangelism, what are somepractical ways then we can
(14:05):
evangelize, naturally, withoutseeming clunky, overly
aggressive, just trying to kindof shove Jesus down the throat
of people.
How do we do this in a naturalway.
Well, the Bible tells us, andthe first I would say is make
sure your life is one that wouldprovoke curiosity.
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What do I mean by that?
Colossians, chapter 4, verses 5and 6, says outsiders making
the best use of time.
Let your speech always begracious, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how you oughtto answer each person here.
Paul's talking about yourmanner of life.
(14:49):
Let it provoke curiosity.
Hey, you don't laugh at thosejokes at work.
You don't talk and use thatsame profanity in that language
that other people do.
Wow, you're someone that alwayshas something nice to say.
Or you look for the best, evenin a bad situation.
Oh, wow, when in doubt, you'resomebody that is always
(15:11):
charitable.
I don't hear you griping andcomplaining.
You don't grumble often.
Some of these things.
That's a life that provokescuriosity, and living in this
way, this kind of lifestyle ofevangelism, can spark gospel
conversations.
Why do you have so much joy?
(15:32):
Questions like that, people seethat, they look and they see.
I mean, as Jesus says, let yourlight shine before men so that
they may see your good works andglorify your Father who is in
heaven.
Let your life spark curiosityand conversations.
Another practical way toevangelize is use everyday
moments.
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This is where we need to besensitive to opportunities.
We need to be prayerful aboutthem, whether it be at work, in
line at the store, with yourneighbors on social media.
Find the moments when thereseems to be a door open.
Be tactful, be thoughtful, bedeliberate, be intentional about
using the everyday moments oflife for evangelism.
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And here's a really good oneAsk good questions Instead of
forcing the conversation.
Are you trusting in Jesus Christas your Lord and Savior?
Man?
You might put someone on thedefensive real fast.
Maybe you ask open-endedquestions that you want to know
the answers to.
It doesn't take someone verylong before they realize you're
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asking them questions becauseyou want to get them somewhere
and you don't actually want tohear their responses.
Maybe start with questions as amoment arises and a
conversation leads itself tothis direction.
Do you have any spiritualbeliefs or what gives you hope
in difficult times?
Those are deep questions, butthey again can open
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opportunities for greaterconversations with others.
So live a life that provokescuriosity.
Use everyday moments, ask goodquestions.
Share your testimony.
What has God done in your life?
It is an amazing and powerfultool, the testimony of the
redeemed, and you see thatthroughout scripture.
(17:22):
Paul does it in philippians,chapter 3, and he talks about
that everything that he hadgained in his life was rubbish.
He counted everything as lossfor the sake of christ.
He talked about histransformation in his life.
We also have in Revelation,chapter 12, verse 11, talking
about the saints, and it saysthat they have conquered him,
(17:45):
satan, by the blood of the lamband by the word of their
testimony, for they loved nottheir lives, even unto death.
The testimony of the saints ispowerful.
Do not underestimate your ownpersonal stories and how they
open doors for the gospel.
Everyone who is a Christian hasthe story of what God has done
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in their life, and so use andshare your testimony.
Think about it.
Maybe, if you haven't before,write it down and so that you
can really think through yourjourney and what God has been
doing and is doing in your life.
Also, invite, don't justinstruct so in evangelism.
Invite people to church, invitepeople to Bible studies, invite
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people to read the Bibletogether.
Maybe it's a journey.
Maybe you know you don't getfrom A to Z.
Death, burial, resurrection,response.
Believe on the Lord JesusChrist.
You might not get that in oneconversation, but we can
continue that conversation overmultiple meetings.
So don't just instruct, butalso invite, so that that door
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keeps open, because remember howI began, so that that door
keeps open, because remember howI began.
Evangelism is a subcategory ofdiscipleship.
Once evangelism has gonethrough and the outcome of
evangelism, somebody puts theirfaith and trust in Jesus Christ,
the journey begins, not ends.
Evangelism is initiation, andso we want to keep those
conversations open.
Invite to church, don't justinstruct.
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So let me encourage you as youthink through evangelism in
everyday life.
Remember evangelism is a journey.
It's not just a one-time event.
It's not the big outreach eventat the church, at the park,
whatever it is.
It's the way in which youconduct and carry your life.
Every Christian has a role.
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God works through ordinarypeople and we are all ordinary
people.
There's only one who isextraordinary and that's Jesus
Christ, and so our job asordinary people are to tell
other ordinary people about ourextraordinary Savior.
(20:00):
So let me challenge you as youventure off this week and you go
about your everyday life in theworld that God has you in in
your sphere of influence, lookfor one opportunity this week to
share your faith and make theattempt Again.
You might not get to death,burial resurrection, but you can
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open the door for conversation,whether it be through your life
, through the questions youasked, through a chance to share
your testimony.
Look for one opportunity thisweek to share your faith and
pray for that opportunity.
If you are earnestly andhonestly praying that the Lord
would give you an opportunity toshare his gospel with an
unbeliever, I am convinced thatis a prayer God delights to
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answer.
So my prayer for you and forall of us is that we would be
bold, we would have wisdom andwe would have discernment in
witnessing to the resurrectionof Jesus Christ to the world
around us.
I want to thank you forlistening to the Pleasing God
podcast.
If you have any questions, I'dlove to hear from you.
(21:06):
You can reach out at questionsat pleasinggodpodcastorg.
And remember 1 Thessalonians4.3.
This is the will of God yoursanctification.
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