AFRAID OF EVANGELISM (PT. 1)

What Do You Feel When You Hear…

Evangelism? Mention that word and it usually creates a sense of guilt or dread. Most of us are afraid of evangelism. We often hear pastors in church tell us that Jesus commands us to share the good news. Then we either feel guilty. We know we haven’t done it. Or maybe we dread it because we’re not sure how to do it. We definitely don’t want to do it wrong, like this funny video from Jason Powell!

When I first became a lead pastor I was terrified about preaching evangelism. I didn’t personally know how to do evangelism. That was scary because it was my job to tell and teach others to do it. I know that God’s word tells me I’m a recipient of forgiveness. Then out of gratitude, I’m supposed to tell others about Jesus.  

I have personally preached that we’re supposed to share the gospel with both works and words. Show them the good news with our life. Then tell them the good news with your lips. 

THE PROBLEM…

The problem is, we’ve been told “TO” do it, but not shown “HOW” to do it. Most of us are afraid of evangelism because we have information but not application. Even if you have seen someone tell their story, it probably had a common storyline. It might have sounded like this: I once was running away from God. I was doing all the big bad things like sex and drugs. Then I hit rock bottom and I cried out to God. Then I experienced this rush of emotion and he saved me. Since then, I’ve never struggled with the things I did before. 

I recognize that’s a generalization, but I think it’s pretty common in church circles. I think that’s because we all love a dramatic turn around story like being a mobster turned Christian. People that have those stories are the ones that usually get asked to talk at church or at conferences. When we compare their story to ours, we feel like ours isn’t a good story. 

LEARNING FROM, BUT NOT COPYING

That’s when I realized, the stories of the people that followed Jesus didn’t all sound the same. Peter had a story. Paul had a story. David had a story. Abraham had a story. There were common elements and milestones, but the order wasn’t the same. The struggles were different. I realized that my own story shared some things in common with theirs but was also unique. I think it’s possible to learn to tell our stories by looking at of how God chose to tell their stories. We’re not copying their stories, but we’re using them to learn to tell our own stories. As we do I think it will give us confidence in telling our stories. I think it’s possible not to be afraid of evangelism.

So, this is my attempt to both, learn to tell my own story, and equip others to tell their story. Let me give you a quick outline of what I’ve found.
I like to talk about this is terms of learning stories and telling stories. I think to effectively share the good news of who Jesus is we need to know 3 main stories.

THE THREE MAIN STORIES IN EVANGELISM

1. MY Story: Telling others about how you: learned about God, realized He is real, and committed your life to Him. Then talking about what it has been like following Jesus. Telling them about what He is currently doing in your life. 
2. YOUR Story: Learning to listen to the stories of others and ask questions. We do this to better love and understand the ways that they are searching for God. Most people are searching whether they realize it or not. 
3. HIS Story: Learning to tell others about God’s desire to rescue humanity from its brokenness. Telling them how to accept his invitation to begin to live abundant lives. Then share with them what it’s like to partner with Him to bring restoration to this world. We tie both our story and their story together into this one story.

My plan is to walk through each of these stories to take the terror out of talking about Jesus. (At least the part associated with not knowing how) I hope you’ll join me on this journey for the next couple of weeks. Here’s an overview of where we’ll be headed.

• Part 2a: Telling My Story using Peter as an Example
• Part 2b: Telling My Story using Paul as an Example
• Part 2c: Preparing & Practicing My Story
• Part 3: Listening to Your Story
• Part 4: Telling God’s Story
• Part 5: Good News. My Story & Your Story are part of God’s Story.

In the meantime… How much of this sounds familiar to you? Have you ever had someone show you how to share the gospel? What did they do? How effective was it?