Witnessing:The Power of Passing it On!
What is God's plan for reaching billions of people with the good news? Is it the telephone? The television? Telecommunications? Technology has never been the answer. His plan has always been “tell a person.” Witnessing is me telling people what I have seen God do. Paul said my feet should be fitted with the gospel of peace. So I developed an evangelism foot illustration to remind me of the keys in witnessing. I have enough “hand illustrations,” its good to use another body part. ;-)
The Evangelism Foot Illustration COURAGEWhen I tell people about Jesus, I am afraid. When I think about telling people about Jesus, I am afraid. Satan starts working on me. Every time I talk to people about God, I have these kinds of thoughts. Sometimes repeatedly.“This person doesn't want to hear about Jesus Christ.” “If you talk to them about Jesus Christ, they are never going to want to talk to you again. They will avoid you like the plague.” “If you start talking to people about God, no one is going to be your friend. You will be all alone.” “You are going to look like a fool talking about Jesus Christ. Your life in no way reflects what a real Christian looks like.” “You need to leave the witnessing to the professionals. Or those who live a much better Christian life than you do.” “You need more training. You can't explain Jesus Christ correctly to them. You'll just screw them up.” “You will have to change how you live around this person after you tell them about Jesus Christ they will be watching you.” Even the apostle Paul was afraid. He asked people to pray for him that he would declare the gospel fearlessly, as he thought he should. When I am telling some one the good news, I am on the front lines of the spiritual battle. Satan is on full alert. He doesn't want me to lead anyone from his side to God's side. This is a desperate time! If Satan loses one, all he can do is try to make that one ineffective. Satan can't get them back. So all the stops are out. No holds barred! He wants to keep as many as he can. The spiritual battle is intensified. Most of my fears are in action. Satan wants me to make my decisions according to my fears. God wants me to make my decisions according to His will. Following God's will requires courage. Courage does not mean I am without fear. Fear is always near by. Courage is doing the right thing, obedience, God's will, despite my fears.
Practical discipleship tips for courage in witnessing
TALK WITH PEOPLEGod has determined the good news will be spread from person to person. If it were up to me, I would have picked another way. Maybe use angels, or send Jesus back every five or ten years to explain Himself. Or maybe when a person places their trust in Jesus Christ, immediately take them to heaven and let them return in dreams and visions to tell their friends about the plan of salvation. But God has a different plan. A better plan. He wants me to tell my friends, family and strangers the good news about Jesus Christ. Since that is the plan, I figure I better get over my natural shyness. Yes, I am naturally shy. I like being able to sit behind the computer and present my thoughts in a logical, thought out manner. I am more comfortable. Despite my shyness, I needed to learn how to talk with people. It was awkward for me. Until . . . I discovered that people love to talk about themselves! All I have to do is ask questions and let them talk. From the very beginning, amazing things began to happen. People pour out their life story to me. I have applied this technique over the years with hundreds of people. It never fails. I must talk to people.
Practical discipleship tips for talking with people TESTIMONYI can talk with people by telling them my testimony. I have a specific story about how God revealed His plan of salvation to me. We all do. People tell me they don't really have a story about how they accepted Jesus Christ. Their parents shared Jesus Christ with them when they were little and they prayed then. Or they started reading the Bible and hanging out with Christians and along the way they ended up in the kingdom of God. They're not sure exactly how it happened. But they are confident that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.I have found that after some thinking and writing, every one can articulate a testimony. It doesn't have to be a dramatic “Road to Damascus” story. It doesn't have to be from a quarter of a century ago. It could be something God did within the last year. Or the last week. Or even something that happened today. God is working in my life all the time. So I can continually testify to what He is doing.
Practical discipleship tips for testifying while witnessing
WORD OF GODI reviewed the gospel presentations given in the Bible. From Jesus, to Peter, to Paul, they all used Old Testament Bible quotes. The Word of God is a powerful tool when presenting the good news about Jesus Christ.
HOLY SPIRIT & PRAYERIts my job to present the good news about Jesus Christ to people. Its the Holy Spirit's job to drive it into their heart. He makes them understand it. I am responsible to share it. I am not responsible for the response. He is. I heard it explained like this once. The gospel is like a nail. It is my job to hold the nail in place. It is the Holy Spirit's job to hammer it into place. Into the heart of a person.
PREACH JESUSThe focus of the good news is Jesus Christ. Not me. Its not about what I do. Its about what God does through Jesus Christ. I have trained dozens of people to give their testimony in front of a group. At church, at a conference, at a weekly meeting on campus. By far, the biggest difficulty people have is talking about what they did during the process of their conversion rather than what God was doing.
Practical discipleship tips for preaching Jesus
If you would like to learn more about taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ Around the World, for the explicit purpose of sharing God's Truth. Only faith in God's Truth will accomplish desired results.
Jesus Christ used parables to explain spiritual truth. Here is look at evangelism and the parables.
Farming the Gospel
Return to Practical-Discipleship.com
First posted on June 5, 2008 Updated on November 19, 2008
|
