From the Gridiron to
the Gospel: A Few Tips for Sharing Your Faith in any Context
Good morning men. I am glad to be here and thankful to Dave
and Pastor Travis for organizing this breakfast and giving me the opportunity
to speak. I always relish the opportunity to converse about God. This morning
my aim is to give you some practical tips for sharing your faith with others.
Before I get there though I would like to lay some groundwork for the
importance of evangelism by taking a look inside the Bible. For those of you
who do not know me, my name is Brian Cauley. I have been attending TWC for
about 1.5 years. I have been a Christian for a little more than 3 years. As
some of you may know, God drew me to His Son by way of the historic evidences
for the Christian faith. Things like: How can I know that God exists? Is the
New Testament historically reliable? Did Jesus really rise bodily from the dead
in history? Answers to these questions are what is generally called the
discipline of apologetics. Now, I would consider myself an amateur apologist. I
have spent the better part of the last 4 years reading, listening, and thinking
about the answers and difficulties to questions like the ones above in an
all-out pursuit of the truth and then once I converted, I continued to study so
that I can share these answers with other Christians who have questions and “to
make a defense to anyone who asks me for a reason for the hope that is in me” to
paraphrase 1 Peter 3:15. But, apologetics is really a servant to the task of
evangelism, which is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone.
As I prepared this talk, I realized something about my life
and evangelism. I had only two people my entire life share their faith in Jesus
Christ with me while I was a non-Christian. The first time was by my wife about
10 years ago and in her defense, I told her that I didn’t want to talk about it
ever again. The second time was my father-in-law about 8 years ago. I’m 35
years old. So in the 32 years I spent outside the Kingdom of God, two people
evangelized me. I grew up Mormon. I thought I was Christian. I went to school
and played in the neighborhoods I grew up in with other kids who, undoubtedly,
some of whom, were Christians. In fact, I had a friend who was Baptist and used
to give me a hard time about being a Mormon, but he never told me the true
gospel. Why did no one share their faith with me? I think we could spend the
rest of the day answering this question. I would instead like to offer a
critique of the number one reason Christians don’t share their faith. And by
number one, I mean the reason I have heard taught or expressed most often from
other Christians. You have probably heard this phrase. “Preach the gospel at
all times. If necessary, use words.” Most Christians I have encountered who say
something like this mean that our holy lives should point people to Jesus and
nothing else need be done. I think this is half right. Jesus says in John
13:34-5: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I
have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know
that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” So, certainly the
first half of that sentiment, that our holy lives should echo Jesus’ example,
is true. But what about the second half? Should we then not “use words” unless
people don’t see Jesus in us. I think this is either a gross misunderstanding
of the teaching of scripture or a deliberate act of ignoring our Lord’s own
direct command.
Among Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to the disciples
and apostles, He gave 2 commands: the great commission and the command to wait
for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The Great Commission can be found in Matthew
28:18-20: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” And Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” These go together
in that our going and attempting to make disciples starts with being empowered
witnesses of the Lord’s great work through Jesus Christ. Now some people might
say that these commands were for specific individuals (the apostles) at a
specific time (the beginning of the church), but this is simply false. There
are at least 2 problems with this interpretation. The first is that the
apostles died out around 100 AD. Who then was to be a witness for Christ to the
end of the earth? The second is that we see examples of non-apostles
evangelizing in the early church. As an example, Philip (Acts 8) and Stephen
(Acts 6-7) were, presumably, not there for either of these commands; the great
commission passage says that the 11 disciples went to Galilee (28:16) and the
Acts passage seems to indicate that it was again, the 11 disciples only who
were on Mt. Olivet. But these two, Philip and Stephen, were powerful tools in
God’s hands in the burgeoning evangelism of the early church both in Jerusalem,
Samaria, and other areas. We could name many other examples as well from both
Acts and the general epistles of the New Testament that demonstrate it was not
just the apostles that were to carry out this order, but all believers. The
point is that this command was not only for the apostles in the early church; it
is for everyone. With that fact established we can move to how evangelism
should be done. Paul can help us further understand this point and the fact
that we should “use words” in Romans 10:5-15:
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the
law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the
righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend
into heaven’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the
abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of
faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one
confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him
will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing riches on all who call on him. For
“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they
call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him
of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone
preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
We see that the word of faith (the gospel) is near us and
everyone. It is in our mouths and hearts if we confess and believe in Jesus
Christ which seems to parallel Paul’s earlier thought in Romans 1:18-19 that
people know God exists but suppress the truth. The message is that the gospel
is right there to be grasped for everyone. But then Paul follows this
explanation up with a string of questions that indicate a chain of necessary
actions. Working backward, they give us our marching orders for evangelism: being
sent in order to preach so that the lost can hear, believe, call on the name of
the Lord, and be saved. Notice that is says that people must hear the gospel
from people preaching it. At the risk of belaboring the point; hear means just
what you think it means: to attend to, consider what is or has been SAID. What
does preach mean? To herald as a public crier. At this point, I hope that you
all agree with me that the last half of our saying, “Preach the gospel at all
times. If necessary, use words”, is simply a non-biblical concept that should
rightly be derided and removed from the lexicon of Christians everywhere.
So who is it that we are supposed to share the gospel with?
Right now you are probably sitting there thinking; “Well, everyone, duh!” You’re
right, but let me offer an incentive. 2 Peter 3:9-12 says, and I will comment
in between phrases, that:
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count
slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should reach repentance.
That is the
answer to our most recent question. We should share the gospel with everyone.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the
heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up
and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Sharing the
gospel is urgent because the Lord could return at any moment, like a thief.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of
people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
We should be
living lives in accordance with the example of our Lord and Savior.
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the
heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!”
Don’t miss
the implication of the first phrase of this verse: we can hasten the coming day
of God. How can we hasten this day? By paying attention to what Peter says in
the opening of this paragraph: that the Lord wants everyone to “reach
repentance”. This connects us right back to Paul; in order for people to “reach
repentance”, believers must be sent to preach the gospel that will bring people
to repentance. Who is it that should be sent? Now we connect back to the Great
Commission where Jesus Christ our Lord tells us to go. The answer to all of
this is that we have been sent to deliver the gospel message to the nations,
which includes our own family, friends, small group, co-workers, and gym
buddies as well as the person you make eye contact with and say “Hi” to in the
parking lot at Wal-Mart, the cashier at Harris Teeter, your dentist, your doctor,
your mechanic, and your banker. You might be thinking about how awkward some of
those encounters would be; you’re absolutely right, some of them will be
incredibly awkward. However, awkwardness can be overcome. It is here that I
pivot to some practical advice for discussing your faith with others in any
context. I have 3 points: 2 conversational and 1 theological.
The first is that people love to
talk about themselves if you will listen. Don’t have any idea what to say? Ask
people questions about their lives, their beliefs, etc. In general, individuals
are more than happy to share about what is going on in their lives and how they
feel about subjects like God, Jesus, church, spirituality, evil, and so on if
you will genuinely listen to them. Why is this important? Even general banter about
someone’s life can give insight into their spiritual situation. This insight
can lead to more fruitful discussions for 2 reasons. One is that by asking
pointed follow-up questions to what someone is saying lets them know that you
have been listening and the other is that a good question can continue expose
where someone is hung up on their road to the gospel. To give an example: my
wife and I were out for lunch a few months ago on Sunday afternoon. We were
trying to come up with a way to open a conversation with our waitress. My wife
mentioned that she thought the woman looked familiar. The next time the
waitress came to our table, my wife simply told her she looked familiar and
asked her where else she had worked in the Burlington area. In return we got
this woman’s life history for the past 8 years which included school debt she
was still paying off. We gave her some directions to Dave Ramsey’s website and
discussed how we used his method to pay off debt of our own. Our waitress had
been friendly and courteous before, but now she was open and talkative every
time she came to the table. We did not learn any spiritual information, but now
when we return to the restaurant we can ask for her and continue our
conversation that we hope to direct towards the gospel. This was all because of
a simple question: Where else have you worked?
The second point plays off the first
one. When listening to someone talk about their beliefs, clarifying questions
can help to unmask inconsistencies in thought. Now, I don’t suggest you do this
in an antagonizing way, but simply as a way to get them to think about how what
they are saying doesn’t go together. A common example I run into is when people
say: “Christianity is basically the same as all other religions. The main
similarity is love. We shouldn’t tell others how to live or believe.” Some
questions that could be used to follow-up are: How much have you studied other
religions to compare the details and find a common theme? Why would the
similarities be more important than the differences? I’m curious, what do you
think Jesus’ own attitude was on this issue? Did he think all religions were
basically equal? Isn’t telling people to love one another just another example
of telling them how they should live and believe? Instead of making a statement
that points out their error and puts them on the defensive, we can do several
things by asking questions. First, asking a question or questions keeps us from
preaching and draws them out into further conversation. The pressure is still
off of us because they are talking about their beliefs instead of us lecturing
them. Second, good questions are pointed in nature, but said in a friendly way.
This conveys the idea that you are interested in what they have to say.
Finally, planning questions for certain situations allows you to guide the
conversation where you want it to go. My wife and I discuss and debrief every
evangelistic encounter we have in order to see how we might have better led the
discussion with purposeful questions. Planning and preparation makes these
encounters easier and more relaxed. To wrap up my second point, I offer you two
general questions to practice so that they become second nature in your talks
with others that will remove the burden from you and get your acquaintance
thinking. One, what do you mean by that? and two, How did you come to that
conclusion? These two simple questions will help to expose inconsistent
thinking and allow you to gather more information so you can ask pointed
questions that will keep the conversation cordial and continuing down the road
towards the gospel.
This leads me to my last and most
important point. Make the gospel central to your evangelistic conversations.
You should always be trying to steer the conversation to the person and work of
Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ.” The word that Paul speaks of is the
gospel. While the Holy Spirit, as God, can use anything to convict a person; it
is the combination of the preached gospel and the Holy Spirit’s work that is
the most effective. The gospel is the only message we can give to someone that
will give them the opportunity to have eternal life. Unless and until I have
shared the gospel with someone, I consider my work incomplete. That does not
mean that I make it to the gospel in every conversation, but I try to. The
reason I think this way is because of Paul’s conversion story in Acts 26:12-14.
While relating his story to King Agrippa, Paul says: “In this connection I
journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief
priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the
way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those
who journeyed with me. And when we had
all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the
goads.’” A goad is an iron stick used to prod animals along, mainly oxen. To be
goaded into something means you’re being drawn into it. Paul was kicking
against something that couldn’t be defeated and at the same time as he was
persecuting the saints, he was being drawn into believing. We celebrate the
bold Paul of Acts 26, but we vilify and leave for dead the Saul of Acts 7 who
received the garments of those who stoned Stephen. But really, Paul was being
goaded into the gospel the whole time. That is why the gospel should be the aim
of every evangelistic encounter. You never know where someone might be with
regard to the gospel and I imagine that there are a lot of people who, like
myself 3.5 years ago, are unknowingly kicking goads who simply need a clear,
concise message that points them to the cross and the gift of eternal life.
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