Confrontational to relational to...Part 4
Though there could arguably be more, I have found that there are some simple rules to evangelism that are universal in their application:
1. Don’t not evangelize.
2. Pray before you preach, while you preach, and after you preach…then pray some more.
3. When preaching the gospel message we must use the law to the break the proud heart followed by speaking the grace of God to the humble(d).
4. Don’t be ashamed of the reality that we have an agenda in the kingdom to see people saved, but don’t treat people like an agenda either. No one likes being a project.
5. Don’t be paralyzed in fear with the thought of messing up. There is an abundance of mercy and grace from God as we seek to obey Him.
6. Incarnate the love of Jesus for them in a way that they can understand. Whether it be something as simple as asking the person for a prayer request (serving through prayer), spending time with people (quality time love language people), stopping to fix someone’s tire on the side of the road, paying for someone’s purchase, etc.
What do you think of these? Any others?
posted by WayoftheSon @ 2:53 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Thanks for posting this!
Another thing is that we should sow the Word of the Kingdom, not a script. "The sower sows the Word." (Mark 4:14)
In Isaiah 55, God compares his Word to rain that waters the earth, "making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater."
Ed...I agree that the Word is not a script. As long as we don't stray from expressing the essentials of the gospel message when the time comes to speak the Truth about the sin, the cross, the resurrection and repentance.
I think you're speaking this in reference to Ray Comfort's "have you ever told a lie" routine that many of us have used repeatedly at the expense of listening to the Holy Spirit. Is this right?
My wife brought up a good point concerning this. Ray points out that Jesus used the 7th of the 10 commandments with the woman at the well..adultery. So the law serves its purpose. Yet, what He doeesn't do is list off the 10 commandments and have her check off which ones she's broken in the hope that she would feel convicted.
In the same way, we ought to listen specifically to the Spirit and "do what we see the Father doing." BUT, I will not say that Ray's approach is altogether wrong either...it's only wrong when used at the cost of sensitivity to the Spirit.
Ryan,
I agree with everything you just said. But my point in the comment was not so much that we avoid a script that bypasses the Holy Spirit, but rather that we rely on the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit.
However, upon reflection, I did not use Ray's "script"... he seems to walk by the Spirit. I was using my own diluted script that had been adapted from his material, and made no effort to meet people where they were. I left little room for the Spirit's voice. Good word from your wife about the woman at the well.
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