Jesus gave us three commandments. The first two are to love God and love our neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). The third is to make disciples (Mark 16:15). We do a respectable job on the first two commandments, but evangelism is often a challenge for us.
One definition of evangelism – euangelion in ancient Greek, which means “good news” – is the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. Laypersons do not do much public preaching, so that leaves most of us with the personal witness part.
Think about the word witness for a moment. A witness is a person who has personal experience with something that happened. Unlike when someone tells you what a friend of a friend says happened, a witness is someone who can tell you with certainty, “I saw what happened with my own eyes,” or “This is what actually happened to me.”
But, honestly, most of us are hesitant to witness to others about our faith. Some of us were raised to keep our religion to ourselves. Others of us might want to be a witness but we are afraid someone will ask us a deep theological question that stumps us. And some of us just do not know when or how to go about evangelizing. So, we hesitate and tell ourselves we will start evangelizing once we have a bit more preparation. We study our Bible some more, we listen to a few more good sermons, and we attend a retreat or two. But, while we “study up,” easy evangelism opportunities pass right by us.
Contrary to what some might believe, evangelism is not about badgering people to come to church, get baptized, become a member, fill out a pledge card, and sign up to serve on a committee. Rather, evangelism is simply offering to share the gospel with another person. What happens after that is entirely up to the Holy Spirit.
So how does one go about evangelizing? Unlike a movie or a stage play, with tightly scripted dialog and every move blocked out, evangelism is more like an unscripted reality show. During our everyday lives, the Holy Spirit gives us opportunities to share our faith with someone who needs to hear good news. We do not have to do it in a preachy way or with Bible-thumping. When done properly, evangelism just happens naturally. For example, when a friend shares a struggle they are dealing with, you can respond, “I can imagine what a challenge that must be for you … someday, if you are interested, I would be happy to share what has helped me get through difficult times.” Then you stop talking and wait for their response. They may not ask you to share right away — or maybe never. But, even if they do not ask you to share, you have planted a seed that may germinate later.
Remember, you do not have to be seminary trained or a Bible scholar to be a witness. The key to being an effective evangelist is to be alert to opportunities when the Holy Spirit puts you in contact with someone who needs to hear good news. And when that happens, you simply offer to tell them what God has done in your life.
