How to Help People Consider the Gospel
Many Christians find their primary calling - to win the lost - the most challenging area of their lives. One of the reasons is unwillingness to be unpopular.1 Often, however, Christians simply find it hard to figure out what a friend or family member needs to be able to take the gospel seriously.
Who are you trying to reach out to? | Stage | Goal | Strategy |
---|---|---|---|
No Awareness
| Develop a warm relationship & expose them to your beliefs |
| |
Awareness
| Further show them the body of Christ |
| |
Hostility
| Disarm & Win Trust |
| |
Indifference
| Polarize them. Stimulate their interest. |
| |
Curiousity
| Increase their interest. Expose them to the Bible. Answer questions and misconceptions. |
| |
Active Interest
| Make the gospel clear and applicable. Keep them exposed to the witness of the body. |
| |
Excitement => Decision
| They must decide for Christ. |
| |
Dissonance
| They must decide for Christ. |
|
- Lots of scripture devotes itself to taking your significance from your status with God and the importance of not letting yourself be driven by fear of people... about the importance of serving God's goals. It might be necessary for you to devote some time to learning and meditating on such scripture. Ponder the challenge of William Carey, "Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God." This is not something you are doing on your own, this is God's business and He is very committed to its success.
- Invite them to dinner or invite them to join you for family outings. Some very fruitful evangelists make it a habit to incorporate their friends into many aspects of their lives - many, many brief periods of time spent doing all sorts of things that you are already doing (e.g. meals, shopping, functional tasks of various sorts, kid sport events; any one of these things may only last for an hour or so).
- At any point along the way or several points along the way it may be important for you to say, "I think you need to investigate God because He has some important things for you to consider."