WITNESSING
In another article I give the importance of following God to save our country and try to make the case that Christians need to be active. I try to show this by how important it is to save our country and also how it’s a reasonable thing to do in light of all that God has done for us. And then lastly I try to show that God never intended the Christian life to be sedentary. We are not saved by works, but I think the Bible is clear that becoming a Christian means following God and He works in you to love people so you joyfully try to reach people. So this article is for people who want to obey God and reach His people but don’t know how.
The most important thing of course it to keep praying about it. God will continue to lead you if you will just try and pray. You can also study apologetics. There’s lots of resources for that now.
One of the easiest things to do is to leave a tract somewhere where someone will find it. This can work but is probably the least effective.
The next best thing is to leave a tract after people have met you. This is real easy in places where you are the customer, such as a store or restaurant. This way people at least see who you are and that you are normal. And they are not as likely to be at all rude since you’re the customer. And you can leave it with them as you’re leaving so as to not feel uncomfortable about them watching you while you’re there or fearing something will go wrong, like a child misbehaving, that will ruin your witness.
If you live in a neighborhood you can take walks and get to know people and after several months, invite them to church, especially on a politically correct day like Easter or Christmas. If they decline respectfully ask them what their experience has been with the church. Many people have bad experiences with the church so be prepared to give a reason why there are many bad churches. Acknowledging this may help so that you can tell them how they can still trust God and that there are many bad churches but some good ones still.
The next thing, which is a little harder and probably the most effective, is to politely and compassionately bring up eternal life with people who know and respect you. Maybe you can tell them some things you’re learning as you study apologetics or maybe you can invite them over for a purpose-driven movie. Hopefully they see good fruits in your life (if not read my article on letting the Holy Spirit change you. I was a wreck before I did this). They probably know you’re a Christian and won’t be offended that you want them to have that same hope for eternal life. In fact they may respect you more. If you really believe you’re going to heaven and they aren’t, what kind of a person are you not to tell them. If you look for the YouTube video with something like “Penn Gillette Given a Bible” you’ll see Atheist Penn Gillette give a strong message that only the worst people can believe in heaven and hell and not share it and how he really respects those who do (he’s still an atheist though).
Never be afraid to ask God to give you love for the lost. If he does, you will really enjoy trying to reach people, even with very slight risks of very slight persecution. Up to this point, negative reactions should be very rare and minor with the scenarios I’ve suggested. With the next ones we may get a snide look or even some harsh words but in our country that’s about it. Christians from almost every other location and time era would be shocked at how easy we have it. We will not have good excuses for not exercising our freedom.
So, the next scenario would be sharing when you do interact with someone directly (not leaving a tract secretly), you’re not a customer and you haven’t take a long time to develop a trusting relationship. This could be someone next to you on an airplane or at some kind of event that causes you to be somewhat close to strangers, e.g. a group safari, boating trip, conference, concert (a sophisticated one where you can hear, not a rock concert). You can feel the person/persons out as to their receptivity. If they are intoxicated or in a party mood with lots of the friends, the odds are that they won’t accept it. But if you notice any humility or especially sadness, and if you’ve represented yourself well with small talk, then perhaps you could ask if they go to church, or something like that, to crack the door and see where it goes.
Then the last and bravest step is public evangelism. You can pass out tracts or initiate conversations at any public location. College campuses usually have a free speech policy and college students are studious and will sometimes read tracts. Be super polite and professional. Present yourself well in attire, but not any of the typical traits of various cults, though it’s unfortunate that these are the only ones doing this anymore so people will often mistake you for a cult. It’s just a sad comment on how normal churches aren’t do their job, not a bad reflection on you doing it. You can quickly tell people you’re not a X or whatever. I usually tell people I just want them to read their Bible and obey it with no church push. That disarms all the fears.
But above all just keep trying and praying, with apologetic study. God will lead you and most of all remember that “nothing we do for the Lord is in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:58.