Evangelism: Be Prepared To Give An Answer

I became a Christian while watching a Billy Graham Crusade service on television. As a young Christian, I remember attending several revival services at churches in my area. My first full-time ministry was with Campus Crusade for Christ, now CRU, in the early 1970s. Back then, we went door-to-door and took religious surveys, using the survey to transition to a presentation of the Four Spiritual Laws. We were also required to write out and memorize a three-minute testimony explaining the before, how, and after our conversion experience. But things have changed.

When I was doing research for my master’s thesis on the topic of Oikos (Greek: household) Evangelism, I ran across a study that evaluated the effectiveness of three styles of evangelism: 1) Teacher-student (lecture), 2) Salesman-potential customer (Four Spiritual Laws approach), and the most effective, fruit-bearing style, 3) Friend-friend (conversation). That was true then, and it is truer today.

In Apologetics for A New Generation (Sean McDowell, Editor), McDowell insightfully notes,

“Nearly half of young non-Christians have a negative view of evangelicals. To change this, Christians must build meaningful, genuine relationships with non-Christians and live out their faith consistently.”

This is not only true of the young non-Christian generation but also increasingly true of our overall culture.

Evangelism, which includes being prepared to give an answer (Greek: apologia, 1 Peter 3:15), is most effective when we are engaging those we have relationships with and are able to have a two-way conversation about things that matter most to each other. This requires us to become good listeners as James instructs us to be in James 1:19. Listen in order to learn what they truly believe and why. Ask sincere questions. One apologist I respect has a rule, “Don’t assert anything for at least the first five minutes.” Another said his rule was “ten minutes.” The principle they are following is this: until we can accurately recite back to our conversational partner what they believe and why, we have not listened well.

Here is how Tim Muehlhoff rightly states in A New Kind of Apologist (Sean McDowell),

“If we want our friends and neighbors to listen to our story, then we must listen to theirs. If we want others to attend to our convictions, then we must attend to theirs. If we desire for others to cultivate common ground with us, we must do so first. In doing so, we will create a communication climate in which we can fulfill our deepest longing – engaging others in a respectful, civil way that allows us to share a perspective that has changed our lives” (p. 28).

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With this in mind, here are some guidelines for having productive conversations from the helpful book, Cultural Intelligence (Darrell Bock).

• Pursue mutual understanding, then move into assessment
• Understand “why” the person has a different opinion, concern, or priority. (Apply “active listening.”)
• When discussions become challenging, become more curious as to why the person thinks differently than you (without trying to predict where the other person’s head is at).
• Let them speak and receive their responses as sincere.
• Avoid dismissing what is being said by assuming a negative motive.
• Be curious and ask questions, not to defeat the other person but to move toward a mutual understanding about why you disagree or where the differences and tension points are.
• Work to understand before asserting.
• Learn to accurately paraphrase in difficult moments in a way that assures your conversational partner that you understand them.
• Recognize that it is possible to move towards someone and yet disagree with them. Remember James 1:19.

Here are some ways we can sabotage conversations and, therefore, should avoid doing:

• Quick confession with a pivot: “That is true, but your side is worse."
• Don’t use politically charged terms (racist, fascist, progressive, socialist, Marxist)
• Assigning motive (Only God knows the heart.)
• Refusing to acknowledge “your side’s” faults or weaknesses.

One of my "go-to" passages, when it comes to evangelism, is Colossians 4:2-6

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (NASB)

Paul reminds us to pray for an open door and then for the wisdom to know how to speak when the door to a gospel presentation opens. He then instructs us to live wisely, making the most of every open door. Then he reminds us to speak with grace and customize our responses to each individual.

Recommended books: · Apologetics For A New Generation (Sean McDowell, Editor)· A New Kind of Apologist (Sean McDowell)· So That the Next Generation Will Know (Sean McDowell, J. Warner Wallace)· Cultural Intelligence (Darrell Bock), Tactics (Greg Koukl)Dr. Steve Van Horn is the president of International Training and Equipping Ministries (ITEM), which he began after seeing the need to train pastors in the middle of Africa. Today, ITEM serves 14 African countries and has expanded to other regions of the world by reaching those unable to afford or receive formal theological education.

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