Many people are led to Christ through someone they know and as a Christian you need to take an active role in presenting Christ to others. Naturally, as believers we feel a strong pull to (witness) tell others about our savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
The ideas I am listing are general in nature and you can twist and shape them to use as you see best. This is not a comprehensive list. Its purpose is to give you a framework or starting point when you are trying to minister to people.
In addition to this list a thing you should keep in mind when witnessing is, it is God and the power of His word that brings results. It is God who gives the increase, 1Co 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. As believers we need to take the initiative to tell others about Christ leaving the results to God. We can not let our fear of failure or rejection stop us. We must not remain silent because IN SPITE of us God will take care of the results.
One of the easiest way to tell someone about Christ is if they ask you about Him. But they won’t ask you if they don’t know you are a Christian. This may seem obvious but do the people you interact with everyday know you are a Christian? When is the last time you spoke to someone about your savior or brought up the teachings of the bible? Do they ever see you reading the bible or Christian based literature? When they are with you do you ever turn on a Christian based radio or TV program?
You are probably getting the idea. You must take the initiative and open the doors of communication. In a way you can imagine yourself as a walking talking billboard for Christ. Imagine a hut muggy summer afternoon when the ice cream truck comes rolling by playing Pop Goes the Weasel through its tinny speakers; everyone in the neighborhood has the desire to quench the heat with a cool ice cream bar. This is the same when you proclaim Christ. Those who are lost and searching to fill the void where Christ belongs will have the opportunity to hear the word and fill that empty space.
Of course you don’t always want to sit back on your heels and wait for others to approach you. Sometimes you have got to take the battle to them.
One of the best ways is by asking questions. If you died today, would you go to heaven? If they answer yes follow up with: How do you know you are going to heaven? This is a great opening to explain salvation. I have a friend that before he talks to a person about salvation, will often rehearse the conversation, practicing what he is going to say and having answers ready for any objections he thinks they may bring up.
Give them cassettes to listen to. Most people are not lucky enough to work at home, so they must fight the daily congestion of traffic to go to work. To help keep their mind off the agony of this chore give them a cassette tape on salvation to listen to .
Do you send cards to friends and relatives around the holidays and birthdays? If you do this is a great opportunity to enclose a tract or pen a few lines about salvation.
Give them a video on salvation. Next time their favorite show is a repeat they can pop the video in.
For Christmas and birthdays gifts you can include with the gift a tract or booklet on salvation, bible, bible dictionary, concordance, a calendar with bible versus, etc. It may get them thinking about Christ or open the door of communication for them to ask you about God.
A holiday phone call to relatives & friends is another opportunity to discuss salvation.
Send them an occasional letter or tract through the mail. Sign them up to receive a Christian magazine or newsletter. As with everything you send be sure it is not full of false teachings.
Invite them to attend church with you.
When you eat out at a restaurant leave a salvation tract with your tip. In fact you may want to keep a bible and a supply of tracts in your car. You never know when the opportunity to witness will show itself.
Take advantage of the Internet. Send them addresses of web pages that deal with the subject of salvation or occasionally send them a friendly e-mail about salvation.
Maybe the people will open their ears to Christ, maybe these items you give them will sit on a shelf collecting dust but maybe not. You just never know when the hardships of life and reality of pending death will cause a person to search for God. Perhaps the day they receive your card, cassette, tract, etc they are having a bad day, suffered a tragedy, or experiencing depression. When things are not going smoothly people tend to be more open to hearing the word of God. It is at times like this that people are looking to fill the void inside them where the Holy Spirit is missing. Even if everything is going well in their life they may still read it. You can never know but the grass won't grow if you don't water it.
There are many creative ways to introduce others to Christ. You will need to tailor your approach according to the unique personalities of your relatives and friends. One approach that works for one person may not work on another, so keep on trying. Remember if you don't tell them about salvation who will!
Your character and how you live your life (your walk) may have a profound effect on people around you and whether or not they will hear what you have to say about Christ. An article that will help you be more useful to the cause of Christ and effective in your ministry is Quick To by Quinn McAuley. |
