Both sides can have a bad rep but in today’s ‘Encouragement Efforts‘ post, we’ll look instead at the relationship between the two title topics, via a bit of history in Lee Strobel‘s life. In addition to writing “Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry & Mary”, a book focused on helping Christians reach (evangelize) friends and family who avoid God and the Church (and also a member of our EFS Leader’s Board) , he also taught “a course on First Amendment law to journalism students at a university in Chicago.”
Having been a journalist himself, Lee realized that his students could be fuzzy about what they could or couldn’t legally report on, and if that occured, they could avoid pursuing legitimate stories for fear of running afoul of libel laws. He writes about a similar issue that can haunt Christians in their evangelism efforts.
“When a Christian is uninformed about how much evidence supports Christianity, he often backs off from opportunities to share his faith. He squelches his evangelistic activities because he’s afraid of being asked a tough question he can’t answer.”
In a brief follow-up to that quote in “Inside the Mind…”, he gives us a direct and doable goal to pursue that can help us in our efforts to share our faith. “When we equip ourselves with the facts, we become bolder and more willing to try to rescue spiritually imperiled people.”
Have all the facts about God and people and never miss a beat when it comes to sharing your faith? I’ll assume that’s a ‘No’ if you’re still reading this so how do we get better equipped to communicate the gospel message to those in need? Here’s some suggestions…
- Get On Your Knees – Asking God for help, through prayer, is probably the most important thing you can do. Just be prepared for an answer that might not be what you expected. For instance, He might direct you to someone you know but had never thought of to ask for assistance.
- Review Your Story – Take some time to sit down and write out how you came to know Christ. Include how God impacted your life and drew you toward belief in Him. Then focus on what was done and said when you became a believer, with the goal being able to explain it in such a way that a person you shared it with would know how to become a Christian.
- Share the Tale – Let someone you trust (a pastor, friend, family member) hear what you’ve written and ask them to point out anything that might not clearly communicate what becoming a Christian looks like. And if you trust me, I’d love to hear from you…here’s how you can contact me.
- Seek Out Help – The topic of sharing your faith can be tremendously helpful and there is tons of info out there. Because the ‘message’ can be contradictory, here’s a few organizations I trust that could be valuable resources.
What’s Next? Did this article solve every evangelism related issue in your life? Probably NOT, but there’s a lot more to learn from this site, like these suggestions…
