Choked up on witnessing jitters? Tongue tied when it comes to talking about your faith? Relax! Breakaway has some answers.
“I was wondering,” Brian swallowed hard, “have you ever — uh — asked Jesus into your heart?”
“What do you mean?” Jon wrinkled his brow. “Are you talking about surgery?”
“No. I mean, you know, have you ever accepted God’s free gift?”
“Does God do heart surgery for free?”
“No, no. What I’m trying to ask you is, have you ever been saved?”
Jon chuckled. “Saved from what? A clogged artery?”
Brian has good intentions. He knows Jon has the same problem we all do, the problem of sin that puts a humanly impassable chasm between us and God. And Brian wants to help Jon by pointing him to the only solution: Jesus Christ.
But Brian has a problem too. He gets uncomfortable when he tries to tell people about the Lord. He doesn’t quite know how to say it.
Perhaps you’ve felt nervous too when speaking to others about Jesus. Yet you’ve also heard Christ’s Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Reaching all nations for Christ sounds daunting. Reaching a kid at school sounds like snowboarding down Mount Everest. If you feel scared about sharing Jesus with others, you’re in good company. Lots of Christians get shaky hands when they simply think about telling others about Christ. But while fear is normal, we don’t have to stammer when we talk about Him.
GET READY
How can we deal with fear? First pray. God’s Word tells us we don’t have to worry about anything, even witnessing. Praying to God calms our anxieties. It results in peace of mind (Philippians 4:6-7).
We need to recognize, as well, that only God can save people. First Corinthians 12:3 tells us that “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” We don’t have the power to change another person’s thinking. Only God can get inside people to convince them they need Jesus. God alone saves.
You can also settle your nerves if you and a Christian friend talk to others about Jesus together. Even Christ understood that we need brotherly support when we minister. When He sent out His followers to experience firsthand ministry, He “sent them two by two” (Luke 10:1). You can almost imagine them breathing a sigh of relief since they didn’t have to go out alone.
We can diminish fear, too, by understanding that reaching people for Jesus takes time. Leading a person from a life without Christ to a faith settled wholly on Jesus is a process. Sometimes people need exposure to you and other believers, getting to know you as real people, before they’re ready for you to explain the gospel. Other times, they want to hear God’s message right away. Ask the Lord to help you discern when you should communicate the gospel.
Whether a person opens up right away or over several months, we still need to intentionally share our faith. The best way to be intentional is to look for a bridge or transition to spiritual matters. Ask a guy at school if he saw The Passion of the Christ and what he thought of it, or invite him to a youth group skating party. Look for topics to lead the conversation to spiritual things. Then be ready to share your faith.
GOSPEL TIME
If you made the bridge in conversation to a spiritual topic, would you know how to explain the gospel? Brian used language a lot of Christians use, but words like his often confuse nonbelievers. To understand the gospel, we need to turn to God’s Word. (Caution: When communicating the gospel, it may be difficult to explain it as smoothly as it’s written here, but the important thing is knowing the elements of the gospel and working them into your explanation.)
Quite simply, the word gospel means good news in the Bible. Good news about what? Jesus Christ. People will listen to this good news when they first understand the rotten news about their lives. So when you talk about the gospel, start by helping them see what’s wrong with every human — including yourself.
Sin. We all have a problem: We’ve done bad things in our lives, and God calls those bad things “sin.” Have the person read Romans 3:23 — “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our human position with God is like trying to run a mile in 17 seconds. No matter how hard you try, you fall short! We can’t measure up to God’s glory — His perfection.
Death. Unfortunately, our problem gets worse. Our sin results in death. Show your friend Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What happens when you punch the time clock after a six-hour shift at McDonald’s? You mark the time you put in. You expect on Friday that Ronald will pay you your rightful wage. That’s what happens to us with God. Our sin earns us wages. But instead of a paycheck for cash, our paycheck is death. Looking pretty grim, huh?
But now you can bring in the good news.
Christ died. Although we’ve earned death, someone else has died in our place so we can have life. God came to Earth as a man in the person of Jesus Christ. As a perfect man, His death satisfied God’s wrath over our sin. Why does our sin upset God? Because He’s holy. Go to Romans 5:8 — “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Christ rose. But Jesus’ death was different from any other death. Instead of ending in decay, Christ rose from the dead and overcame death. Not your normal guy. That’s because He’s God. First Corinthians 15:20-22 shows that only through Christ’s resurrection from the dead can we have new life.
But everyone doesn’t automatically receive that new life. New life comes only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). OK, then. What must we do to have new life?
Believe. We’ve already noticed that we fall short of God’s perfection. We can’t do anything to earn our way to heaven. The only thing we can do is believe. Take your friend to Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” John 1:12 says the same thing: that those who believe in Jesus are given the right to become children of God.
At this point, you’ve shared the gospel. You’ve shown the problem of sin and the death that it earns. You’ve explained that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Your friend knows he only needs to believe. Ask him if he wants to do that by praying with you.
A prayer doesn’t save anybody. But if he’s ready to place his faith in Christ, you can lead him in a prayer that expresses his faith to God. Take him right through the gospel, but personalize it this time. It might go something like this:
“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know I deserve death. But I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins and that He rose from the dead. I am trusting Christ and nobody else to snatch me out of the death I deserve. Amen.”
SO, WHAT’S NEXT?
If your friend trusts Christ, you have two more things to do. First, reconfirm to him that he has new life that lasts forever. Show him Jesus’ words in John 5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
Walk the new believer step-by-step through this verse. Didn’t he just hear Christ’s word? Didn’t he believe God, who sent Jesus? If so, Christ says he has eternal life. Will he be condemned? No way! In fact, he “has crossed over from death to life.” Although he was heading toward death, he is now heading toward life. By saying he “has crossed” shows us that it’s as if it has already happened.
There’s one more thing. When your friend trusts Christ, he will need help learning how to live his new life. Help him get plugged in to a group of believers. Introduce him to a Christian leader who can disciple him and teach him the ropes. And consider meeting with him once a week to study the Bible together — investing in his life after salvation matters just as much as leading him to salvation.
Brian stumbled over his words because he didn’t have a firm grasp of the gospel from Scripture. If you learn God’s Word well, you will be more prepared to reach others for Christ. Remember to rely on God — because only He saves — but don’t walk into school today without having a firm grasp on the gospel.
