After you talk a person into getting saved, turn around and try talking him or her out of it.
A friend of mine uses this approach. And believe it or not he is actually a very successful evangelist. Early on in my evangelistic training, I learned from him when to use this approach, and it has been extremely helpful throughout the years.
Have you ever wondered why so many seemingly authentic conversions don’t hold?
Be Realistic And Honest With People
My friend tries to talk people out of following Jesus Christ by telling them of the heavy costs involved. People need to know the most likely costs of discipleship they will face upfront in their context. They need to know what kind of a commitment they are making.
Help people think through what their own personal costs might be--how their family will react, the likely response of their friends, and other costs. Help them think through how they will respond if they become a Christian.
In reality, this approach is simply being honest and considerate of others, giving people room for consideration. My friend won’t just leave people and the conversation there of course, but at the right moment (whether in minutes, or even days later) he will call for commitment.
Jesus Himself Did It Often
Our Lord Jesus used a counterintuitive approach quite often in His evangelistic conversations. My early mentor based his approach on passages like this one in Luke’s Gospel. In fact, he shows it to people who say they are ready to believe.
Luke 14:28–33 ESV “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
Be Led By The Holy Spirit
A well-considered decision for Jesus is much better than a quick decision for Jesus. Decisions can be made in a reasonably short period of time certainly, provided that people have enough reliable information and seriously consider it first.
Are we encouraging consideration? Or, are we impatiently seeking to bag a decision for Jesus? Are we following the Spirit’s lead in calling for commitment? Or, are we pressing on people too hastily?
If someone really wants to be saved, you won’t be able to talk him or her out of it. An honest discussion about costs of discipleship usually clarifies where people really are in regard to conversion. Some people will consider Jesus worth it, and others will not. This is good for everyone . . . really. And we will end up with a higher percentage of true believers.
So often in our worship gatherings we do not “lead off” with the Word of God. Why not? Until the Word is spoken we can’t offer the worship our hearts, minds and souls want to offer. We do not yet sense that we are His. And meaning is not yet present. Our worship and our gatherings suffer because of this all too common weak confidence in the Scripture.
A Foil To A Praise Psalm
Recently, I preached Psalm 33. One of the sections of this Psalm is about the effective power of God’s word and how considering this elicits our praise.
Psalm 33:4–9 ESV “For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
At another venue a few weeks after that I was at a worship event where the Word of God was largely absent. It was an interesting contrast. The leaders were sincere, but were simply telling us things about God that we knew were in the Bible. The music was beautiful and true, but again composed of merely human wording. Much, much later in the meeting the Word of God was introduced and we felt Christian finally; at least I did.
Our words are just words, but God’s Word is effective. We can’t deeply encourage one another without the Word of God. We end up simply making stuff up to say that seems like it ought to be encouraging, and reading the Bible along with our story as a supporting sidebar. And no matter how wonderful the songs are that we are singing, we can’t leave it to the songs to convey snippets of Scripture as if that were enough.
Basic Instructions On Reading Scripture
Scripture should not merely be read in snippets and sidebars as it seems useful; rather we should declare it and read it publicly as instructed in 1 Timothy 4:13 “. . . devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture . . . .”
Don’t hurry. Pause for one or two seconds before you begin reading. And then pause for a second of two after you finish before you leave the front or sit down. Announce the text you will be reading by reference only. There is no need to supply personal commentary. Simply read the Bible.
Read well. Practice reading aloud beforehand, if you have the time. Know the text--its divisions, emphases, pronunciation, cadence, et cetera. Read a little louder than your normal voice, but not in a weird “holy” voice. Keep a good pace. Be lively and passionate about God’s Word; and honor and enjoy the text in front of everyone.
Our Words Are Not As Good As God’s Words
The Word of God brings focus, power, authority, truth, clarity, renewal and transformation. This is because God is speaking, not us. He is the One who can bring such blessings into our worship, our meetings and our lives.
If we lead off with the Word of God, at least somewhere near the beginning, before we move too far into our meeting, then we will find Psalm 33:1 much easier to accomplish: “Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.”
What do you do when the person you with whom you are sharing the Gospel is ready to trust in Christ Jesus?
Don’t Pray The Sinner’s Prayer
I rarely have a person repeat after me in a prayer for salvation. This is mainly because no such prayer form or example to follow exists in the Bible. And besides, the last thing I would want a new believer to think is that salvation comes from a prayer, or that prayer functions mechanically.
Also, it is okay, perhaps even better, not to get to the “sinner’s prayer” part too quickly. Let him think more, and think more deeply about the Gospel and its implications. Let the joy build within him as you keep talking.
Let Him Talk To God Honestly About Himself
Why would I want to cut short the expression of his heart’s deepest and most earnest desires for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!? How much of his soul’s outpouring of repentance over his sins and thrill of thankfulness would I gloss over!?
The grace of God has been stirring up his mind and filling his heart with so much to say. Let him say it! Let him love and worship his new God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
This will turn out to be a unique and much better “sinner’s prayer.” And believe me, you will be blessed to be there with your new brother in Christ as he prays his first true prayer.
Let Him Develop His Own Relationship With God
At this time of his spiritual birth, it is much better to just be with him, praying silently along with him, available to help him as he asks for your help.
Sometimes, I may start a person off, or help him end his prayer. But it is so much more helpful to guide the person gently into expressing himself in his own way to our Father God after our Gospel discussion.
And this fits well with the very next lesson to teach the new believer: how to pray and to read the Scriptures, to develop a growing personal relationship God.
Keeping an Evangelistic Prayer List is a great way to keep yourself praying and keep yourself evangelizing. Simply put together a list of the top ten individuals you strongly desire to see come to Christ and pray for each of them a few times each week.
Keep It A Dynamic List
These should be individuals with whom you have regular contact and can easily engage in conversation. Usually, these should be people you truly care about; but sometimes God may give you an unusual burden for some particular individual.
As you learn about their lives and get into spiritual conversations with them, you want to be praying for these people with intentionality. Jot down a few notes, keep the list handy on your phone or in your Bible, and pray away!
Your EPL should be a dynamic list where people move up and down the list, even on and off the list, as you observe the work of God upon their lives and in their minds and hearts. Are they asking more or fewer questions? Do they seem softer or harder toward the Gospel? Are they thinking deeply or have they pushed the message aside? How are their relationships going? How is their life going? Review the list weekly and keep it accurate in reflecting your top ten.
Keep It A Hot List
We all have those relatives and close friends whom we love dearly and want to see come to faith in Christ, and so we pray for them and their salvation often. But, don’t put them on your EPL, unless you observe strong and serious movement toward true faith in Christ.
Maybe it would be best to keep all relatives on a separate list, otherwise this list will be filled up quickly with people who are not interested in Christ at the moment. And this list needs to be a hot list, something kept current and a list that is exciting to pray through.
And just because you will be moving people up and down and on and off the list doesn’t mean you will be friending and un-friending people constantly. It simply keeps you focused where God is clearly working and praying and talking with these people more clearly about the Gospel.
Watch God Make His Moves
What you will find is that God is mightily at work in people all around you. By praying you will see this. You will become more sensitive to the Spirit’s working in their lives. You will see God answer your prayers and change people.
You will even see people become hostile because they know you are praying for them, and they are encountering God because of this. They are wrestling with the claims of Christ, and are scared. And many other amazing things!
You will naturally speak into their lives the truth and love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, you will find yourself becoming a natural evangelist when you thought you could never do it! And quite likely, God will start bringing people into His Kingdom through you, His “faithful coworker in the Gospel of Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 3:2)
