He said, “I already have a wonderful life, thank you.”
This was a response we received often when presenting the Gospel to our dorm mates in college using the evangelism tool when had been trained to use.
Something was Missing
Obviously our friends didn’t know the fullness of the wonderful life they were missing by not having Christ. And some of them surely didn’t have a very good life and were covering this up. How could we get through to them?
As we (our discipleship group of four) examined our Gospel presentation more carefully, we realized that a very important point was absent—the reality of hell. Sin was discussed but only as preventing good things in life. Honestly, most of our friends at this school were greatly privileged and didn’t really see it that way.
So, we figured out a place to insert this discussion with a couple Bible verses. Hopefully, this would open up some discussion.
Every week we would go out evangelizing in the dorms, so the following week we tried our new approach. As a result, the conversations got more serious, personal and lively. We were pleased.
Many of our friends hadn’t thought about the consequences of sin due to offending an infinitely holy and just God. Then, when we talked about the love and mercy of God in Christ there was more interest, overall. The Cross and Resurrection of Christ became a topic of curiosity.
I think we improved the evangelism tool. It over-emphasized the love of God and the benefits of being rightly related to Him. It under-played the justice and righteousness of God. But, no tool is perfect or complete in itself; it is just a tool to be used with creativity.
The best part was that many of our conversations with people no longer fell flat and just ended. Many wanted to continue talking about the Bible, their lives, religion, world issues and such. And a good number were interested enough to join in discussion groups or small group Bible studies on the person and work of Christ.
What Might You Improve?
What tools are you using? Are they as effective as you think they should be? You don’t have to throw them out and criticize them. Perhaps, you could make some improvements.
This was a response we received often when presenting the Gospel to our dorm mates in college using the evangelism tool when had been trained to use.
Something was Missing
Obviously our friends didn’t know the fullness of the wonderful life they were missing by not having Christ. And some of them surely didn’t have a very good life and were covering this up. How could we get through to them?
As we (our discipleship group of four) examined our Gospel presentation more carefully, we realized that a very important point was absent—the reality of hell. Sin was discussed but only as preventing good things in life. Honestly, most of our friends at this school were greatly privileged and didn’t really see it that way.
So, we figured out a place to insert this discussion with a couple Bible verses. Hopefully, this would open up some discussion.
Hebrews 9:27 ESV “. . . it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”A New Approach
Every week we would go out evangelizing in the dorms, so the following week we tried our new approach. As a result, the conversations got more serious, personal and lively. We were pleased.
Many of our friends hadn’t thought about the consequences of sin due to offending an infinitely holy and just God. Then, when we talked about the love and mercy of God in Christ there was more interest, overall. The Cross and Resurrection of Christ became a topic of curiosity.
I think we improved the evangelism tool. It over-emphasized the love of God and the benefits of being rightly related to Him. It under-played the justice and righteousness of God. But, no tool is perfect or complete in itself; it is just a tool to be used with creativity.
The best part was that many of our conversations with people no longer fell flat and just ended. Many wanted to continue talking about the Bible, their lives, religion, world issues and such. And a good number were interested enough to join in discussion groups or small group Bible studies on the person and work of Christ.
What Might You Improve?
What tools are you using? Are they as effective as you think they should be? You don’t have to throw them out and criticize them. Perhaps, you could make some improvements.
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