The Best Approach To Evangelism
The best way to engage in a meaningful evangelism is to remember the SSG plan.
Secular –>Spiritual –>Gospel
Secular
First talk about earthly things. Yeah, you have to plow and pursue. Everyone wants to talk about work, family, and background. Ask as many questions as you can here. Please make sure that you speak about your secular as much as possible also. The reasons you start with secular is because:
1. It establishes interest in the person and gives you the opportunity to listen.
2. It also builds rapport between you and the person and it sends the message that you care.
How To Move From Secular To Spiritual Topics?
Moving A Conversation Into Spiritual Things
1. There is no one way to do it.
2. Experience is essential. The more you practice, the more it becomes easier.
3. Prayer makes the difference.
4. Plow and pursue: ask questions about work, family, and background.
5. As you ask to see where you can enter into spiritual things with.
There are 2 main ways: the direct and indirect approach to starting the spiritual conversation.
Direct Approach
1. “If you’d ever like to know the difference between religion and Christianity, let me know. I’d be happy to talk to you about it.”
2. How’s it going today? “Ahh, come on, you can tell me. How’s it going?”
3. “I’m curious, do you ever think about spiritual matters?”
4. “Who, in your opinion, was Jesus Christ?”
5. “What’s your religious background? Were you taught a particular religious perspective as you grew up?”
6. “Do you ever wonder what happens to us when we die?”
7. “What do you think a real Christian is?”
8. “Where are, you heading in your spiritual journey?”
9. Why do you think problems in the world seem to get worse?
10. What is the one thing most people are looking for?
11. Why do you say most people are unhappy then?
Indirect Approach
- Business
Those in the marketplace commonly ask each other, “How’s your year going?” But rather than give a standard reply, why not answer with something like this: “Well, financially, okay; family-wise, pretty well; and spiritually, things are great. Which one do you want to talk about?”
- Relocation
Ask if they have found good places to dine, shop and go to church.
- Hobbies And Spare Time?
Come up with what you do at church as part of your hobby? With a little creativity, any ministry role can be described in compelling terms that will create curiosity. And it’s a short step to move from talking about your church involvement to the love of God that drives it.
For example, if you are a preacher and someone asks you: “any plans for the weekend?”. You can respond with something like: “I have to be able to get people’s attention once again for 60 minutes with things for them to think about concerning their marriage, career, spiritual journey and their life in general.
I can’t wait for that.” When you describe it in such an interesting matter, they will ask next, what do you do and that’s the cue to talk about your service to God and ask about their spiritual journey as well.
- Nature
Exclaim the wonder of God’s creation that you are admiring.
- Sports And Music
If you know favorite believer athletes or musicians bring it up.
- Shared Struggles
When you find, you have areas of difficulty in common with someone, it’s the most natural thing in the world to tell that person how you’ve been helped by wisdom from the Bible, caring Christian friends, or divine intervention. Example, “My wife and I have had similar frustrations in our communication patterns.
Can I tell you about some biblical principles I’ve learned that have had an impact on our marriage?” Or, “I know what you mean about feeling like giving up on your adolescent, but I’d like to show you a book by a Christian counselor whose advice helped my husband and me get through that era with our kids.”
- Holidays
“So, what about the baby in the manger do you buy into the idea that He was God’s Son?” Or, “It’s pretty clear Jesus was no ordinary baby. Why do you think God would go to all the effort of sending His Son to earth?” At Easter, you might ask, “Do you think the Easter celebration is based on fact or fiction?”
Or, if you know the person is skeptical about the resurrection, you could ask, “So what do you think happened to Jesus’ body it clearly wasn’t in the tomb by Sunday morning?”
- Invitational Method
If they say no to an invitation to a church outreach event, use it as an opportunity to start a spiritual topic. “That’s fine, Bob, I know you’ve got a lot going on right now. There’ll be another chance to do something like this together. But you know, I am curious about your religious background. Were you raised with any particular religious point of view?”
20 Questions To Help Transition From Secular Into Spiritual
1. People invest time and energy into developing their career, their bodies, and relationships, but often neglect the spiritual dimension of their lives. How do you actively pursue spiritual growth?
2. Do you think much about spiritual things? (This usually leads to conversation about what “spiritual” means–i.e. religion vs. relationship.)
3. How has this experience affected the way you look at God?
4. We’ve never had a chance to talk about your religious background. Where would you say, you are in your spiritual pilgrimage?
5. I’d like to tell you how I established a personal relationship with God.
6. What is your concept of God? Do you view Him positively or negatively?
7. Have you ever come to a point in your life where you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, or do you think that is something you’re still moving toward? May I share with you how I came to that point?
8. Do you find that faith and spiritual values play a role in your (work) (day) (marriage) (perspective on life)?
9. If you could be sure there is a God, would you want to know Him? Or if you could know God personally, would you want to?
10. Bring a friend to your church or a Christian event, then ask:
- What did you think of it?
- Did it make sense to you?
- Have you made the wonderful discovery of knowing God personally?
- You’d like to, wouldn’t you?
11. Do you go to church? Why or why not?
12. I’d hate for you to come to my church and not understand what it’s all about. Would you want to get together and discuss our core beliefs?
13. We’ve been friends for quite some time now, and I’ve never really talked to you about the most important thing in my life. May I take a few moments and do so?
14. Is church something that has had an influence in your life? Are you at a point now that you want the church to be a bigger part of your life? What prompted this? Would you want to hear our fundamental beliefs, so you’ll know if that fits in with what you’re looking for?
15. How do you think someone becomes a Christian?
16. Can I share the thing I’ve found most valuable to me as a (dad), (mom), (boss)?
17. What do you think about when you go to sleep at night?
18. Most people in America say they believe in God. What does believing in God mean to you?
19. Before I came to know Christ personally, God was a vague concept that I could not relate to or grasp. How would you describe your view of God? Jesus? Is He a reality to you or more of a vague concept?
20. If you were to die tonight are you sure you’d go to heaven? Has anyone ever explained how you could know for sure?