Sitting in the restaurant waiting for my cousin Dennis to arrive, I couldn't help but feel nervous. I'd planned this visit with him for months. From what my aunt had told me, Dennis' life was spiraling downward. Speaking at a conference a few hours away, I'd carved out the evening to reconnect with my cousin and hopefully see him connect with Jesus
This was my chance. I'd prayed and thought about what I would say. Now was my chance to share the gospel. So, why the nerves?
If you can relate to my experience of wanting to be a witness for Jesus, yet struggling to make it happen, you are not alone. While we're not all called to be "evangelists," Jesus did say that all of his followers would be witnesses of His rescuing power.
I've made more mistakes while trying to witness than I'd like to admit. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can reach out without freaking out! God wants you to use you so that other would see who He is. So, where do you begin? Here are seven practical steps to sharing your faith with confidence:
Where do I start? Pray. There's a real battle going on. God wants to rescue your friends and family members. Satan wants to keep them in the dark. You're in the middle of a battle for their souls.
Pray. Don't try to witness in your own strength. Here's an encouragement: You're not powerful, smart or savvy enough to convince any other student that Jesus is the only way to God. (Note: Neither am I.)
Pray. God wants your friend to be rescued more than you do. So, call on Him. Now. Often. Always.
Start praying for your not-yet-Christian friends, by name, asking God to open the door for them to receive His offer of salvation. Not the creative type? Don't worry — the Bible tells us exactly what to pray for:
• More workers (Matthew 9:36)
• More opportunities (Colossians 4:3-5)
• More boldness (Acts 4:29)
That's what we need! Consider Jesus' promise to you: "Ask and it will be given to you . . . For everyone who asks receives" (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV). As James 5:16 reminds us, "The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective." Call on God. He's listening
But what if my friend doesn't listen to me? Or worse, what if they don't want to hang with me once they find out I'm a Christian? Good questions. Admittedly, there's a risk, a cost, in following Jesus. Look at what Jesus told His first followers, "No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also" (John 15:20). Most of the people that Jesus spoke to rejected Him. Only a few followed. No matter what happens to us, it happened to Jesus first.
You and I are not called to win a popularity contest. We're called to fulfill God's purposes in the earth. And to do that, you've been given precious promises:
• Jesus is with you every time you share His name (Matthew 28:18-20).
• You have the Holy Spirit's power to be a witness (Acts 1:8).
• God's Word always accomplishes God's objectives (Isaiah 55:11).
• So, count the cost. Choose to be used by God, no matter how difficult the results.
Have you ever taken a test without studying? I can remember my heart pounding as I walked in the classroom, totally unprepared for a test, wondering if I would know the answers.
The same can be said about your witness to students. First Peter 3:15 reminds us to "always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have." It's our job to be ready. It's God's job to give us the power when we need it!
The guaranteed way to a fear-filled witness is to do nothing. Want to break those fears? Learn what you believe.
Read. Ask other Christians to help you. Ask your not-yet-Christian friends what questions or objections they have to following Jesus. Then do some research and get back to them.
I highly recommend starting with the book Stand: Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakable Faith, written by my good friend Alex McFarland. It covers the six most important Christian truths and how to explain them to spiritual seekers.
Hey, I'm always nervous when I share my faith. It's never easy. But you don't have to let fear keep you from taking the first step.
I'm having trouble getting a spiritual conversation started. How do you bring it up? Your friends will listen to you when they know that you really care. First, we need to connect on a social level. What do you like to do? What are you good at? If it's skating or BMX, you have instant credibility with other students who like to do the same thing. Our job: To connect with our friends, to build sincere friendships and establish a level of trust.
What if they find out I'm not a perfect Christian? THERE ARE NO PERFECT CHRISTIANS. What you want your friends to see is the "authentic you." As a follower of Jesus, you have ups and down, victories and failures. Following Jesus doesn't mean that everything is perfect in your life — it simply means that you're following the Perfect One who promises to forgive you and be with you through life's storms.
Next, our goal is to help connect them with the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's like the "connect the dot" drawings I used to do as a kid. You probably did it, too. Remember, you'd have the bunch of dots with numbers under them and you'd take your pen and draw a line from one to two. Then from dot two to three. Finally, when you connected lines between all of the dots, you could see the picture clearly.
What's your classmate's spiritual IQ? What do they know about God, the Bible, or Jesus? Find out where they are and make that "dot number one." Don't assume that they believe that the Bible is the Word of God or that God created the heavens and the earth.
The best way to find out their spiritual IQ is to ask them — open-ended questions like "Who do you think Jesus is?" or "What are your spiritual beliefs?" are a non-threatening way to start a spiritual conversation. Ask them what they believe and chances are they will do the same. Now you have an open door!
The goal is for your schoolmate to understand who Jesus is, what He did to rescue them, and what He offers to those who trust in Him. Learn to "connect the dots."
Evangelism is a team sport! Don't buy into the lie that you're "the only person" who will share with the person you're praying for. More than likely, there are other people who love Jesus and want to reach him or her as well. I'll never forget teaching an evangelism training class and talking about how I have been praying for my friend Paul. After the session, a lady came up to me and said, "You wouldn't happen to be praying for Paul [last name], would you?"
I said, "Yes!" She continued, "I work with Paul and had no idea that someone else was reaching out to him."
You may have the gift of evangelism and sharing your faith comes easily. If so, great! Go for it! If not, begin to look for open doors to partner with other Christians and "tag team" it. You may want to invite the person you're praying to a meeting with other Christians, whether that's a weekend service or a small group. Take them to a Christian concert or get them hooked on your favorite Christian band.
Watch a movie, like Lord of the Rings, and talk about the spiritual symbolism. The options are endless! If you don't feel comfortable talking yet, look for another Christian to do the talking. Next time, ask God for the boldness to share His message yourself. Don't go it alone. Combine your gifts.
But what if they ask me what I believe? What do I say? The Good News is so rich and profound that we'll never fully comprehend it. Yet, it's so simple that a seven-year-old could communicate it. Allow me to summarize with two cornerstone verses:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
Jesus died and rose again to save sinners. That's our message!
Greg Stier, of Dare2Share Ministries, wrote a helpful guide to explain the whole story of the gospel message using the acronym G.O.S.P.E.L:
God created us to be with him (Genesis 1-2)
Our sin separated us from God (Genesis 3)
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Genesis 4–Malachi 4)
Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matthew-Luke)
Everyone who trust in him alone has eternal life (John-Jude)
Life that's eternal means we will be with Jesus forever in heaven (Revelation).
(You can get more information on how to engage in a spiritual conversation using G.O.S.P.E.L. at www.dare2share.org/gospeljourney.)
Now, here are some practical tips to help you share your faith with confidence:
• Start in Genesis. God made it all. Until they know that God made them to know Him, what Jesus did may not make sense.
• Share what God is doing in your life. Keep your testimony current. Focus on how God rescued you and what He's doing in your life right now. They may not believe the Bible yet, but God's work in your life is undeniable — God's Word in and through you.
• The Good News leads to a decision. It's not enough to know about Jesus Christ. We are called to surrender and follow Him personally. Don't shy away from asking other students if they are ready to receive God's gift of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit does the convincing, but we do the asking!
Don't give up! Your friends may not be ready to respond at the exact moment you attempt to share with them, but you never know how open they may be next week, next month, next year. I spent hours with Dennis that evening, answering questions and sharing my story. As we walked to the car, I thought he might be ready to receive Jesus right in the parking lot.
God gave me the boldness to ask: "Dennis, are you ready to receive Jesus right now?"
"Not yet, Jose," he replied. "But let's keep talking about it."
Over the past two years, Dennis and I have continued our spiritual conversations. From what I can tell, he gets closer and closer to Jesus every time.
God knows the day and the hour when Dennis will cross over the line of salvation. That's not my job! Yet it's my responsibility — my privilege — to keep the conversation going.
Your friendships shouldn't end when your friends reject the Message. Hold on. Keep praying. Try again. Remember, God wants to reach your friends and family more than you do.
Jose Zayas is an international evangelist, author and popular conference speaker. He serves as the teen evangelism director for Focus on the Family and is the founder of Jose Zayas Evangelism International. For more information, log on to www.family.org or www.josezayas.org.