Where to Share?
Events & locations: Paul used synagogues, marketplaces, the streets, the temple, prisons, courtrooms, even riots as opportunities to preach the gospel. Why break our necks & spend a fortune trying to create our own crowds - use the crowds the world brings together for us. Anywhere you see a group of people makes for a good place to preach the gospel or hand out tracts. It is perfectly legal to do so in any public place in this country. When in doubt, do it anyway. Someone will request that you stop before they throw you in jail. J
Make your own opportunities: Knock on doors in your neighborhood. Invite people for something fun - friends and neighbors over for a Saturday BBQ. Get a group together to go sing hymns at nursing homes (works all year - not just at Christmas). Rent a booth at the local fair. Be creative - God is!
*** Warning: inviting people to events at your church building is akin to inviting criminals to the police station. You can chrome plate the bars, carpet the cells, have an international police speaker and a great police band, but you’re still not going to get many criminals to come to the police station. The church is where the saints gather together. The world is where we go out into with the gospel. They’ll come when they’re converted, but probably not before (not if we’re preaching things like sin, righteousness and judgment).
I’ll use this opportunity to pitch door-to-door visitation. It is the most thorough way possible for us to fulfill the Great Commission:
By going house to house, we can honestly say we have preached the gospel to every creature.
If no one’s home, make note and keep returning until someone is.
You meet people you might never otherwise at stores, at work, on the street, etc.
People connect better when you associate with their community.
People are more at ease at the door of their own home than in many other places you might approach them with the gospel.
Leaving something for them to read allows even more opportunity for the Holy Spirit to continue working after you’ve left.
At the door, you only deal with one person at a time (usually).
Follow-up is possible in ways not possible with other public witnessing (you know where they live).
Everyday life: There are lots of places to meet people that are perfect for telling people the gospel - at work, in line at the grocery store, standing around pumping gas, eating dinner at a restaurant - everywhere you are! We are ambassadors for Christ - that’s our calling as saints.
Tracts aren’t just for bringing to doors and distributing on the street. Give them and leave them everywhere you go. Each tract is a mini gospel preacher that can go places we never could, and continue to speak to people long after we’ve gone home at night. I love to use tracts, but lets not think that’s all we’re called to do. The gospel coming from our mouth is a powerful tool, which is then enhanced by tracts.
Now seems a good time to address ‘Friendship Evangelism.’ I whole-heartedly endorse it, so long as you really mean using friendships as opportunity for evangelism.
More often, though, people say ‘Friendship Evangelism’ when they mean ‘Lifestyle Evangelism,’ which is an excuse for people to live as a good testimony without opening their mouths with the gospel. “Faith comes by hearing.”
Or they say ‘Friendship Evangelism’ which in practice is ‘Friendship-Today-Evangelism-Someday.’ We make friends with them now, then at some point when we’ve built up a good relationship with the person, we’ll tell them the gospel. The problem is that ‘someday’ never comes, because the longer we’re silent, the harder it becomes to open our mouths with the gospel. “What fellowship does light have with darkness?”
‘Friendship Evangelism’ is telling someone the gospel right up front, and then being friendly with them and showing them the testimony of our lives, which backs up our claim of knowing Christ as our Savior.
Summary: Where to share? Where not?
Do we regard every contact we make as an opportunity to save someone from eternal damnation? “making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:16)
Evangelism is not a job or a program - it is who you are. It’s a by-product of your faith and your focus in life. “the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Matt 12:34)
