Evangelism Coach

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In doing research for this series on gospel scripts, I found another outline called FAITH.  It seems pretty good and could be a simple tool to share your faith.

Scripts are not automatic

The purpose of a script is to provide you an outline to share your faith when the Lord provides the opportunity.  You have the flexibility to adjust it to your conversational context.  As the conversation moves along, you can add details and back off on other points.    The give and take of a conversation.Scripts are not meant to be followed in a legalistic format.  There is no cause and effect as in “get the script right and they will believe, get the script wrong and you messed up their eternity.”  God is charge of the whole evangelism process.The point of a script is to be very familiar with ONE so that you can confidently explain your faith when God provides the opportunity.  It’s got a few choice scriptures, and you can likely pick some of your other favorites that make the same point.

FAITH Script to explain the Gospel

In your personal opinion, what do you think it takes for a person to get to heaven and have eternal life?

Allow room for discussion on this question to help you discern what God is doing in the life of the other person.

F Is for Forgiveness

Everyone has sinned and needs God’s forgiveness.

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

God’s forgiveness is provided by the work of Christ. 

Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

A Is for Available

God’s forgiveness is available for all.

John 3:16 “God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

God’s forgiveness is available but not automatic.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I Is for Impossible

According to the Bible, it is impossible to get to heaven on our own.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”

So how can a sinful person have eternal life and enter heaven?

T Is for Turn

If you were going down the road and someone asked you to turn, what would he or she be asking you to do? (Change direction)

Turn means repent. Turn away from sin and self.

Luke 13:3 “Unless you repent, you will all perish as well!”

Turn to Jesus alone as your Savior and Lord.

John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

H Is for Heaven

Heaven is a place where we will live with God forever.

John 14:3 “If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.”

Eternal life begins now with Jesus.

John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”

H can also stand for how.

How can a person have God’s forgiveness, eternal life, and heaven?

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

By trusting Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

 

 

The “Do vs Done” Gospel Evangelism Script is one of those scripts that is very well known and has a long history.  It is very simple to think through, and gets at one focus of the gospel message. 

However, it’s so common that actually finding the evangelism script on the Internet was difficult.  I guess “everyone” knows it. 

I tried several keywords to locate it, but it never rose to the surface.  Many entries make reference to this gospel script, yet there is no real explanation of how to use it. 

Do vs. Done

I actually had to turn to print.  I found this in Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittleberg.  

Religion is spelled D-O, and is all about trying to DO enough to please God.

The trouble is we don’t know if we ever do enough, and the Bible tells us we never can do enough (Romans 3.23).

But Christianity is spelt D-O-N-E.

Jesus has done what we could never do. He lived the perfect life and died on the cross to pay for all the wrong stuff
we have done.

But it’s not enough just to know this; we have to receive what he has done; we have to ask Jesus to forgive us and to be the leader of our lives.

Then you could ask them what they think, whether they understand the difference, and if they see the need for Jesus.

Of course, the six sentences above are basic. It focuses on one aspect of the atonement.

The point is not to memorize it, but to become so comfortable with it that you can fill in the gaps, linger on conversational points, use scripture to fill out parts that are meaningful in the conversation that you are having. 

The above is an outline to help you remember where you are in the conversational flow.

By the way, this script works in Spanish as well, Hace vs. Hecho.

Let me ask you this?

Have you used this script?  What kinds of questions do people bring up in response to it?  Tell us your stories in the comments.

James Choung has written a few books on explaining the Christian Faith. On of the issues that he tackles is updating or improving the Bridge Illustration.  The whole article is here at The Big Story | Tell It Slant .

“Choung’s ‘napkin theology’ and its ‘four-worlds’ diagram promise to be for evangelism in the twenty-first century what the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ were for the twentieth century.”
— Leonard Sweet, author of The Church of the Perfect Storm, podcaster of the weekly “Napkin Scribbles” podcast

Check out these videos to see the telling of the story.  There are two here.

It comes with it’s own training document and a complete write-up of this diagram.

Here is what I like about the illustration:

• It’s much less individual in it’s focus. 
• It adds in that we follow Christ to join in God’s redemptive story.
• It talks about worldviews
• It’s simple and can be reproduced on a napkin.
• It incorporates some of the social aspects of the gospel.

After sharing this video on his blog, Choung received lots of feedback and suggestions and created version 2, which continues from the prior video

Let me ask you this?

What do you think of Choung’s improvement?  What do you make of how he explains sin, righteousness, eternity, kingdom?  Join the conversation below and comment.

Michael Green reminds us about the either/or nature of the gospel, using biblical descriptions that paint a contrast

We are either

• members of the kingdom, or outside its gates.
• reconciled to God, or rebels
• Lost or Found
• Invited to the wedding feast or left in outer darkness
• Building lives upon the rock or shifting sand.
• For Him or Against Him
• Sheep or Goats
• In the barn, or on the bonfire.
• on the Narrow way, or on the broad way.

That list of images shows that there is little middle ground, if any.  In considering our relationship to the Kingdom of God, we are either in it, or out of it.  As Christians, we can’t be both.  People who are not yet Christ followers are not both.

The list of metaphors is clear.  Perhaps we need to be reminded of people’s need for Christ to transfer them, as Paul writes in Colossians, from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the beloved son.  Perhaps we need to remember what we Christians have been saved from.

People without Christ are

• Without hope in the world (Ephesians 2.12)
• Without God.
• Ignorant of God’s righteousness (Romans 10.3)
• Blinded to truth.

Let me ask you this?

When was the last time you thanked God for your salvation?  When was the last time you pondered what you once were or could have been if it wasn’t for God’s grace that saves you?

Our definition of evangelism (from the PCUSA) has both:

• A message to share (”joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God)
• A destination (”calling people to . . . . . “)

The good news is the gospel.  This is what gospel means in its most basic form: “good news.”

However, we have developed a rich theological heritage around that word that gives it a more fuller meaning.  As such, we should ask “What is the gospel?”

What is the Gospel?

The PC USA definition of evangelism elaborates one aspect: “the good news of the sovereign love of God.”  It doesn’t contain a mention of sin (though indirectly in the call to action part in “to repentance”).

This week, I’m reading Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us, Scott McKnight.  It is subtitled “A Gospel for all of us.”  Scott is a prolific writer at www.JesusCreed.org and has a large following on his blog.  I had him as a exegesis professor during my studies at Seminary in the 1990s.  I’ve commented on him before (see category Scott McKnight).

In his introduction he writes that to get a conversation started among his students, he’ll ask the question “What is the gospel?”

He typically receives answers that fall into three categories:

• Jesus came to earth to die for my sins so I can be forgiven and go to heaven to be with God for eternity.
• Jesus came to liberate us from oppression, systemic evil, slavery, so there would be justice and peace.
• Being part of the church.

How does Scott’s answer the question?  It takes him the book to develop this:

“The work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others, in the context of a community, for the good of others and the world” (Introduction to Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us, xiii).

Scott’s answer goes beyond focus on the love of God and into restoration of covenant community. 

In fact, God’s destiny in history is a redeemed community (I’ll have more to say in a few weeks about this).

Let me ask you this?

How would you define gospel? (I can’t believe I’ve not asked this question here before).  I invite your comments.

See our prior posts

• Definition of Evangelism: What Evangelism Isn’t
• Part 1: What is Evangelism
• Part 2: Joyfully Sharing the Good News
• Part 3: The sovereign Love of God
• Part 4: Calling People to
• Part 5:
• More definitions of Evangelism 1
• More definitions of Evangelism 2
  

Mission Network News reports that e3 Partners (formerly EvangeCube and Global Missions Fellowship) has modified their EvangeCube tool to work with children. 

They have a tool useful for Sunday school programs, Children’s Church, After School Bible Clubs, Vacation Bible Schools.  It’s called the Kids EE Cube, which seems to be based on the Evangelism Explosion Script. 

There are a variety of scripts that one can use to help you explain the gospel in simple and clear terms.

Each script has its critics and endorsers and it’s not our point here to argue or debate it.

Last month, I wrote an article about gospel scripts.   The main point is that you should know at least one script so that you can explain the gospel simply and clearly. That is your “Default setting.”

Let me ask you this?

When was the last time you shared the gospel with your default setting?  Consider posting your story to our Evangelism Encounter discussion group.

Evangelism, at least in my circles of influence, seems to be a dreaded word. At its mention, some people feel queasy, the hairs stand on the back of their neck, people want to secretly leave the room.

On the opening night of our Listening Evangelism Conferences, one participant in Michigan simply said “Evangelism scares us.”

Why I hate Evangelism

From an expired link in this EvangelismCoach.org article, I found “Five Reasons Why I Hate Evangelism.”

1. It violates the golden rule - most Christians would not want to be approached by a member of another religion the way Christians approach others in evangelistic attempts
2. It calls the authenticity of relationships into question - are you my friend because you’re really my friend, or so you can convert me?
3. The moment of truth - we think we must identify a “no turning back” point where you pressure someone to make a decision, and if they don’t respond well, that jeopardizes the relationship.
4. Asking someone about the Gospel feels like making a pass at them.
5. If I like my friends, and want them to continue to be my friends, I have a major incentive NOT to try to evangelize them.

Emotions!

Our emotional baggage associated with “Evangelism” is probably the biggest baggage.

Try answering this question: “What do you think about when you hear the word Evangelism?” (Reese, 11)

• Door to Door
• Pushy televangelists with funky hairdos asking for money and pushing people down.
• What does “one beggar telling another where to find bread” mean?
• My friend was obnoxious year after year always telling me I needed Jesus.
• It implies other religions are wrong, that Christians are better

Other lists that I have gathered over the years include:

• Fear of Rejection
• To mess up and somebody’s eternity destiny is your fault
• Interrupting somebody’s life
• Losing a friendship
• Fear of offending
• Fear of what others will think about you.
• Stuck with unanswerable questions
• Feeling inadequate
• Being seen as arrogant
• Fear of being kicked out of your family or breaking a family relationship
• Fear of your own weakness, hypocrisies, and inadequacies
• Doubt and not being certain about your own beliefs.
• Guilt
• Fear of being a hypocrite.
• Drive-by Evangelism

Let me ask you this?

What do you think about when you hear the word Evangelism?

I’d like to compile a larger list, so feel free to comment or contact me via the form on the right.