Beginning a Conversation about Christ

I came across a great article today at The Resurgence [link broken]. It looks at ways to steer an evangelism conversation towards Jesus.

Here is what I really like:

In Acts 17, Paul started with the people’s religious views and philosophies.

In Acts 13 he started with Jewish history, and

In Acts 14 he started with nature.

Where we start depends on where we live and who we encounter.

Where we go is settled—it’s where Christ died and rose victoriously over death.

For decades we have approached people with evangelistic/diagnostic questions such as, “If you were to die today, do you know for sure where you’d spend eternity?” and “If God asked, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ what would you say?”

Useful as these questions are, they may not be the best approach in every situation.

That’s where it requires spiritual discernment and relational sensitivity on our part.

The rest of the article explores how to start a conversation and the richness of the gospel.

The gospel is about words that can make us uncomfortable: creation, Jesus, sin, repentance, forgiveness, and transformation, to name just a few.

Hard words, but harder still to forget them.

The gospel is about words that can make us uncomfortable: creation, Jesus, sin, repentance, forgiveness, and transformation, to name just a few.

Hard words, but harder still to forget them.

To share Christ, we have to go beyond formulas that fit on napkins.

The Gospel is not a doodle.

Isn’t God’s story of redemption and reconciliation for His creation bigger than what can fit on a napkin?

People are searching—but they are searching for something more than fire insurance or “five steps to financial freedom.”