Entry Level Evangelism: It’s Not That Hard
There are people who will never get inside the four walls of the church until we get outside of the four walls of the church and show them God’s love. When we mention the words evangelist or prophetic evangelism, people often respond with, “I am not an evangelist,” “I am not interested in doing that,” or “I don’t know how to evangelize.”
People think of going out and getting people saved and into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Inadequacy of not knowing the Scriptures and how to answer tough questions concerns people. Fear rises up and prevents people from going out into the streets and drawing people into the love of God and the light of Christ.
Let’s take a moment and simplify evangelism. Evangelism is going out and sharing the love of God. We can break it down even further and say that evangelism is going out and being nice, and it is. Evangelism doesn’t have to be preaching a gospel full of words the other person doesn’t understand.
We should know the word of God and be well versed in it, but when you venture out and begin to evangelize, you need to look at how you can set a more obtainable goal for yourself. Let’s start with something inside your comfort zone and, as you progress, allow God to pull you outside of your comfort zone.
That being said, how can a person who has never evangelized start, and how can they allow the prophetic evangelism part to release? First and foremost, simply be nice. Say hi to people; open the door for people; compliment them and try to strike up a conversation in the natural.
And how does this look? Address the clerk or waitress by name when saying hi or thank you. It shows you cared enough to read their name badge and address them by name. It shows love. Do it at the store with a cashier when you are checking out. They are serving you. This is the best environment because they can’t run away from you. Compliment something you like about their clothes, smile or appearance. Compliment them and get their attention. Be God’s love while being nice.
If you can’t think of a compliment, think of a one-line casual God sentence you can say to bless them with before you get there. In your quiet God time, think or rely on the Holy Spirit to give you a sentence with which you would be comfortable speaking to them.
Some of the sentences I’ve used are:
- You are special to God.
- God wants you to know you are loved.
- You are a daughter or son of a Most High King. God loves you.
- Bless you. (You can use this instead of saying thank you.)
- You are a princess in the Kingdom of God, (of course for ladies only).
- Your smile is contagious I bet it blesses a lot of people.
- Your eyes sparkle with the light of Christ.
- You were so nice to me today, thanks so much for your help.
After you speak a sentence that the Holy Spirit imparts to you, or one of the above sentences, I encourage you to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. When you begin to be nice and show love, you’ll find that sharing these simple sentences and compliments is a great way to get yourself in the practice for looking for prophetic appointments.
However, the longer you share and the more you stir up your giftings, the more God will use use words out of your spirit man to encourage and minister to these people. If you are hearing God tell you to continue to talk to them, it will be easier.
Speaking the light and love of Christ to people is evangelism. It is showing people we can be the body of Christ outside the walls of the church.
People have been hurt from the church and some people haven’t been in a church. If we can show love outside the walls of the church and share God with them, it may open the doors for that person to find their way to church. It can give them a glimmer of hope that they are seeking.
It starts with us. It starts with us not being afraid. It begins when we climb out of our comfort zones. It begins with us being cordial and showing love.
Paul said to Timothy, “Do the work of an evangelist.” The problem with doing the work of an evangelist is it can be scary. Don’t think of it as going out and preaching the gospel on the street. In the beginning, go out and be love, be nice and lead them to a church or a ministry that can preach the gospel effectively to them.
People don’t evangelize because they have a fear of man or fear of rejection. If someone does not receive what you are saying, simply brush it off and try it again.
Unfortunately, we live in a fast-paced society where people don’t take the time to be nice anymore. While waiting in lines or in stores, restaurants, etc., people are on their smartphones checking email, social media and text messaging; it’s because of this that we have become more focused on our phones than people. Therefore, people aren’t expecting people to put their phones aside and show interest in them.
People will be shocked when you strike up a conversation with them. It’s OK; do it anyway. You just added value and importance to a person to let them know they were special enough to be blessed with whatever words you spoke. Believe me, most will be blessed and they will light up.
It’s worth us coming out of our comfort zone and trying something different to make an impact in a person’s life. We have all come out of our comfort zone to do this. It doesn’t come naturally.
It is a gradual progression, but you will never progress if you don’t try. So pray, get bold, come out of your comfort zone, grow in your faith and stir the gift that is within you. Love on people. Start in your everyday life, in your everyday walk, wherever you are, wherever you go, to make every action an action of sharing God’s love.
Kathy DeGraw is the founder of DeGraw Ministries, (degrawministries.org). She is passionate about releasing the love and power of God and equipping people to do the same. She travels teaching the Word of God at events and takes the love of God to the streets with her prophetic evangelism and love tours.
Source: Charisma News
