Evangelism is as Fun as a Root Canal

 Evangelism is as Fun as a Root Canal

Brief testimony

When I committed my life to the LORD in 1984, I felt a strong sense of a calling to share the Gospel and I was enabled and taught by my mentor.

What is the Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Fear of Confrontation

I had a fear of offending - I read the 1990 book, “The Non-Confronter’s Guide to Leading a Person to Christ”.   How do you tell someone how serious sin is to a holy God, and it’s their sin that separates them from God?

1. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
2. Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3. Colossians 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds
4. Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death
5. Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God

Motivation to Share the Gospel

I was downstairs one evening watching TV and having pizza in summer of 2001.   I kept hearing multiple cars honk as they were going down the street.   I went outside to see what was going on and saw a bunch of teenagers harassing cars as they were going down the street.   I was upset and I thought to myself, I should call the cops. Then I thought, I need to just calm down and pray.   As I prayed and went back in the house, I thought to myself and I kind of made a commitment. The next time I come across a teenager on my walks on the green-belt trail, I need to share the Gospel with them.   And I did… I even remember the kid’s name; it was Dane.   I tried to share the Gospel with him and I felt like nothing but blah, blah, blah came out of my mouth.   I asked him if he wanted to receive Christ as His savior, and he said “yeah”, and we prayed together.   That motivated me to begin sharing the Gospel in earnest.   First in my neighborhood, then going out from there.

Enter the “Way of the Master”

Again, downstairs watching TV, on what I would loosely call the Christian channel, I came across a show called the “Way of the Master” where a couple of guys named Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron were showing how to use the Ten Commandments in evangelism.  What follows is the essence of a message by Ray Comfort called “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”.  The foundational verse for this teaching is Psalms 19:7

Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring (converting) the soul…

A very prominent way of sharing the Gospel is telling people “God has a wonderful plan for your life”.  But that message doesn’t work in every situation.   For example, if you happened upon a horrific traffic accident, and the accident victim was bleeding out through a large gash in their neck and another large gash in their forehead?   What if that person only had two minutes to live and they cried out to you “I don’t want to die, I can’t die… I’m not ready to face God… Help me, what shall I do to be saved?”   Try saying God has a wonderful plan for your life?   That doesn’t really pertain. You also wouldn’t say, “you sinner, you’ve sinned and you need to repent to God and trust in Jesus as your savior”.   That might not be understood or received.   If you said something like this, “You’re like me, you may have lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain; those are sins that offend God.  We’ve violated His law.   If we got what we deserved, it wouldn’t be heaven and it wouldn’t be good.   But God is rich in mercy and He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.   If you will simply repent (tell God you’re sorry) and trust in Jesus, God will forgive your sins and give you the gift of eternal life.

Can you see how telling someone what they’ve done helps make the Gospel make sense?

Another (I believe) errant approach to engaging someone in a gospel conversation is by saying, “you have a god-shaped hole in your heart, receive Christ and God will fill that empty vacuum in your heart”.  Try telling that to someone (and there are people like this) who have it all going on.  They’re happy, fulfilled, and satisfied.   They have a great job (all the money they could ever ask for), a handsome boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, a wonderful house, an expensive car, a fantastic family, they’ve traveled all over the world, they’ve gone to seahawks games, concerts and on and on and on.  They are loving life.  All that without God.   What empty spot, they’d say.

Another problematic approach would be to go directly to the Gospel and say, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins,” it might seem foolish and offensive. The Bible says so in 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And it’ll seem offensive because I’m insinuating they’re a sinner when they don’t think they are. As far as they’re concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than them. But if I take the time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it may make more sense. If I take the time to open up the Divine law, the ten commandments, and show someone precisely what they’ve done wrong, they will be as James 2:9 says, “convicted by the law as transgressors”, the good news will not seem foolish, it will not be offensive, it will be as Romans 1:16 says, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”.

The functions of God’s law (Ten Commandments)

1. Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.
2. Romans 3:20 by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
3. Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Did Jesus use the law when he engaged with people?

Let’s look at Mark chapter 10 verses 17-23 

As He (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

Let’s examine this encounter Jesus had with the rich young ruler closely…

• Have you ever had someone come up to you and ask you “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
• How would you respond to that question?
• What does Jesus do?   He challenges the man’s conception of good saying only God is good.
• Jesus uses the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and fifth Commandments for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction
• Would you say Jesus' encounter was successful?

Now, another encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well in Samaria from John chapter 4 verses 7 through 30

 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Which commandment (or commandments) is Jesus appealing to in this section?

Next is a different conversation altogether, that Jesus had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Verses 1-8, and 15-21 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

…

15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Why do you think Jesus treats Nic differently, by not bringing any of the Ten Commandments into the conversation?

The RCCR Template for Evangelism

Relate with people.   Start conversations by talking about things in the natural world.

• How are you doing?
• What do you think about those Mariners?
• Nice weather we’re having?

Create an opportunity to speak about spiritual things.   Intentionally turn the conversation toward the spirit.

• Do you believe in God?
• Do you have a Christian background?
• Do you have a church you’re connected with?
• Do you believe in an afterlife?
• What do you think happens to us when we die?
• Do you believe in heaven and hell?
• What do you think someone has to do to get to heaven?

Convict by using the Law.  Proverbs 20:6 (KJV)  Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness:

• Would you consider yourself to be a good person?
• How many lies do you think you’ve told in your whole life?
• Have you ever stolen anything in your whole life, even if it’s small?
• Have you ever used God’s name in vain? 
  Do you love your mom?   Would you use her name as a cuss word?
• Jesus said if you look at someone with lust (that’s sexual desire for someone who’s not your husband or wife), you commit adultery in your heart.  Have you ever done that?
• You've told me you're a lying thief, a blasphemer, an adulterer at heart and that’s just four of the Ten Commandments. When God (Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge) judges you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart, would you be innocent or guilty?
• Heaven or hell?
• Does that concern you?   Say someone responds positively and they understand their guilt, and see that if they got what they deserved it would be hell, and they are genuinely concerned.

Reveal

• I don't want you to go to hell.  I've just met you but I care about you. So, here's the question. What did God do for guilty sinners like you and me so we wouldn't have to go to hell? Most people, at least in the United States of America have heard that Jesus died on the cross, but they don't know this. And if you can get a grip of this, it's going to change everything for you. The Ten Commandments are called the moral law. You and I broke the law. Jesus paid our fine. That's what happened on that cross.
• Scripturally, biblically, how does God desire for people to respond to the Gospel, if they’ve understood and appreciated it?  Acts 20:21 ESV Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.