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Varying
The Approach
You can vary the approach a number of ways. Let me give
you some examples.
Example 1: I
was at an airport and I happened to be where they take the tickets before
you get on the airplane. I noticed a woman who was all by herself. I walked
up and said, "I have a question." And she said, "What is it?" I said, "If
you died right now, where would you go?" She said, "That's an important
question." So I took her off to the side while she gave her life to Jesus
Christ.
These questions are merely a probe to see if the heart is
ready. You can adjust them any way you want. If you want to go right to the
heart of the matter, just ask. There isn't a conversation you can't turn to
any of these questions.
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A Derringer
A derringer is a small pocket
pistol. The gamblers in the old westerns used to shoot people with them.
When you go somewhere to share
with somebody, don't take a "shotgun" (your church Bible). If you had
tried to share with me before I was a believer and dared to put a big
Bible on a table in a restaurant, you or the book would have been on the
floor. Don't do that.
Get yourself a "derringer" or
sharing Bible - a New Testament pocket/purse version. Every day that you
put it in your pocket or purse, you're saying, "Lord, I'm ready."
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Example 2: You could say to someone,
"In the newspaper you read about sports superstars who are making lots
of money but whose personal lives are a mess. What do you think makes a
person happy? I'm curious, do you have spiritual belief in anything?
What is your understanding of who Jesus is?"
Example 3: You
could say, "You know, with the current world tensions and wars going on,
do you think about all those soldiers who may die? Do you ever wonder
what may happen to people when they die? I'm curious, what about you? If
you died right now, where would you go?"
You can turn any conversation into a tender
confrontation. But don't get away from the questions, or you may not get
the opportunity to talk with them about the Lord.
Example 4: A
Jehovah's Witness came to my door. I was running late for an
appointment, but I opened the door anyway. She said, "Hi, I'm here from
the Watchtower." I said, "Look, I really need to go but I have just one
question." She said, "What is it?" I said, "If what you believe were not
true, would you want to know it?" She replied, "Oh, but sir, what I
believe is true, and I came here to share truth and revelation with
you." I said, "Ma'am, that's not my question." I did this 12 times.
Finally she said, "Well, yes." And she's been back twice.
The whole idea of these questions is to get to the
Bible. The power is in God's Word. I want to get to His Book. |
Example 5: I have a friend who reads
1,200 words a minute and remembers everything he has ever read. For 20 years
he was a practicing atheist with a hobby of tearing apart other people's
religious beliefs. Then on day in Guam, on a bus, he saw a guy who was
being teased by several people. Someone grabbed the man's Bible and tossed
it out the window. My friend, who had a sensitive heart, walked up and said,
"Why do you let them do this to you?" The man said, "I'm a Christian." My
friend responded, "Do you mean to tell me that you believe that somebody got
vomited out of the mouth of a whale?" The guy's answer was yes. My friend's
immediate response was, "How do you know?" His answer was, "My Bible tells
me so."
This went on with more questions and the man replying with a yes or a no
and saying, "My Bible tells me so." This shook my friend so badly that he
went home, borrowed a Bible, and read it through over the weekend. A verse
in Job that said "Stop and consider God's wonders" spoke to him (Job
37:14).
For 2 weeks he intellectually struggled between killing himself or
trusting Christ before he gave himself to the Lord. Today he's a strong
Christian defender of the faith.
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Step
2 ---- The Bible
God uses Scripture to change
people's lives. The next step in sharing your faith without an argument
is based on two principles. The first is from
Romans
10:17, "Faith comes from hearing." Hearing is the key. The second
principle is in
Luke
10:26, which I paraphrase, "What does it say to you?" The Holy
Spirit will do the convincing and the convicting. You're just going to
stand by and watch God do something.
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"The Holy Spirit does
the convincing and convicting." |
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The
Bible
1.
Romans 3:23
2.
Romans 6:23
3. John
3:3
4. John
14: 6
5.
Romans 10: 9-11
6.
Revelation 3: 20
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1. Romans 3:23 -- "For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God."
When I'm sharing, I take my Bible and I put it in front of the other person
- on the table or on his lap. I point to Romans 3:23 and I ask him to read
it out loud. Then I ask him, "What does it say to you?" When you do it this
way, he can't say, "That's just your interpretation." He will read it and
tell you what it says. Then he won't be able to say you told him. When you
do
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Where To Go
Next?
In case you're
wondering how to remember what verse to turn to next, here's a
suggestion.
Open your Bible to
Romans 3:23. Turn it so a person who is facing you can read your Bible.
In the margin closest
to you, write, "Romans 6:23." with a person, you will see the reference
for the next verse in the margin.
Then, on the page for
Romans 6:23, write in the margin, "John 3:3."
Do this for all the
verses you will be using. Each time you turn to a verse, you'll know
where to go next. |
that, the other person will
be doing the speaking, the Holy Spirit will be doing the convicting, and
nobody can start an argument with you about the interpretation.
After the person reads this
verse and tells you what it says, if you feel that the person needs more
clarification simply say, "Have you ever committed murder?" The person
will likely say, "No, I haven't." You then say, "Well, have you ever
hated someone or been angry?" He will probably feel a little defensive
and say, "Yeah. Haven't You?" You say, "Sure I have." And then you could
say, "Did you know that God says anger is the same as murder?" At that
point you usually get silence, because suddenly he realizes that by
God's holy standards he's a mess.
2.
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Ask the person to read the
verse, and then ask, "What does it say." He or she will tell you it says
that for one sin we die. |
This verse can devastate a
person's religion and his feeling that he's okay. In Romans 6:23, underline
or circle the word sin. Then draw a line through the word death.
In big letters near it, write the word hell. Then circle the word
in. (Do this in your Bible before you talk with someone.)
There is a tendency in us to be harsh. We might want to tell a person,
"Listen, stupid, for one sin you're going to hell. And your dumb religion
isn't going to save you!" If you do that, it's not only unloving, but the
person is not going to listen. You can get the message across in a more
gentle way. The whole key is where you point.
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"There is a tendency in us to be harsh, but we must
be loving and gentle in how we communicate the gospel of Christ." |
After the person has read the verse and told you what the verse says to him,
you can simply say, "Did you notice that in my Bible I've underlined the
word sin?" (Point to the word.) He will say, "Yes." Then you
say, while pointing to the word sin, "This reminds me that
there's no s at the end of the word. God says for one
sin He will send me to hell." You point to yourself, but the other
person gets the idea.
Now suppose the person you're talking to is a churchgoer. You say, "Did you
notice that I have circled the word in? It reminds me that I am to be
in a relationship with Jesus Christ, not in a religion." Right
then his infant baptism, his confirmation, his church membership, or
whatever other religious actions he was trusting just went out the window.
With this verse you have politely shown him that he has no hope. And you've
done it nicely.
3. John 3:3 - "No one can see the kingdom of
God unless he is born again."
As a reminder to yourself, in the margin of your Bible by John 3:3, draw a
cross like the cross of Christ, and alongside of it write the question, "Why
did Jesus come to die?"
Here is the one exception when you do not ask the person what the verse
means to him. Why? Because he won't know.
They way to get into this verse is to turn to the person and say, "I know
somebody like you who walked up to Jesus Christ and asked him how to get
into heaven. This was a religious guy, but he knew that going to church
didn't cut it. I want you to read aloud what Jesus said to him." And he will
read. "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Do not
ask him what it means to him. He won't know. We know from Scripture that
Nicodemus was confused.
You can then say, "You're probably wondering what Jesus was talking about.
Nicodemus thought Jesus meant he had to go back inside his mom. But no,
Jesus was talking about a spiritual birth."
Now's the time to ask a question. Take out a pen and make the sign of a
cross with your finger across your pen. Then ask, "Why did Jesus come to
die?" Fifty percent of the people won't know. Listen for an answer. The
person may say that Jesus had to or that He wanted to. Ask, "Why?"
Eventually he may say, "Jesus came to die for sin." Say, "That's right. The
wages of sin is death. You just finished reading that in Romans 6:23." Then
say, "Jesus Christ hung on the cross and He took upon Himself all of your
sins, and the sins of the whole world. When He died on that cross, He died
for me, for my forgiveness. That forgiveness is a gift from God."
Then take your pen in your hand, hold it out, and say, "If you want this
pen, what do you have to do to get it?" In response he may say, "I'd have to
than you." You would say no. Then he might say, "I have to pay you." Say,
"No it's a free gift." Don't give him the answer. Eventually he will say, "I
just need to take it, accept it, or receive it."
I don't know what it is, but people just hate to take anything that's free.
But when they take it, that's when you can say, "Look, that's the same thing
you have to do with the cross. It doesn't become your gift until you accept
it for yourself."
4. John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
When you turn to this verse, ask the other person to read it aloud and then
ask him what it says. The person will tell you it says that there is no
other way to go to heaven to be with God except through, Jesus.
Once in a while I'll say, "Do you see any other way to heaven except through
Jesus Christ?" And I've had people angrily say, "No!" Why do you think
they're aggravated? It's because they think it's a stupid question, which it
is, because the verse is very clear. If they see it, they may give you an
agitated "No!" What you are hearing is God at work.
5. Romans 10:9-11 - "If you confess with your
mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and
are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As
the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.'"
One of the most difficult things for people to believe is that they can be
forgiven. After you have asked the person to read Romans 10:9-11 and he has
read it, ask him if the phrase "If you ... believe ... you will be saved"
includes murderers, alcoholics, drug addicts, etc." You ask that, because if
he believes God will forgive a murderer he will believe God will forgive
him for adultery, alcoholism, drugs, unlovingness, or whatever.
It's a key issue.
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" One of the most difficult things for people to
believe is that they can be forgiven." |
But let's suppose that when you ask him if it includes murderers he says no.
Ask him to read the verse again. Let the Spirit teach him. Remember, this is
the Holy Spirit's problem. It is not your problem to enter into an argument
about whether or not God will forgive murderers.
6. Revelation 3:20 - "I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat
with him, and he with Me."
As you did with the other verse, ask the person to read this verse out load.
Then ask, "What does it say to you?" He will say that when we open the door
of our lives to Jesus, He will come in.
With this verse you want the person to realize that Jesus is eager to enter
into our lives. The Lord longs for us to be in a right relationship with
Him.
Now you are ready to move to the final step.
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