My Story
During my senior year in high school, I was dating the prettiest girl on campus. I thought the way to succeed in life and be happy was to marry a beautiful girl. When I met Bonnie, I thought she would fulfill my goal, but after dating her for a year and a half, I sensed there was still something missing in my life. My brother, twin sister, and older sister who had all become Christians were exhibiting a real sense of joy and peace in their lives. I surmised that it wasn’t necessarily church that changed their lives. It must have been the Bible because they were reading it often. So, I decided to start reading the Bible, think- ing it may have the answers to my search for purpose and contentment in life.
At the time, there was a worldwide threat of nuclear war due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Our country was on high alert, and most people feared a global nuclear exchange. Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union during the crisis, said, “We will bury you and the living would envy the dead,” if there was a nuclear exchange. I began to wonder what would happen to me if there was ever a nuclear war. Would I live, or would I die? If I lived, I would probably suffer a lot, but if I died, I would go to hell based on Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
This verse greatly troubled me because I knew God would be my judge someday. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin (John 16:8), and shortly after, I got on my knees in the privacy of my room, and not really knowing how to pray, I asked the Lord to forgive me and make me part of His forever family.
When I got up from my knees, I was a changed person. God’s Word then became a living, dynamic book. By God’s grace, Bonnie became a Christian about a week later as she too was on a quest to understand the Bible at the same time I was. God is good!
A New Mission
I now had a new mission and zeal to reach the lost for Christ, but I did not know how to witness. As a new believer, I knew I would be a lot more effective in witnessing if I got trained in evangelism. I attended a LIFE (Lay Institute for Evangelism) training by Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) and was challenged to give my life and career to reach others for Christ.
My wife and I soon joined the Campus Crusade for Christ staff. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with hundreds of college students each year on campuses in the Northwest and at UCLA in Southern California. People at our church were investing in us financially, and it was my job and passion to share my faith and equip believers to share theirs. By nature, I am an introvert, but over time, I learned to be an extrovert. The more I shared the gospel, the easier it became. The best way to learn how to share Christ is simply by doing it.
What’s Your Passion?
Elon Musk, founder of Space X and Tesla, has a relentless passion to colonize Mars in order to save humankind in the event of a nuclear war. If you are a Christian, what is your passion? Is it to transform people’s lives by sharing the gospel and changing their lives for all eternity? We serve an awesome God who is able to do that through you.
We All Evangelize
We all share our passions about things such as our favorite restaurant, recipe, sports team, and more. But those things will all pass away. Why not share—evangelize—about our passion for Jesus Christ? He is the only way to eternal life. There is nothing more important for us to share. That’s why the Apostle Paul was so burdened to evangelize that he wrote, “How terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16 GNT).
It’s easy to think that evangelism is only for gifted people such as Greg Laurie, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Bill Bright, and Luis Palau. But I’ve learned that anyone with a personal testimony and a clear understanding of the gospel can share their faith. Regardless of your giftedness, personality, or shortcomings, God can use you to share Christ naturally and effectively.
Marching Orders
Sadly, most people have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. Eighty percent of Christians do not consistently witness for Christ. But as Christians, we have been given marching orders by the Lord of the universe to proclaim the good news with others.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46–48 ESV).
Jesus’s final words to every believer are what we call His Great Commission: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15 ESV).
Remember, evangelism is for each of us, regardless of our talent, personality, giftedness, or occupation. Former author and theologian D. Elton Trueblood put it clearly. “Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.”
The purpose of this book is to show you how you can effectively share the gospel to one person at a time and potentially to many people even worldwide. To begin, ask God to help you reach others for Him. He is the One who has promised to help you by His indwelling Holy Spirit.
On the following pages, you’ll see how believers and churches are sharing the good news and how the Internet and social media are reaching our world today. But none of these are substitutes for personal evangelism.
There is no greater joy than to see God change a life. Whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, whether you have the gift of gab or not, God can use you. You don’t need to have a perfect gospel presentation for the Holy Spirit to reach someone through your testimony and by sharing the gospel. As you apply some of the principles in this book, may the Lord bless you mightily in this grand adventure of sharing the greatest news ever given to all people.