9. The Witnessing Connection

Adapted from Personal Disciplemaking by Chris Adsit (used with permission)

OBJECTIVE

The disciple has a basic understanding of the importance of witnessing, knows the primary elements of the gospel, and can tell another person how to become a Christian.

BIBLICAL BASIS FOR THIS OBJECTIVE

We’ve already seen (chapter 3) that when Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), one of the three primary activities He told us to practice to fulfill that commission was witnessing. This is even more clear in the Mark version: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). And in Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Throughout the Bible it’s obvious that God intended witnessing to be a normal part of our lives as “called-out ones.” Here are a few verses that underscore that fact. Look them up and jot down summaries in your disciplemaker’s notebook.

Psalm 107:2
Proverbs 11:30
Proverbs 24:11-12
Ezekiel 3:18-19
Matthew 4:19
Matthew 5:13-16
Matthew 9:37-38
Matthew 24:14
Mark 5:18-20
Luke 24:46-48
John 4:4-26
John 20:21
Acts 4:12
Acts 4:20
Acts 17:1-3
Acts 18:28
Romans 1:16
Romans 10:13-15
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
2 Corinthians 5:11
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Ephesians 3:8

APPLICABLE DEFINITIONS

Witnessing: “Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”[i]

Gospel: All men are guilty of sin before God. The penalty for sin is death—eternal separation from God. But because of His great love for us, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the penalty of our sin on Himself when He died on the cross. Three days later He was resurrected from the dead and is alive today and forever. If a person will repent of his sinful way of life, and have faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and able to save him from eternal death, he will be saved.

Scriptural “nutshells” of the gospel:

John 3:16
Luke 24:46-48
Acts 16:30-31
Acts 20:21
Romans 6:23
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
1 Corinthians 15:3-4

PEP TALK FOR THE DISCIPLEMAKER

Oh, how we love to fellowship! Also Bible study is quite interesting, and praying is OK, though it has its ups and downs. But witnessing…that’s a real toughie. For many of us, some of the most exhilarating moments we’ve had as Christians were while witnessing, especially when God grants us the privilege of being there when someone receives Christ. On the other hand, a lot of us are pretty squeamish about putting our egos out there on the chopping block alongside the Four Spiritual Laws booklet, risking the axe of rejection. When you sweep away all the rationalizations and excuses—and we can manufacture them by the gross—the primary reason Christians don’t share their faith is that they are afraid people will react negatively. And that fear is not groundless. Some people will reject the gospel—if it happened to Jesus and Paul, it’s bound to happen to us.

Two things must be said about that. First: Nobody said Christians were supposed to win popularity contests. In fact, Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” [my emphasis]. We are guaranteed it won’t always be moonlight and roses, especially when we share Christ.

So how do we respond? That’s the second point: We need to decide whom we want to please. When we share our faith, we may not please men, but we definitely please God. When we are silent about our faith, we may avoid the taunts of men, but we do not please God. Which would you prefer? Paul put it like this: “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). John described the spineless rulers of Jerusalem who would not openly confess Christ because of the Pharisees this way: “They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God” (John 12:43). The approval of man fades rapidly—the approval of God, never.

Disciplemaker, it wasn’t really pleasant for me, but I just emptied both barrels at you on this matter—and for good reason. If you are like the vast majority of Christians in the U.S. today, you hardly ever share your faith. You have led between zero and two people to the Lord. And your opinion regarding any future witnessing is that you’d prefer being flogged with a bullwhip—you figure it may hurt more, but it’s over quicker.

If this is a description of you, you need to be shaken out of your sleep. Dr. Walter Martin of Christian Research Institute has said, “As far as Satan is concerned, the next best thing to a damned soul is a silent Christian.” The devil is working overtime to keep Christians quiet about the Good News. He blew it at Golgotha, but there is some semblance of victory he can glom onto if he can just keep the whole thing under his hat. How I hope you are not cooperating with him. If you are one of the silent ones, I implore you to wake up, and speak up—don’t let your malady infect yet another generation of disciples.

If Christians would open their mouths a little more, they would discover that many people are eager to experience a close relationship with God if only they knew how. Bill Bright has written, “One of the greatest misconceptions of the centuries, in my opinion, is the idea so prevalent among Christians that men do not want God. Wherever I go—in this country or in other countries—I find ample proof that just the opposite is true. The Holy Spirit has created a hunger for God in the hearts of multitudes.”[ii]

We want our disciples to be fruitful witnesses for two reasons: (1) so they can experience the joy of the Lord as they obediently and whole-heartedly share their faith; and (2) so they will be active soldiers in the army of Christ, tearing down the strongholds of Satan and working with Christ to set the captives free, thus advancing the kingdom of God.

You can help your disciple get started on the right foot toward that goal. Most brand new Christians are still trying to figure out what the Christian life is. Before he has a chance to sample the abnormal standard most of Christendom has adopted in witnessing, you can serve him the normal standard that is presented in the Bible!

What will motivate him in the proper direction? Two things: First, above all else, if his relationship with Jesus is one of vital intimacy, love and obedience, his witnessing will flow naturally from a Spirit-controlled lifestyle. That’s what we’re looking for—overflow, not overwork. The effectiveness of his “horizontal” relationships depend upon the vitality of his “vertical” relationship.

Second, when he sees you openly identify with Christ and share your faith, and then share with him the thrills and the agonies associated with witnessing, this will motivate him as well. He really does want to be like you; the things you do he is likely to do, and the things you don’t do he’s likely to skip.

BROACHING THE SUBJECT

A good way to get into the subject of witnessing is to ask your disciple two simple questions. One, “What is the greatest, most significant thing that has ever happened to you?”

If he’s been listening for the past several weeks, and has truly understood the consequences of his salvation, he’ll answer something like, “Receiving Jesus Christ as my Savior.”

At that point you ask question number two: “What, then, is the greatest, most significant thing that a Christian can do for another person?”

Logically, his answer would be, “To help him come to know Christ too.”

Then you can say, “That’s what we’re going to talk about today—helping others enter into a personal relationship with Christ. What are your thoughts concerning the subject of witnessing for Christ?” I always like to ask that question first just to see what his sentiments and concepts are before we dive in. I want to find out if he’s looking at it with tremendous fear and trepidation, scared that I’m going to take him out to sell lapel flowers and beat people over the head with a ten-pound Bible, or if he’s open and interested and as yet unspoiled by most Christians’ aversion to witnessing. It will make a difference in the presentation.

In the first case, you’ll need to do some blasting before you can build—getting rid of wrong notions of what it means to witness for Christ. It’s important that you allay your disciple’s fears as quickly as possible. Let him know that you have no intention of asking him to do something he isn’t ready to do.

In the second case we can dispense with the demolition and proceed right to the superstructure.

SUGGESTIONS FOR GROWTH

For helping a new Christian gain the proper concepts early about this matter of witnessing, I don’t know of a better way than by using Bill Bright’s award-winning book, Witnessing Without Fear. Easy to read and highly anecdotal, this book takes a Christian by the hand and guides him step by step through a process that will give him both the desire and the ability to share the gospel. Each chapter includes a summary and questions for discussion and reflection. You can use these to help your disciple personalize the training presented in each chapter.

It is important for you to get the following major points regarding witnessing across to your disciple. Some of them are contained in Witnessing Without Fear and some are supplementary. Read through them and consider how you can best use them. I’ll be supplying a few thoughts on how I’d share each point with a generic Christian along with a few Scripture references you could go over together.

One thing to remember: It is not yet time to communicate a lot of theology about witnessing. You might be able to write an entire book on the subject, but it would be of little use to your disciple at his current stage of development. You can get into greater detail later, but for now it’s basic, first-grade-education time.

I. What Is Witnessing?

Witnessing, in its broadest sense, is simply telling what you know. As Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin (who were trying to make them stop witnessing), “We cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). What have you seen and heard about Christ? As you relate those things to others, you are witnessing.

Think of it in terms of being a witness in a court of law. If you’re a witness, you don’t have to try to be the prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney, the judge, the jury, or the bailiff. All you have to do is tell what you have “seen and heard.” As you step up to the witness stand, you would be instructed to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” It would be dishonest, as a witness for Christ, to falsely represent yourself by exaggerating or minimizing what has taken place in your life. To hold back the truth wouldn’t do either. You must be prepared to let your life be an open book to be read by anyone who wants to. It’s not your job to convince anyone of anything. All you do is tell what you know.

II. Why Should I witness?

A. Because it’s the only way people will come to know Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” He also said in John 8:24, “Unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.” Acts 4:12 says that “there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”

I think you get the idea that this is a very important message. What method did God use to get the message out? Write it across the skies? Use angels equipped with portable P.A. systems to broadcast it around the world? Look at 1 Corinthians 1:21: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” For reasons known only to Him, God has limited Himself to getting this vital message out through mere human instrumentality—one person passing it on to another. Romans 10:13-14 says: “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

B. Because we want to see the benefits of a life with Christ passed on to others. God is deeply in love with every individual on the face of the earth and He desperately desires to have a relationship with each one. He is eager to pass on to others the same benefits He gave us. Our desire should be the same. Unless someone tells them, non-Christians will never know how to experience the following (and much, much more!):

John 4:14
John 6:35
John 6:40
John 8:14
John 8:32, 36
John 10:9-10
John 10:27-28
John 11:25-26
John 14:2-3
John 14:12-14

(For a good way to go through the above verses quickly, giving your disciple a panoramic view of the tremendous blessings tied to salvation, chain-reference them in your Bible. In the margin next to John 4:14, write “John 6:35,” to show you where to go next. Flip forward to John 6:35, and beside it write “John 6:40,” etc.)

C. Because by sharing our faith we grow and mature. Read John 4:1-34, the story of Jesus witnessing to the Samaritan woman at the well. Notice verse 32 especially. What do you think this “food to eat that you do not know about” is? Jesus gives us the answer in verse 34: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” There was something about witnessing to this woman that nourished and strengthened Jesus. When we share our faith, we are nourished and strengthened in the same way.

D. Because it’s the natural result of being honest. When you came to know Jesus Christ, you became an entirely new creature. Yet so many Christians go back to the closet of their old life, rummage around, find the disguises they used to wear, and put them on again. After a while, they are so much like non-Christians that it’s difficult to tell them apart. They have put on their worldly clothes to hide their true natures as glorified, sanctified sons and daughters of the Living God.

When a Christian walks with God and lives honestly, when his day-to-day lifestyle accurately reflects the changes that occurred on the inside, his whole life will be a witness to the world. Our Christlikeness will seem peculiar to the world, and it would be only natural to explain the difference to them.

Proverbs 4:18
Isaiah 60:1-3
Matthew 5:16
Romans 13:11-14
Ephesians 5:8
Philippians 2:15
1 Timothy 5:24-25
1 Peter 2:9

E. Because God has commanded us to. A big part of the Christian life involves letting Jesus Christ be our Lord—giving Him the same place in our lives that He already holds in the universe. If someone is your “lord,” that means he gets to call the shots. As Christians, our attitude should be that of Saul just after he had met the risen Christ on the way to Damascus: “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Jesus has told us in the Scripture what He wants us to do. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15).

Matthew 28:19-20
Mark 16:15
John 15:16
Acts 1:8

III. Who Do I Witness To?

The thing that weighs heaviest on the great heart of God is the need for the humans He created to cease their rebellion and return to Him (2 Peter 3:9). From before the day they were born God has been working to draw them back to Himself (Jeremiah 31:3). He cannot compromise their free will, but He can patiently arrange circumstances around them that eventually (hopefully) will convince them of their need for the Savior.

The primary tools He uses to win people back to Himself are people that have been won previously. Therefore, He will use anyone who is handy. If you are alone with a non-Christian for more than a few minutes, you can assume that God may want to use you to move that person a little closer to making a decision for Christ, through your words or your actions, or both. That’s called a “divine appointment.” It may be in God’s strategy that you give a complete gospel presentation, or He may not want you to share verbally at all right then. The important thing is to be open to whatever the Spirit leads you to do.

God will set up divine appointments for you with members of your family, friends, coworkers, barber or hairdresser, the washing machine repairman, even complete strangers. If you are willing and obedient, God will use you. You don’t have to lob a gospel grenade at everything that moves, nor should you make yourself obnoxious to your friends. The key is simply asking God, day by day, to fill you with His Spirit and make you aware of the divine appointments He has for you. When His Spirit nudges you, respond in loving obedience, and leave the results to Him.

IV. How Do I Witness?

Some people say we should witness by our lives. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As Joe Aldrich, president of Multnomah School of the Bible says, “We must be Good News before we can share Good News.”

Others say that witnessing is to be done by our words. After all, the non-Christian needs to make a decision. How can he know what the decision is unless someone tells him specifically?

The fact is, witnessing involves both of these components. If we try to make do with only one of them, our witness will be hollow. The words form the content of the message, but our lives serve to validate the message in the mind of the unbeliever.

A. Your life. When given a choice, most people opt for what they see over what they hear. Picture yourself waling down a dark alley late one night. You see, barely visible under a fire escape, a big, burly, unkempt character standing there holding a knife in one hand and a half-empty whiskey bottle in the other. He stares at you with a lean, hungry look. What do you think? Now, would you change your mind if he were to say, “Pardon me, buddy. Would you mind coming over here a sec’—I can’t seem to find my contact lens”? What he says seems pleasant enough, but what you’re looking at looks decidedly unpleasant, and if you are smart, you’ll either call for Superman on your secret de-coder ring or do a back flip with a half-twist and start sprinting. You would consider what you see as valid, rather than what you hear.[iii]

Non-Christians are no different from you. If Christians act one way and talk another, people always will assume that the actions portray the truth about that person. Talk is cheap.

For this reason, our actions form a large part of our Christian witness. When we forget this fact, we hurt the advance of the kingdom of God. Paul blasted the Corinthian believers for their lackadaisical attitude toward sinning because of the effect it was having on the unbelievers around them: “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

You are the only Bible that some people will ever read. They will look at you and say to them selves “So that’s Christianity.” One way or the other, you will be a witness—good or bad. Your actions will cause people either to be favorably impressed and drawn closer to Christ, or to be repulsed.

Most non-Christians will never come close to the majority of the church’s methods of evangelism. They’ll never go to a Billy Graham crusade; they’ll never go to any church that preaches the gospel; they’ll never look at the tracts they find in phone booths; they’ll never listen to a Christian radio or TV program. Some will, but most won’t. But they’ll talk with you. They’ll rub shoulders with you at work. They’ll watch you over the back fence to see how you treat your family. They’ll watch how you live in the dormitory. Your job is to let them see as much of Christ in you as possible.

B. Your words. But don’t stop there. Unfortunately, most Christians do. They focus on the first part of Matthew 5:16 and say, “Yep, I’m gonna let my little light shine, shine, shine,” and take it no further. They forget about the purpose of the shining, that men may “glorify your Father who is in heaven.” What ultimate good is accomplished by them watching you shine, if that’s as far as it goes? Can that save them? Our job isn’t done until we can add some “content” to our witness. Unless they hear the gospel, all the shining in the world will be of no benefit to them.

Paul instructed his disciple Timothy: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). That’s a lot of content. The same Jesus who told us to let our light shine also told us, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). Peter made it clear what our marching orders are in Acts 10:42: “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.”

V.    What Do I Say?

There is so much to say about Jesus that we could talk for hours on end. But usually, in a witnessing situation, the person we are talking to doesn’t have that kind of time. So the best thing to do is to have the basics of the gospel firmly in mind, and then expand on it as the opportunity provides. In addition, it’s helpful to share your own personal story, your “testimony,” about how you came to know Jesus Christ.

A. The basics of the gospel. In its most basic essence, the gospel can be boiled down to four very simple points.[iv] They are:

1. God loves every individual and created each one to have eternal fellowship with Him.

Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 31:3
John 3:16
John 4:13-14
John 10:10

2. Every individual has sinned, severing this fellowship with God, ultimately resulting in eternal separation.

Psalm 14:2-3
Isaiah 53:6
Romans 3:10-12
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Hebrews 9:27

 

3. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the penalty of our sin on Himself, making reunion with God possible.

John 3:17
Romans 5:8
Ephesians 1:6-7
Titus 2:14
1 Peter 3:18
1 John 4:9-10

 

4. The sacrifice of Jesus is applied to us individually as we, in an act of our will, receive Christ through faith.

John 1:12
John 3:1-8
John 5:24
Acts 16:31
Romans 10:9-10
Galatians 2:16
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 John 5:11-13
Revelation 3:20

Note to the disciplemaker: I realize this could be a sticky wicket for some people. “How does one ‘receive Christ’?” “Have faith in exactly what?” “Where does grace come in?” “Where does repentance come in?” “Where does ‘born again’ come in?” “Where does public confession come in?” You can go into the details about these things later, but the one thing your disciple must understand now is that salvation comes by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). If a person embraces a personal faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, was sacrificed on the cross in our place, was raised from the dead, and is able to bring us back to God, he’s on safe ground. The evidence (or result) of this faith is the decision to repent from sin (Acts 3:19; Romans 2:4) and begin to pursue a lifestyle of good works (Ephesians 2:10; 1 John 2:4-6). If a person “asks Christ to come into his life,” or “receives Christ,” and a corresponding change in his behavior is seen, it’s a strong indication that he has bought into “saving faith.”

There are two roads you can take with the four basic points of the gospel listed above: (1) Use them as a lead-in to teaching your disciple a specific method of sharing his faith (“Now, let me show you how we can use these four points in an interesting and easy method of sharing the gospel…”); or (2) leave them out altogether and just go right into sharing your favorite method. Help your disciple understand that different people will need to be spoken to in different ways about different things when it comes down to an actual gospel presentation, but if one knows a basic presentation, he can adapt and personalize it as needed.

If you don’t know a specific method of presenting the gospel yourself, I’d suggest getting hold of Witnessing Without Fear by Bill Bright, or asking your pastor or someone else who has been trained to show you.

B. Your testimony.

It may be easy for a non-Christian to argue with our theology or opinions, but he can’t argue with our personal experience. It’s a lot like the blind man Jesus healed in John 9. The Pharisees questioned his conversion theologically up one side and down the other, but all their arguments fell flat when the man finally said, “Whether He is a sinner, I do now know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”

Note to the disciplemaker: The best way to help someone work out his testimony involves three steps. First, share your testimony with him. As he listens to yours, he’ll get a good idea what one is supposed to sound like. Second, talk him through his own testimony. Use an interview format, asking him the three divisional questions:

1.  What was your life like before you met Christ?
2.  What were the circumstances surrounding your conversion?
3.  What changes have you seen in your life since you met Christ?

Guide him to expand on his answers as necessary, so that you and he can perceive the flow of his conversion experience. As he shares his answers, you might want to jot down a few notes to remember what he says, or better yet, record your conversation on tape.

Third, have him go home and write it out. The discipline of thought required for him to actually put it on paper will give him a chance to really think through what went on the day he was saved, and how best to relate it to another person. Have him write out the above three divisional questions, one on each of three sheets of paper and then write his answer to each one below it. Tell him that it should take him from three to five minutes to read his testimony.

Here are a few things he should avoid as he writes:

  • Exaggeration.
  • Glittering generalities (“My life is wonderful now, totally full of joy and peace, and all my problems are gone”).
  • Talking negatively about any particular church or denomination.
  • Religious lingo (“I was immediately born again and transformed into a new creation by exercising faith in the substitutionary atonement of Christ”).
  • Too much detail.
  • Irrelevant material.

Here are a few things he should include:

  • The three divisions: Before, How, After.
  • Exactly how he received Christ, so that when he finishes sharing, the listener will have a good idea how he, too, can receive Christ.
  • A Bible verse or two.

After your disciple has written out his testimony, critique it and determine if it needs some beefing up, changing or toning down. When all the rewrites are done, have him become very familiar with it, either by writing an outline of it and sharing it orally with you or a small group, or by actually memorizing it.

If you’d like to study a good, biblical example of someone sharing his testimony, turn to Paul’s in Acts 22:3-21 or 26:4-23

VI. What If A Person Rejects What I Say?

From time to time, that will happen, bur there are two facts you need to get firmly implanted in your frontal lobe.

First, realize they are not rejecting you as a person. In their minds they are merely disagreeing with an opinion you hold. They do that all the time. So do you. The only one they are really rejecting is Jesus Christ, for He said in Luke 10:16: “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the one who sent Me.” So try not to take it personally.

Second, realize that evangelism is a process, not an event, or more accurately, a process that leads to an event. The last step of the process is the event of conversion, but it is a rare thing for a person to receive Christ the first time he hears the gospel, A non-Christian needs to go through a process of supernatural education that will gradually dispel his doubts and dissipate the smoke screens Satan has been setting up for years. The non-Christian may hear the Good News from five or ten people, moving a little closer to faith in Christ each time until finally he is ready to “take the plunge.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:5-10 that one man may “plant the seed,” others may “water” it, but in the end, God causes the growth. As you share your faith with others, I’m sure you will have the tremendous privilege of reaping from time to time, but even when there doesn’t seem to be any positive response at all, you can be sure that your witness has helped in some way to move that person closer to the Lord. God’s Word “shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

VII.    Some Important Points To Remember While Witnessing

Here are a few attitudes and actions your disciple should try to employ while sharing the gospel.

1. Remember, it’s your job to witness. It’s God’s job to convert people.

John 6:44
John 16:7-11

2. Depend on the Holy Spirit to work supernaturally. Before you talk to men about God, talk to God about men.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
1 Thessalonians 1:5

3. Don’t look at people as “projects.”

Don’t look at witnessing as “zapping them with the gospel” or “going after scalps.” These are precious individuals whom Jesus Christ loves and died for, and sharing the gospel is a high and holy calling. Those you witness to can detect your attitude toward them. As Joe Aldrich says, “People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care.”

4. As you witness, be pleasant, friendly and positive.

Proverbs 12:18
Colossians 4:5-6
Ephesians 4:29

5. Avoid getting into arguments.

2 Timothy 2:16, 23-26

6. Avoid “rabbit trails.”

Stay on the subject of the gospel. If the person gets off track with questions, even legitimate ones, for example, “What about the heathen in Africa?” say, “That’s a good question, and worth an answer, but I’m not sure I can give you one right now. Let me do some studying on that and I’ll get back to you.” Or, “Why don’t we carry on through this presentation for now; if it’s not answered by the time we’re done, ask it again.”

7. Be sensitive.

Don’t try to cram the gospel down a person’s throat. As Paul said in Colossians 4:3, “Praying…that God may open up to us a door for the Word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ,” God needs to open the door—we don’t need to bash it open ourselves.

8. Use Scripture.

God’s Word has a supernatural effect on the listener. No need to defend a lion—just unleash it!

Isaiah 55:10-12
Hebrews 4:12

9. If he asks a question that stumps you, be honest and say, “I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll find out for you.” Then find out.

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, made it a personal policy never to be stumped on the same question twice.

10.  Don’t preach.

Have a conversation; ask questions; let the person talk; listen to what he says and respond appropriately.

11.  Be yourself.

Don’t put on any phony airs of bubbliness, religiousness, or superiority. Remember, you’re just one beggar telling another beggar where to find the soup kitchen.

12.  If at all possible, bring the witnessing situation to a point of decision by saying something like, “Would you like to ask Christ to come into your life right now?”

VIII. Long-Term, Behind-the-Scenes Preparation

Following are a few attitudes and actions a Christian should give attention to over the long-haul in order to be a fruitful witness.

1. Pray daily for “divine appointments.”

Ephesians 6:19
Colossians 4:3
2 Thessalonians 3:1

2. Maintain a lifestyle that is above reproach.

1 Timothy 1:7
1 Peter 2:12
1 Peter 2:15

3. Don’t isolate yourself from non-Christians.

Matthew 5:16
1 Corinthians 5:9-10

4. Make long-term, ongoing, advance preparation by studying Scripture so you will be increasingly effective in sharing your faith.

2 Timothy 2:15
1 Peter 3:15


[i] Definition adapted from William B. Bright’s “How To Witness in the Spirit,” Transferable Concept #5 (San Bernardino, CA. Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), p. 31.

[ii] William R. Bright, “How To Introduce Others To Christ,” Transferable Concept #6 (San Bernardino, CA: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), p.6.

[iii] Illustration from Pastor Erhardt G. von Trutzschler, Pastor-at-Large of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Diego. Also Director of “Spectrum Ministries.”

[iv] The four points are adapted from William B. Bright’s tract “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?” (San Bernardino, CA: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1965).