There are many ways to communicate the gospel to people around us, but we often don't know where to begin. Multiple evangelistic methods suggest starting with sin, but is this the best place to begin? When we consider The Engel Scale , it can help us contextualise what we say, in a way that will be more relevant to where a person is on their journey to faith. Yet we may not always know that, especially if we are speaking to someone we don't know well. What can we learn from Jesus? Do we consider Jesus as a great evangelist, whose approach to sharing the gospel with someone as the model to follow? If so, what can we learn from him? Even a brief reading of the gospel stories shows us that Jesus shared the gospel differently with each of the individuals he was speaking with. Before speaking, he would consider the person in front of him and the condition of their heart towards God. Often he would share a story, sometime he would ask a question, other times he would pray for a miracle. Jesus would be looking for the heart issues that would stop them from believing in him. He didn't deliver a generic three-point message in the hope that it would land in their heart and cause them to want to repent. He crafted his message so it would have maximum impact, often requiring some individuals to go away and do some further thinking. He was looking for people who were open to his message. Sometimes he would compliment unbelievers for their faith. Perhaps the best known example is the Roman Centurion who sought out Jesus to heal his servant. He simply believed that all Jesus needed to do was to say the word, and his servant would be healed. He was convinced that Jesus did not need to come to his house and see his servant in person to heal him. Jesus' response to the Centurion's faith was unexpected: " When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ." (Matthew 8:10-11). Jesus compliments this Centurion for his faith. He doesn't start with his sin, but instead he starts with something that amazes him about the man in front of him. Think for a minute, God can be amazed at things in the lives of unbelievers around you . It may be their faith, it may be the way they love people, or the way they have handled a devastating event in their life. How about asking God what he loves about the unbelievers you know? How about suggesting to people that God may have a high opinion of them? How about even thinking that they may have acted in a way that caught God's attention in a positive way? Maybe for some, telling them what God loves about them is the place where we need to start when we share the gospel. Here is a story that illustrates the importance of this. In this evangelistic moment, God shares with Mark what he loves about a waitress.

Have you ever wondered what is the best way to share the gospel? There is no one more amazing than Jesus, so how do we introduce people to him?

Have you ever wondered why you struggle with sharing your faith? What if your struggle with evangelism had little to do with you and more to do with the way it has been taught and modelled? Maybe you can share your faith but your past experiences with evangelism have left you thinking otherwise. In the gospels, the disciples ask Jesus many questions, but not one of them is related to a struggle with evangelism. There are no recorded incidents where Peter or John, or any of the other disciples, say to Jesus “I am struggling to share my faith”, or “it doesn’t seem to work for me”, or “I don’t think I can do it”, or “should I leave it with others to do?”. Have you ever been in a public place, like the High Street, and seen some evangelistic outreach where they focus on sin, shout at people, and use language many will not understand? Did you feel that you did not want to be associated with it? Did you want to give it a wide berth? Did you wonder whether it was effective? If so, you are not alone. Many Christians have the same reaction to such styles of evangelistic outreach. This is because it seems to go against what they read in the Bible, what they know God is like and is different to how Jesus and the early disciples did evangelism. So where do these styles of evangelism come from? A lot of our common evangelism methods come from the revivals in the nineteenth century. For example, D. L. Moody was an early proponent of ‘ The Sinner’s Prayer ’, which has been popularised by many evangelists since. Yet this was not practised before the 1700s and cannot be found in the Bible. Most of church history has seen conversions and growth without the use of this evangelistic tool. Another example is how Charles Finney's evangelistic methods were influenced by Pragmatism, which began in the United States in the late 19 th Century. Pragmatism is a “philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action.” This led to an over-emphasis on methods, rather than on dependence on the Holy Spirit. Finney wrote within his Systematic Theology “A revival is not a miracle, nor dependent on a miracle, in any sense. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means—as much so as any other effect produced by the application of means.”. This shows the influence of Pragmatism within his thinking and an overreliance and overconfidence in his methods. The legacy of this thinking has meant that evangelistic training today relies on so-called ‘tried and tested’ methods which focus on a person ‘making a decision’ (aka conversion), rather than on, as Jesus taught, helping unbelievers find the treasure of the Kingdom of God so that they will give all they have to obtain it (Matthew 13:44-46). Another popular way of sharing the gospel is to use the Roman Road . This includes four points based on eight verses in Romans. Our primary concerns with this are (1) it is a ‘cookie cutter’ approach that does not draw upon people’s God-given evangelistic strengths , and (2), relies on logic alone rather than a supernatural experience of God’s Kingdom. These evangelistic methods have been taught and used widely for over a hundred and fifty years. Yet many do not seem to ask whether they are Biblical, the most effective, or what Jesus would do in an evangelistic moment. Some say “there is fruit, therefore the method works”. In other words, the “ end justifies the means ”, begging the question … is any method acceptable regardless of its consequences? So, what are some of the unintended consequences of these methods? We would highlight the following five as the most significant: Large numbers of Christians have disengaged from evangelism, having struggled with, or had bad experiences with using evangelistic methods. Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ . An equally large number of Christians don’t want to associate with some evangelistic methods that they find cringey or even offensive. Almost half of practising Christian Millennials say evangelism is wrong . Evangelism Training can focus on methods rather than helping Christians find their evangelistic strengths . How often have you heard an evangelist say, “you need more courage”? Courage is helpful but on its own will not transform someone’s experience of evangelism. The emphasis of evangelism has become conversion rather than entering the kingdom. Jesus came to reveal his Kingship and his kingdom. Jesus said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17). We don’t do evangelism like Jesus and the disciples did. Their evangelism was inherently supernatural. It involved miracles, secrets of people's hearts being revealed, and bespoke conversations. People were challenged but also left feeling loved and valued. The good news is that you don’t have to live with these unintended consequences, we can discover how God originally designed evangelism to be. If you want to overcome your hindrances to evangelism, we would recommend this FREE Podcast to begin your journey. You can also read testimonies from others that are getting free to enjoy evangelism.

God wants to invite us into evangelistic moments where we get to join in with what he is already doing in the life of an unbeliever. How do we develop such an evangelistic lifestyle? What mindset and beliefs do we need?

When God shares with us information about a person we could not naturally know, it creates a powerful moment when the person we are speaking to realises that God knows them. How do we share such information with an unbeliever?

The elephant in the church is that many Christians do not like doing evangelism. Yet there are God-given answers to any struggles we may have with evangelism. How does this relate to Jesus kingdom and how he and the apostles did evangelism?

Have you ever thought about how God has uniquely designed you to be evangelistic? Being evangelistic is in your spiritual DNA and God wants to take you on a journey to discover it. How do your evangelistic strengths relate to your other strengths?

Have you ever been stuck in an evangelistic moment? Hear the story about how a prophetic word unlocked an evangelistic moment and profoundly impacted a taxi driver. Learn from how Jesus did evangelism.

There are more evangelistic opportunities than there have ever been. What does God want to do in and through you today to bring in the harvest? Open you eyes to see what God is doing in unbelievers around you.