As a young child and as a youth I had minimal exposure to the gospel. Still somehow, I picked up on a few truths:
- There is a God
- He created the world
- Jesus is God’s son and…
- Jesus died for my sins—nailed to a cross
Through a few positive church experiences I came to believe God was good and I associated Him with joy. One of these experiences was at a Union Gospel Mission when I was ten.
Still, I didn’t really know Jesus. I hadn’t read the Bible. I did try to read the Bible in high school but I ended up throwing it across the room because I didn’t understand what I was reading. I thought if I wasn’t one of the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7 that I couldn’t be saved. I was pretty sure I wasn’t Jewish. I should have kept reading… or better yet, I should have started with the gospels.
I didn’t actually come to Jesus until I was nearly 25 years old (which started with a desperate cry to God for help because I thought there was a good chance I was going to die.)
As a young Christian in my mid-twenties I sometimes wondered, “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about Jesus?”
Ironically, it took me decades to develop the courage and passion to share Jesus with strangers. I figured people knew what they were saying no to. What a lie.
“But how can people call on him if they have not believed in him? How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message? How can they hear if no one tells the Good News? How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? As Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who announce the Good News.”
Romans 10:14-15
If you feel you don’t have enough passion for a lost and dying world that can only be saved by Jesus, ask Him for that passion. I cried out to God in prayer for that passion (not just once), “God, give me your heart for the lost. Break my heart for what breaks yours.” He did answer that prayer.
“So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:21-23
‘So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ‘ Luke 14:21-23 https://my.bible.com/bible/114/LUK.14.21-23
Can’t you just hear God’s heart for the lost in this passage? His passion? His LOVE? He wants His house to be full!
I don’t have “the perfect approach” to sharing Jesus with others but I have learned some things from others and through personal experience. (In this post I am specifically writing about sharing Jesus with people I don’t know.)
Love. Without love I am a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1) and that is how the message will come across if my motive is anything else. God is Love. Keep Love the primary thing.
You can start with just encouraging people. One time my friend Hayley simply thanked a lady who was stocking shelves at Walmart for doing her job well. This brought the Walmart worker to tears!
Before you go out ask Holy Spirit to show you someone you can encourage or pray for and trust Him to guide you.
Be yourself. God has created you uniquely and given you gifts and talents. The anointing is on the real you!
How do you share Jesus? How was the gospel shared with you or what made you want to come to Christ when you did?