Genuine heart-driven Evangelism

The Great Commission commands believers to spread the gospel to all the nations. Believers have a duty to tell others the good news of the gospel. God has saved you and given you the responsibility to represent Him by participating in the Great Commission. The Word tells us the gospel is offensive yet we are commanded not to be offensive.

Over the years I have seen and pondered many approaches to evangelism especially how to tell someone the gospel without being offensive, or coming across as a "bible thumper". Approaches that are done by appealing to someone's conscious or intellect come across as shallow and most people see through them. People know when you are being real, people know when you are genuine and are concerned with them as a person. They can see through techniques and processes and find anything less than a straight forward approach to be insulting.

Listen to Penn Jillette of the famous Penn and Teller team tell you in his own words.





What can we learn from this:

People are smart and can tell when your are genuine.

Be believable, this Gideon was believable enough that Penn believed the man was credible in faith and practice.

Find a way to connect with the person you are talking to and be sincere about it. The Gideon complimented Penn on his show, use of language, honesty and stuff.

Tell them your purpose straight up. Don't spend time trying to develop a friendship or hey have you ever taken a test to see what kind of person you are.

Tell them who you are and that you are saved.

Look them in the eye.

Be yourself.

Be real.

Be honest.

Be kind.

Be sane.

Don't be defensive.

Treat them with respect by being straight forward and upfront.

Give them a sound gospel tract to read.

Provide them a next step to get together and discuss, you know, a phone number, an email, or a cell phone number.

By the way, say a prayer for Penn Jillette.

Go tell someone how much you love them by telling them the gospel.