Ep. 41 - How to Share Your Faith: 7 C's for Authentic Evangelism

Struggling to share your faith with others? Discover the seven C's for authentically  communicating your faith in this  episode. I discuss how to engage in genuine conversations without confrontation while keeping Christ at the center. I  explore how to be good neighbors and friends through honest and open dialogue while making Christianity intellectually and emotionally compelling. Our goal is to invite others into a relationship with Christ, not just win an argument. Evangelism is hard. But these seven C's make it a bit easier and more authentic.

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How to Share Your Faith” 7 C’s for Authentic Evangelism

Evangelism is hard. Some people are just naturally and spiritually gifted to share the gospel, but for the rest of us, sharing our faith is super scary and difficult. I am not an evangelist so I really understand and resonate with this, but I have learned a few things along the way that I think helps. Here I'm going to share seven C's to make sharing our faith a bit easier and effective. I'm JC Schroeder and this is Bite Size Seminary. Number one conversation. All we're doing when we're sharing our faith is having a conversation with someone. It's not a sermon, it's not a thesis or an argument. Conversation, not confrontation. You're chatting with a friend. You can keep it casual. It doesn't have to be some deep, dark, difficult thing. It doesn't have to be long or even super in depth. This can really, i think, help take the pressure off of having that conversation, because it's just a conversation. I don't have to have like 15 really well-reasoned and articulated points, like I'm trying to win some debate. I'm just sharing my own experiences and thoughts about Christ and my relationship with him and hearing what thoughts my friends have. Number two is curiosity. This segues, i think, well with the previous point, since we're just having a conversation and not a debate and this is my friend that I'm talking to. I am genuinely going to be interested in their thoughts, perspectives and experiences. I'm curious to hear what they have to say, even if it totally disagrees with my own perspective. When I'm self-centered or defensive, it's not going to help the gospel or my relationship in any way. This being curious is what makes a good neighbor and a good friend. It also allows you to hear potential objections to Christianity and gives you some more things to talk about and to respond to. Be curious, not in a creepy way, but in a kind and friendly way with the friend that you're talking with. Number three conviction Being in a conversation and curious doesn't mean that we don't live and talk without conviction. We don't want to shy away from the truths of the gospel. Part of having a good conversation and friendship is being honest. Right, if you're not ever honest with your friend, that's not a great friendship. We have to lay out. This is where I stand. This is what the Bible says. You can, in a very gentle, kind way, push back on something that your friend says like this I hear what you're saying, but I'm not really sure that logically works. Or you could say something like. Have you thought about this other aspect that maybe makes your view kind of problematic? That's not what I'm saying. You can push back of it, but you want to do this kindly, compassionately. We'll hit that in just a minute. We can state with conviction what the Bible says, but our conviction is not enough. We also need compassion. Number four is compassion. Think about this for a moment. We are representing Christ. We are His ambassador. What an incredible privilege this is that He would task us in this way and that we have this kind of God. He treated people with incredible compassion. The God who created all the universe treats us with compassion. He sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners, people on the extreme margins of society, people who no one else wanted to be with. Jesus was with them and he showed incredible compassion. He shielded them from shame from others and honored them with his actions and his words. We want to embody his concern and attitude for others. We want his vision for others to be our own vision. We are not trying to win an argument, we're trying to win the soul. Having compassion comes out in our view and attitude toward people and about people. It also means having the wisdom to know when to stop talking just like no more, you're done, let them all that over. Or how to phrase a difficult topic so that it can be received well. There are just so many theological cultural issues that are swirling around in our world. Christians, we speak with just such venom and vitriol. It's just disgusting. We do not represent Christ well. We don't want to move from our own conviction and the conviction of Scripture, but we need the compassion of Christ. We speak the truth in love. Number five Christ. Perhaps one of the most important things to keep in mind is to keep Christ front and center. We are sharing about our Savior, how he saved us and how he can save our friend. We're not there to get on some soapbox about our hobby horse theological issue As important as talking about how to read Genesis or Revelation, how important that can be. We don't want that to distract from the person and work of Christ. You may need to talk about those particular topics or about other questions and concerns with other theological issues, but we want to be wary of getting sidetracked. The focus is on Christ. He is the one who saves, not write theology about a whole host of issues. It's Christ. We want to invite people into a relationship with Christ. Number six Candid. This topic, i think, is a hard one for us, but I think it's also really important. It helps to undergird several of the previous points that we've already talked about. We need to be candid about the difficulties and complexities in Scripture and in Christianity. Remember we're having a conversation with our friend and our desires. We want them to be open and honest with us. If we're being defensive and walled off, that does not foster a conversation or relationship. If you get a hard question, don't do the whole song and dance thing. You just give a lame answer because you really don't know. Just say you don't know. Also, follow that up with saying I'll look into it. You actually go when you look into it and you come back with here's what I found. Something like that. Not everything in Scripture is super nice and tidy or has a quick, easy answer that everyone should always know. There are really difficult topics and questions questions about slavery, war, women in the Bible. These are tough topics, right, there are really good answers out there. But we don't need to have this persona that we know everything or nothing ever confuses us or is perplexing. The central aspect of Christianity is that Christ died for my sins and was raised from the dead. Being honest about your thoughts will again be an act of a good neighbor and friend to the individual that you're in conversation with. It helps give credibility that you're actually honest and actually thinking about your faith. Be candid in your conversation and in your thinking about Scripture. The final C is compelling. We have the greatest God anyone can ever conceive, yet we talk about him like he's a math problem instead of him being the greatest person in story ever. We want to show how wonderful and beautiful God really is, talk about his grace, talk about Christ's humility and compassion. Reason plays a role in a person's conversion, but there is also emotion. We don't want to manipulate those emotions, but we do want to show how Christ is and Christianity is intellectually and emotionally compelling. God loves and wants us, and God loves and wants them. Hopefully, one or two of these tips will help make our evangelism a bit easier and more effective. Remember the Lord is not looking for superstars or perfection. Isn't that comforting? I take a lot of comfort from that. He just wants us to share him wherever we go in our lives and our speech. He empowers us to do this and I pray that Christ will be at the forefront of our lives and our relationships. Thank you so much for watching.