How to Evangelise

By Phil Pillans

A fair amount of time at church is spent on preaching and teaching about the Great Commission. In other words, Christ calls us to make disciples of all nations and to baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Does this scare you? Guess what – this is perfectly normal.

The first thing that you should know is that Christ can use anybody – whether you are a so-called people’s person, or shy. The first requirement of the Great Commission is faith. You can nurture your faith through prayer, reading the Word, and connecting with other believers.

So what’s next? Here are a few pointers.

1. It’s not about you. Always show respect for the other person’s beliefs and private life –  we cannot change them, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:15-16).

2. Pray in the Spirit. Pray quietly in tongues and listen to them and the Holy Spirit while the other person is speaking. You are changing the spiritual realm around you and may receive a word of wisdom or knowledge for them. Tongues is also a weapon of spiritual warfare (2 Cor 4:4, Eph 6:18 & 2 Cor 10:3-5).

3. Spread the Good News. It is especially important to tell potential believers that God loves them and they were put on this earth for a purpose (John 3:16).

4. You can’t be a person’s conscience. Don’t try and be the Holy Spirit and convict people of their sin. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job (Romans 2:4). It’s the goodness, patience and kindness of God that leads to repentance because love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8) for we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

5. Be a friend in Christ. If a person on the street responds and you lead them to the Lord, try to walk them down to the church so they know where it is, and if available offer them coffee/ tea/ biscuits and, most of all, friendship. Jesus didn’t say we should make converts, He said we make disciples, which happens when a person is integrated into the life of a church, sits under biblical teaching, builds relationships, and matures in the Lord (Matt 28:19).

God will always take the little faith we have and multiply it!

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