I’m a professor of evangelism and missions, but I still must work at doing evangelism. In fact, I constantly watch for people who evangelize regularly and seek to learn from them. Here are some characteristics of the most evangelistic people I know:
- They genuinely love the Lord with a passion. Their love for the Lord and their gratitude to Him are so deep that they almost can’t help but tell others about Jesus. God oozes out of them.
- They believe what the Bible says about lostness. They accept the reality of hell, and its truth compels them not to miss an opportunity. They seriously grieve the state of non-believers.
- They pray regularly for non-believers and for opportunities to evangelize. If you ask these folks to name non-believers for whom they’re praying, they can answer you quickly. Lost souls are always on their mind.
- They constantly look for open doors to talk about Jesus. The conversation may be brief, but they somehow get to Jesus. As one of my mentors says, “I always look for an opportunity to leave people with eternity in mind.”
- Even if they’re introverted, they push beyond their discomfort to tell the good news. My point is that they’re not always extraverted. They just make themselves be obedient to the gospel.
- They’re not worried about getting glory for being a strong evangelist. That’s because they know the story’s not about them in the first place. Humility and faithful evangelism seem to go hand-in-hand.
- They may have many tools in their toolbox, but they usually have one preferred method to evangelize. You can just tell they’re comfortable with that method; in fact, they’ve often combined several resources to create their own approach.
- They know the Word well. Indeed, they’ve often memorized so much scripture they can quickly run to a text in the midst of an evangelistic conversation. The Word is always on their lips.
- They have a heart for the nations. At least in these cases, a love for neighbors and a love for the nations are complementary. Many of the most evangelistic people I know, in fact, have served at least short-term on the mission field.
What traits do you see in evangelistic believers?
10. Christians who are genuinely evangelistic live according to the teaching and example of the one whom they call Lord. They are genuine disciples of Jesus Christ. They don’t just spout Jesus’ word. They keep it.
11. They genuinely care about people. They are not scalp collecting or head hunting, looking for a new trophy to hang on their belt or their wall. They take time to build relationships with the people they are seeking to reach They don’t befriend someone just to lead them to Jesus and they don’t abandon those who don’t respond immediately. They really invest in their relationships with those they are seeking to reach. They love them into the kingdom. If you ask whoever they have befriended who really cares about them, their name will be one of the fist people on their lips.
12. They are good listeners. Those to whom they listen go away feeling they were heard. They don’t leave the impression they were just waiting for an opportunity to jump in with a Scripture verse or a two-minute gospel presentation. They care about what was going on in the lives of those to whom they were listening.
13. They take time to learn the “spiritual address” of those whom they are seeking to reach. They don’t assume everyone is at the same stage in their spiritual lives. They recognize that those whom they are seeking to reach may have needs and concerns that must be addressed before they will open to hearing about Jesus.
14. They recognize that whether those whom they are seeking to reach come to faith is ultimately in God’s hands. Their part may be to prepare the ground, to plant the seed, to water the seed, and to tend the young plant. Harvesting the ripened grain may be another’s part.
15. They come across to those to whom they are seeking to reach as someone in whose life God is working. They too are a work in progress.
16. They disciple and mentor those who come to faith. They remain their friend, encouraging them, strengthening them, and helping them in time of need. . .
It would be helpful if you did an article expanding point #4. How do they shift the conversation to eternal topics? As always, thank you for your articles.
Here are two resources I am using for evangelism: Finding More by Rico Tice and Rachel Jones from The Good Book Company, published last year. Eleven testimonies are shared. While the gospel is not spelled out perfectly in every story, by the time you finish, you have a pretty good picture. The other resource is The Word 121, from 10 Publishing, a division of 10 of Those. This is a series covering the gospel of John. The biblical text is on one page and brief comments are on the facing page. This means there is no juggling of books. It does not require preparation for the person new to the Bible. It is designed to read together, hence one to one(121). This British ministry has videos on YouTube to show you how to use the material.Their website is http://www.theword121.com. I am using this with two friends currently, one getting reestablished in her faith and one who is not a believer. The second one told me after the second lesson that she likes the format very much. I hope others may find these can be helpful tools!