Equipped for Impact

Rethinking Evangelism: Living Well and Sharing Clearly

• Luis Miranda and Nathan Deck • Season 2 • Episode 32

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We rethink the popular idea that actions alone can share the gospel and show why clear words about Jesus are essential. We offer practical steps for parents, teachers and leaders to start humble, authentic conversations that point to Christ.

• defining evangelism as proclaiming the good news
• why “use words if necessary” falls short
• good works as signposts, not the message
• what evangelism is not: debates and guilt
• every believer’s call to make disciples
• practical on-ramps and short testimonies
• aligning life and words for credible witness
• simple steps for parents to practice at home

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This podcast is presented by Wayne Christian School- A Christ-centered community school whose mission is to assist parents and churches in the education of their children from a biblical worldview to impact their world for Christ. You can learn more at waynechristian.org

Nate:

Welcome to Equiped for Impact, the podcast that helps Christian parents, leaders, and educators raise up the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence the world for Christ. We're your hosts. I'm Nate. And I'm Lewis. And we are glad you're here with us today. We are diving into a topic that really gets heart right to the heart of our mission as believers, right? Lewis? And that's that's evangelism. Yeah, that's right.

Luis:

So you've all probably heard the famous line that is attributed probably incorrectly. Incorrectly attributed to Saint Francis of Assissi.

Nate:

A sissy.

Luis:

Was he a sissy? Um I don't know.

Nate:

That's like, you know, offensive. It could be. What if we just call him Frank?

Luis:

Let's call him Frank. Okay. Saint Frank of somewhere. Uh, and it's this quote, and you've probably heard it preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.

Nate:

But That's like tweetable. Yeah. Like hashtag evangelism.

Luis:

But what does that really mean?

Nate:

Uh and is it even biblical? That's that's the big question here.

Luis:

That's the big question.

Nate:

Um and so we're looking at that question today, right? Um, what is biblical evangelism? What does it look like in our world right now? Because obviously, you you know, we're not gonna be, you know, you open up to Acts 2 and you know the disciples freshly empowered with the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and they're going out preaching in the streets, you know, and there was a time and place when that was pretty popular.

Luis:

And eating bread. It says that they broke bread daily.

Nate:

They did break bread daily. Um because apparently they didn't have bread knives, so they had to break it. Yep. Yep. What kind of bread do you think it was? Um I don't know. I have no clue. It was kosher, whatever it was, because they were still very Jewish. So it wasn't like bagels. No, probably not bagels. I don't think bagels had been invented yet. We have to look there. Were bagels invented? I'll look that up later. Okay. Um but getting back on track. Um, you know, our culture is different, right? We're, you know, 21st century, post-COVID, um, we're in America. Um, I don't know. We've got some listeners that are international, so whatever country you're in, um, but what does it look like to share the gospel faithfully? Um, especially in a culture that is often confused about truth and the resistant to the message of Christ. Um, so let's dive in. Like, where do you think we need to start in this conversation, Lewis?

Luis:

Uh why don't we start by defining evangelism, right? And so um you might be listening to this and you might have heard the word evangelism. Maybe, maybe you've heard evangelist, um, and so and so you're trying to understand really what we're talking about. Uh, but evangelism isn't isn't complicated, but it is often misunderstood. And the word comes from the Greek ewankeleon, uh, which means good news, right? Yeah, and so at the core of the word evangelism is just simply the act of proclaiming the good news. So this will get really nerdy and and we like nerdy. And I don't even know if it's accurate, but I heard it and it sounds really good. Okay. Like in ancient Greece.

Nate:

Is this misattributed to you oftentimes?

Luis:

No, no, no. Okay. No, this one, this this one I heard a long time ago, and I've just kind of accepted it as fact. Okay. But it may not be true. Was it on the internet? No, this one was I heard it in a sermon. Okay, so it's gotta be true. So it has to be, right? And so in ancient Greece, when the when they would have these guys that were stationed at each, like the like the towers of each city, and then when there was good news to share, they would run to the next city to share it, and then they would have a person stationed there who would then get the good news and run to the next city. Because I guess apparently, you know, the guy the modern day Pony Express. Kind of, right? And so I guess the the first guy was too tired to run to the next city. So they had And they were called evangelists because they were carrying the good news from town to town.

Nate:

So proclaiming that proclaiming the good news. Would you know that's where the marathon came from.

Luis:

Oh, I didn't know that.

Nate:

So it was the Battle of Marathon. Yeah. And the it was twenty-six point two miles, however many that is in kilometers, um, to back to the city. And so he ran that twenty-six point two miles, proclaimed the good news of victory, and then fell over and died. Wow. Um which is why I've never ran a marathon. Half marathon, yes. Full marathon, no.

Luis:

I've never run a marathon either. Okay. I I believe that. So a half marathon. Or a half marathon. Five K? Um I did run a five K.

Nate:

I've I've run a couple five K's. We'll go with that. We'll go with that. But what I love about that is many times that it's it was specifically used for proclaiming a victory. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Which again, not to get too nerdy, but just think about it, when we're sharing the gospel, we are proclaiming the victory that Christ already has won. Yep. Right. And so we're just inviting people in to that, you know, the gospel, the victory that Christ won for them. And so that's an awesome thing. It just kind of like sets the stage for what we're doing, why we're doing that.

Luis:

And that's where the whole word evangelism comes from, right? So evangelism is the act of proclaiming good news. For us as believers, it's actually proclaiming the good news, which is that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again to give us eternal life.

Nate:

Aaron Powell, that's right. And it's and it is so important that evangelism is sharing the gospel, right? It's not just showing it. Kind of going back to our quote, right? Um, preach the gospel every day, use words if necessary. The problem is that a message like this is inherently words, right? You can't share the gospel without using words. So you go to Romans 10, right? Um whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, right? How will they call if they haven't believed? And then it says in verse 14, and how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching? And so the the what's baked right into those questions is the the assumption that someone has to preach, to use the words, to tell them the gospel for them to hear, to believe, to call.

Luis:

Because you can't believe what you've never heard, right? And so living faithfully matters, but at some point the message has to be spoken. Yeah, that's right. And we live in a time when many Christians think that that being kind or being good or being nice is the same thing as being evangelistic. Like if if I just live a Christian life, then I'm being I'm sharing the good news, right? And while kindness matters, that's not the gospel.

Nate:

Yeah. I think you're you're right, because the gospel isn't be a good person. Yeah. Right? If all we're doing is living exempl, which we should, right? Live exemplary lives. But if that's all we're doing, if that's all we as parents are doing is training our kids to live good lives, right? Be a moral person, plenty of religions say that. Um but the gospel is specifically trust in Jesus who died to take the penalty for your sin. Um and so evangelism calls people to that repentance, the turning to him, and the faith, right? The trust in him. And you can't do that without using words.

Luis:

We our family attended there's a local church here in our area that does a fall production called Judgment Day. And we attended it this weekend and had a chance. But one of the things that I really appreciated that the church did as part of its production, it actually brought that out. There was a character in the in the walkthrough play that was a good person. And they talked about all the good stuff they did. They gave they they went on missions trips, they uh attended church, they wrote cards, they fed the needy, they did all of these good things, but they never trusted Jesus. And and so it was it was kind of the embodiment of what you just described there, right? That the gospel isn't be a good person, and you can be a good person all you want to, but unless you've trusted Jesus, and unless you're telling other people to trust Jesus with your words, just being good isn't isn't what God requires of us. Yeah. And so now let's talk about what evangelism is not, right? First, evangelism isn't about winning arguments. Um and we live in an age today where people love to put sound bites like on social media. And so our podcast put sound bites on social media. We do good, but uh, but ours our ours are good. I'm talking about the ones where it's like um takes like a like like a soundbite. Like a tweetable quote. Like a tweetable quote, and then like drops the mic on like social media and then it blows up into this big argument, right? Right. Um and so you can win a debate. You can win a debate on Facebook. Yeah, you can win a debate face to face.

Nate:

Who's on Facebook anymore?

Luis:

Uh I think old people are.

Nate:

Oh, okay. Old people are. I'm not. So does that make me old? Uh or no, I'm not old. You're not old, but I don't know. I would use a different word, I think. You would use a different word for me? Okay. I'm interested to see what that word is. We can talk about that when the mics are turned off.

Luis:

You can you can win a debate, right? On Facebook, social media, wherever, Snapchat, right, you know, but lose a soul.

Nate:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so true because evangelism isn't a contest of who's right, you know. It's a it's a conversation um about you know who's righteous. That's good, that's really good. And it's not us. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Um we are not righteous. And so we need to come into that even with humility of I'm not here trying to debate you and win an argument. I'm here trying to share I have a a a truth, right? The the truth. Yeah. And I'm trying to share that with you because you you need it. So we're we're pointing people to the truth that Christ is, you know, the only way, the truth and the life. And so we gotta get there too, to trusting him, not winning some logical debate. Yeah.

Luis:

When when I was in high school, like that was that was like my thing. Like I wanted to win the debate, right? Like, like like catching.

Nate:

Were you on the debate team?

Luis:

I wasn't, no, but but I was one of those, I was kind of a jerk Christian in high school that, you know, like like had all of the answers, right? And so like I it was like my life's mission to like prove to you that I was a Christian and then prove you wrong as to why you weren't. And so there's a lot of arguments that I'm not proud of now. Um, but then on the flip side, right, it's also not about guilt trips, right? We don't we don't share the gospel because we have to earn God's favor. We we share the gospel because we already have his grace and because we want others to experience it. So it's not about making them feel guilty about them not being a Christian or making them feel less than us or feel unworthy. It's recognizing, look, I'm unworthy too. Like I don't deserve what God's done for me, and I want you to experience that same thing that I have.

Nate:

Yeah, that's that's good. And I think it's important to bring out here that evangelism isn't just for, you know, pastors, missionaries, you know, people that are quote in ministry, right? Um and I use that loosely, right? Ministry, because the truth is it's a command for every believer, right? We are all in ministry. Um it's just that some of us have a ministry in the secular workforce, and some of us have a ministry in what we'll use vocational ministry. You know, you get your living by the ministry, pastors, missionaries, things like that, right? Matthew twenty-eight is for everybody. Um it's repeated in Acts 1.8, right? It's you know, go and make disciples. And you do that by baptizing, teaching, you know, go as you're going about your life, right? And so that idea of making disciples baked into that is But that just applies to the people that were there that day, right? Only them?

Luis:

Yeah.

Nate:

I don't think so. No? No. Because it was given to everybody, right? Okay. It was like, hey, all of you. It actually doesn't say that it was just the twelve, right? It was just anybody. You can't see my sarcasm, but you can.

Luis:

But I'm being sarcastic.

Nate:

We still haven't gotten that little button that does the when we when we make sarcasm. But um you know, the so the first part of making disciples is evangelism. I I like to say I actually teach a class on on discipleship every once in a while. And in that process of the class, I make the statement that um discipleship begins and ends with evangelism. Not that discipleship ever ends, right? I always have to say that. But it starts with someone trusting Christ, right? And then they are a follower, a disciple, and then they share it themselves, right? Where they're making new disciples. And so it's a it's a multiplication process down through through the ages, really. Um so it's to everybody, right? Moms, dads, teachers, students, children, everybody needs to be making disciples, starting with evangelism.

Luis:

That's that's really good. And and when we view evangelism as part of our everyday obedience as believers, right? That's that's the part of our calling as Christians. Like it's it's not an optional thing. Then then it stops feeling like an optional assignment, and then it starts feeling like a natural overflow of love for Jesus, right? We we share, we share Jesus because we love him, and it's just it's just spilling out. Um excuse me, it's almost like right now, like when kids hear the six seven, yeah, yeah, right? Like it's it's an automatic response, right? Like it's just six seven, and then it's like, ah, you know, everybody goes crazy. And now it's like 41? I've I've I've heard of 41, but I think they're just randomly making a number of things.

Nate:

I'm not buying it though. I'm not buying 41. Yeah. It's weird. Okay, so so we've talked about what it's not. We know why we need to do it. Um so how do we actually do this, right? People are skeptical, people are busy, people are often uninterested in spiritual things. Um they're indifferent. I think there's a lot of indifference, you know, just a oh well, okay, well, that's good for you. You do the Jesus thing. I've got my own life. So how do we do this in um, you know, trying to intentionally share the gospel?

Luis:

Well, I it starts with being intentional. Okay, like like you have to be intentional because gospel conversations are not gonna happen by accident. Like there, there aren't people running up to you and saying, How do I become a Christian? Right? Like there aren't people that are lining up the streets to for you to walk by and be like, hey, let me tell you about Jesus. And so and so you have to be intentional about having those conversations. And so, and so pray for opportunities. Ask for God to open doors with people in in your life. Maybe it's your neighbor, maybe it's a coworker, make maybe it's it's a a parent of a teammate on your kids' travel team, right? And so, and so how do you open doors to have conversations with people? And and I mean like real conversations, right? Because sometimes when people hear it intentional, they're like going back to what I said earlier about like I'm I'm I'm gonna post a tweet, right? I'm I'm gonna post a tweet on Twitter. I guess it's called X now, right? And then I still don't call it X now. You don't call it that. And so um I'm gonna tweet on on X. Do you tweet on X? What do you call it now? Post. Post? You post on X? Yeah. Okay, that's weird. It is weird, it doesn't work. So you gotta tweet. I'm gonna tweet on Twitter, right? And then I'm gonna drop this, like, you know, if you were to die today, would you go to heaven and hell, right? Like that's not the intentionality I'm talking about. The intention that I'm talking about is that if you have a neighbor that you know is not a Christian, you are praying for opportunities for you to be able to talk to that neighbor about Jesus.

Nate:

Yeah, and I think when the opportunity comes and this this links together, you've got to be authentic, right? Um I had a class that I took as as a student that they they talked about sharing the gospel and sharing your faith. And the professor, probably the best thing that I got out of that class was he talked about on ramps, you know? And God's story, which is you know, the gospel is central in God's story that he is writing throughout all of history, is this highway. And so we've got these different on-ramps where we can seek connect people from where they are into God's story, right? And many times that's meeting people right where they are. They're talking to people love to complain. I don't know, if you've been on X, you may realize that people like to complain. But people like to complain, right? And so you're sitting there. You don't you didn't know that? People like to complain? Here's the sarcasm sarcasm button. Um so so even there, you know, somebody's complained and they're and I mean, hey, life is tough, right? The world is broken. And so we can meet people right where they are, acknowledging the hurt, the brokenness, whatever, and use that as an on-ramp to be like, the world is broken. Yeah. You know why it's broken? Yeah. Because of sin, and you're going to hell. No, don't do it quite that abruptly. But um, you know, but that is kind of the direction you're going. Yeah. A lot smoother than I just did. But you you bring that in. Yes, the world's broken because we're all sinners, you know?

Luis:

Yep.

Nate:

And you might be suffering because of other people's sin, but you know what, you sin too. And then and you can bring that into it in a very authentic, just general way, sharing your own story of how God took took your brokenness and changed your heart and what he's doing in your life since you accepted him as savior. Yeah. And when people see how your story is redeemed in the gospel, they can start making those connections themselves of how their story can be redeemed in the gospel.

Luis:

Hey, that's that is really good. And um, I love the example that you just gave about the story. In fact, there's an app um that I took an evangelism class this this summer in my master's program, and it's called the Story App. And it actually is a way to help you start gospel conversations with ease. And so it was shared there. But one of the things that came out of there, right, is it doesn't is it doesn't have to be complicated, right? Keep it, keep it simple. It's it's the story of God's love, our sin, Jesus' sacrifice, and the invitation to to respond in faith. And and you don't need a script, you you just need to be faithful. Now, it might be helpful to start off with a script. I actually had to write a 15-second testimony to on-ramp into a gospel conversation. And here's what I wrote for my class. There was a time in my life when I didn't understand what it meant to have a relationship with God, but everything changed when someone told me that I was lost and needed saving. They shared that God loved me so much that He sent Jesus to save me. So I decided to turn away from my sins and put my trust in Jesus. Now my life is filled with purpose, and I have a relationship with God. Do you have a story like that? That's like that's just a 15-second testimony of what God has done. And then we actually had to write a three to five minute testimony, and then and then I'm not gonna share that one here today because that would take m more time than I think we have to cover. Yep. But it doesn't have to be complicated.

Nate:

Yeah, and I think that's great. And and you know, we can connect this back to really, you know, this whole idea of, you know, where we started with preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words, right? Because um there is a good intention in that, right? We're trying to be authentic. We've we recognize that this idea of standing on the street corner, you know, with a sign that says the end of the world is near is not gonna work, right? And so we want to be authentic, we want to be intentional. Um but that phrase kind of misses that mark because obviously, like we've talked about, you know, words are necessary. Um and so, you know, the the your children um need to see, you know, because w you know, we're talking to parents here, right? So so your children need to see you authentically living out your faith and then also speaking what God has done for you in that story.

Luis:

And so we want to be clear, right? You should absolutely live out the gospel. Yeah. Like you should live differently. So so the quote says, right, preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words. I would say preach the gospel at all times, right? Use words, but also live those words, right? Because our actions are gonna reinforce our message and it shouldn't contradict it, but the gospel has to be spoken, right? Yeah, Jesus didn't walk around quietly, right? Uh yes, he lived among sinners and he proclaimed with words the kingdom of God. And so when our lives and our words are aligned, then our witness becomes powerful. That's why Jesus says in Matthew 5.16, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to God in heaven or to your Father in heaven, right? Your your life, you living a Christian life is going to open the door. Yep. But it's going to be the words of the gospel that's going to invite people to walk through that door.

Nate:

And that made me think about, you know, this whole idea, and even going back to what we said about evangelism as not debating, um, and just trying to win those debates. You know, when when Peter talked about the whole the that's it's that phrase that's used by apologists, right? And defending the face, you know, always being ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you. They skip over the fact that what's happening in that passage it says leading up to that is that, you know, you're living in such a way so that people see what's going on in your life, so they ask. So you should always be ready to give a reason for why you live differently. Like that's really what that's talking about. So so we put all of this together. Yes, live a great example of, you know, a God-glorifying life so that people will ask and you have the opportunity to share with the words of the gospel. Um so so as we kind of wrap this up, Lewis, what what would you give as encouragement for um the parents listening to this today?

Luis:

Look, the the truth is that that all of us probably know one person in our life who who doesn't know Jesus, right? And so just just start simple. Uh pray pray for that person, pray for the person in your life who doesn't know Christ, and then ask God to open a door for you to share your faith with them. And and then when God does, be ready to speak with with gentleness and and confidence. And look, if if you're a parent listening to this, if you're a teacher, if if if you're a youth pastor, help help your kids understand what the gospel actually is. Practice explaining it together. Maybe you come up with that 15-second testimony of what your life was like, what Jesus has done for you, and what it means for you. Um, because if we can't explain it clearly at home, we won't be able to explain it clearly to a lost world who doesn't know Jesus.

Nate:

Yeah, that's exactly right. So, you know, if you're a parent, you know, a teacher, uh another Christian leader, um, even a kid's coach, right? We can help kids understand what the gospel is, right? And we can work together, practice even explaining it, and and be that good model for others. Uh so thank you all for joining us today on Equipped for Impact. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with uh a friend, another parent who needs to hear it and and would be encouraged as well. Uh, we'd love it if you left us a review and subscribe so you don't miss our next episode. You want to tell them what it's about? It I do because it is gonna be on the big topic of AI.

Luis:

Artificial intelligence.

Nate:

Artificial intelligence. In fact, you notice my voice is a little different. It's probably because I have been replaced by AI.

Luis:

So I'm not you're not even the real Nate here with the running?

Nate:

I'm not here with you right now. It's it's all a figment of your imagination. Wow. Yep, wow. Yep. So until then, keep leading the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence the world for Christ.

Head Shot

Luis Miranda

Host
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Nathan Deck

Host