Last week I wrote about the first step in evangelism: talking to God about people. Taking our cues from Colossians 4:3-4, we pray that God will give us opportunities, that we will take them when they come, and that we will share the message clearly. These three prayers cover our biggest needs and fears in talking to people about Jesus.
But in that same passage, Paul also addresses how we should talk to people about God:
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Col 4:5-6)
Notice what Paul highlights first: “Be wise.” There’s an element of behavior here, of course—actions that are consistent with the claims of the gospel. But since the passage is explicitly describing our words, I take this to mean something like “Use skill in how you interact with unbelievers.”
Sometimes evangelism requires hard intellectual work. When people finally open up to you about spiritual things, it’s not uncommon for them to have at least a couple complex issues they are wrestling with. So you might find that it takes 10 hours of preparation to do 10 minutes of talking about God! But that’s where your time in God’s word and in church gatherings and around Christian friends is so important. Don’t waste these opportunities to grow in wisdom!
Have you ever thought about the implication of this point that the gospel is real and true wisdom? It is. The message we are sharing is not our opinion or values. These are the facts! Sharing the gospel is no more an imposition than it is for your doctor to tell you not to eat rat poison. He’s not imposing his values on you; he’s using the truth to save your life!
Notice as well that Paul says we should “make the most of every opportunity.” It takes the pressure off a bit when we realize we don’t have to create the opportunity. We’re free to have normal, everyday conversations with people. And if we’re faithfully talking to God about people (remember verses 3-4!), God will often direct the conversation to Himself quite naturally.
“Make the most” doesn’t mean, though, that we have to say everything every time. A better approach is to leave people thinking, “Hmmm… That’s interesting. I’d like to talk to her about this some more.” Practically, this means we ought to provide clear places in the conversation where they could quite easily move on to something else, if they wish. That’s merely showing simple respect, which is part of our responsibility I’ll write about next week.