4 Things NOT To Do When Sharing the Gospel

There are many well-meaning followers of Jesus who sincerely want to share the Gospel, yet are ineffective for a host of reasons. Avoiding these 4 things won’t solve everything, but you will have better gospel conversations.

‍1. Get in an Argument

‍As you're sharing the Gospel with someone, it’s likely they will have questions and challenge what you say. This is normal. Do your best to answer them - and if you can't, simply admit it.

But don’t get into an argument. After all, you can’t argue someone into the faith.

While there is a rational component to following Jesus, it’s ultimately a matter of surrender. Confidently share what you believe, humbly admit what you don’t know, point to the work that God has done in your life, and ask the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
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2. Do All the Talking

‍Effective evangelists are great listeners. They have a deep love for the lost and a genuine desire to know them. They ask great questions and really listen. The answers they get reveal the deeply felt needs and longings of the people they are trying to reach, and in turn shape how they present the Gospel.

There are people in your life who need Jesus, and God wants to use you to share the Gospel with them. Start by asking great questions - and then sit back and listen. Doing this will allow you to share Jesus with people in a specific and penetrating way.

Some questions you could ask:

1. What would you change about the world if you could?
2. What keeps you up at night?
3. What are you most afraid of?
4. If you could write a message to the world, what would it be?

If we’d focus on becoming great question-askers and even better listeners, God would give us a profound love for those around us and opportunities to share His love with them!
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3. Read a Script

‍Sharing the Gospel is NOT easy. It’s natural to feel stressed even at the thought of doing it. It’s important to prepare, and it can be helpful to write out a rough outline of what you might say - but in my experience, you should avoid simply repeating memorized lines.

Natural and a little awkward is always better than smooth and robotic. And the good news is that the results don’t depend on human words and wisdom.

Not even the Apostle Paul was smooth.

“I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain.” - 1 Corinthians 2:3-4

Our only hope in sharing the Gospel comes from the knowledge that the Holy Spirit will do the work. So be confident and share boldly because it’s not about you anyway!

4. Forget to Pray

‍Most crucially, we cannot forget to offer prayer. I’ve asked hundreds of people if I can pray for them, and I was only turned down once. In all other cases, this has been a powerful opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to show up and open their hearts to Him.

Our words will never be as effective as prayer, and it should be our main priority when sharing the Gospel with someone.

I’ve had many spiritual conversations that weren’t going anywhere. In those moments, I’ve learned to just ask if I can pray for the person. This simple act of inviting God to move in that moment has had more impact than every word I had said up to that point.

Get used to pushing past the awkwardness and offer prayer to people around you. I am confident that God will honor this step of obedience and produce great fruit!