1. Look Presentable

Your company is the highest ranking organisation in the world. Its staff are the most powerful beings in society. Its subscribers/customers run into billions. Your CEO is the most powerful personality on earth and beyond. You were sent as a representative of your organisation to get more subscribers for your CEO. You are to look excellent and well groomed. No smelly mouth or rumpled face. No wrinkly clothes. Nice footwear. Mild perfume. God is your CEO and the Kingdom of heaven is your organisation. You are not an ordinary person. You carry the highest authority in all the realms. You must now dress the part. Anyone you are talking to should feel honored that someone dressed as good as you is speaking to them.

Jack is sitting next to a guy in a bus. The Satanist ring he is wearing clearly shows he needs to hear the gospel. The bus is fairly quiet and the atmosphere is just right to start a conversation. Jack, moved and stirred by the Spirit, leans towards his prospect and says an enthusiastic “Helloooo”. His prospect jolts back and Jack is convinced the Spirit is already moving meanwhile Mr Prospect’s was actually startled by the sudden stench of spoilt onions coming from around Jack’s armpit. Jack goes on preaching the gospel but Mr prospect cannot even concentrate on what he is saying as he tries to dodge the fiery darts of saliva from Jack’s mouth.

When you go on evangelism, don’t dress in a way that people will be embarrassed to be seen near you. Some Christians dress for evangelism as if they are going to do their house chores. Meanwhile you see them going to the office with well ironed, matching clothes, jewelry and shoes. What is more important to you? A man-given assignment or a God-given assignment. This is one of the reasons why they feel intimidated and cannot speak well they are asked to preach the gospel. They look like the prospect’s housemaid or houseboy. May God deliver us from such carelessness in Jesus name.

2. Pray before you go

The Holy Spirit once told me that if I am going to be preaching the gospel often, then I must learn how to war in the place of prayer. An evangelist is an annoying person. You are annoying to the world, your flesh and the devil. These three things will try their best to stop you from preaching. So you must learn to ask God for His help. Don’t trust in your own ability because it is limited. In Ephesians 6:19, Paul said the believers should pray for him that utterance will be given to him that he will make known with boldness, the mystery of the gospel as he ought to speak. Before you go out to preach pray for boldness to declare the full gospel in power and love.

3. Share head-space with God

I learnt this when reading about the “Word of Knowledge” gift of the Spirit. Sharing head-space with God means to imagine God’s thoughts or feelings about another person and copy it. Always look at sinners through the eyes of God. The bible describes a sinner as blind and foolish. You are to see a sinner as someone who has been deceived. Someone who God is trying to save from destruction. Not as someone who is irredeemably evil.

How you see a sinner greatly influences the tone of your message and the result of your evangelism.

4. Start with the natural

Jesus was not a weirdo. He did not just walk up to the woman at the well and say, “I am the Messiah, believe in me right now or you will perish.” He started a conversation with her about water.

When you see a prospect, you may start by talking about the weather or by giving a genuine compliment about their appearance, ask where they got their shoes, how they manage to stay slim, or just ask their name. Get into a short rapport and then delve into the real deal. Remember that the person might be in a hurry so don’t waste too much time talking about the color of their socks. Build a short rapport, introduce yourself and then say, “Do you believe in God?” Get the person’s response and then continue the discussion from there.

5. Preach the full gospel

“God wants to use you”, is not the gospel. The Good News is that you were once a sinner condemned to perish in hell but Jesus Christ came and died in your place, forgave your sins and granted you everlasting life.

God will not use a sinner and God will not bless a sinner. Stop deceiving sinners by telling them God will bless them and use them

. Godforbid that we do evil that good may come out of it (Romans 3:8).

It is the “God wants to bless you message” that produces false converts. The kind that you will start chasing up and down to come to church. You told them God will bless them but one year has passed and their salary has not changed. You told them God wants to use them but they organised a worship service and nobody came. So they slowly or drastically fall away.

Any gospel message that does not contain the following is a false message:

a. Sin (the cause)

b. Judgement to Hell fire (the punishment)

c. Christ’s death and resurrection (the way of escape).

6. Do not argue

“Its blue!”

“Oh no, Ma’am, this is a red blouse.” People began to stare

“I said that blouse is blue!”

“Oh my, but this is a red blouse.” Yesterday was difficult and Jane was not ready for dramatic customers this morning. This particular customer seemed to be bent on being annoying. No, even ridiculous.

“But all I see is blue.” The customer pushed her dark glasses deeper into her face.

Jane turned around. “Sir please could you come judge this. What color is this blouse?” Just as she began to speak to the man standing nearby, she heard giggling. It was her troublesome customer, a young boy had just come with a stick and was leading her away, apologising for being late.

Jane paused. She burst out in laughter at her own stupidity. She had been arguing about colors with a blind woman.

The bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that unbelievers are blind. It will then be foolish for you to argue about light with a blind person. As soon as you sense your prospect wants to get into an argument with you, wrap up your message. Avoid arguments (2 Timothy 2:14-16; Titus 3:9).

7. Ask to pray for them

Everybody loves to be prayed for. Even if your encounter with the person was full of hiccups, once you ask to pray for them, they calm down. It tells them you are coming from a place of love and not condemnation.

While you are praying, your prospect is quietly listening so you can use the opportunity to chip in the gospel in a few words. For example, “…Father I pray that Loyce will understand her need for repentance and receive salvation from hell into eternal life through the death of your son Jesus Christ…”.

May God grant us wisdom in Jesus name. Amen

ASSIGNMENT

1. What are the three (3) things every gospel message must contain?

Submission Instructions
a. Submit your answers to schoolofevangelism3@joyceebere

b. Type your answer in the body of the email, not in MS Word

c. Title your email as: (Your Name) – Lesson 2 Assignment