The Importance of Listening
Studies have shown that non-Christians feel Christians don’t listen enough to them or care about who they are. In an article by Outreach Magazine a non-Christian was quoted as saying, “I’d say 75% of these people don’t really care who I am. They just want to build up their church or something. They don’t even ask me what my name is … .”

Good listening skills are always important, and evangelism is not an exception. Being an introvert, it is easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking that I am a good listener. However, that mentality is far from the truth. Being an introvert is not equivalent to being a good listener. Listening skills are something we all could hone.
Sometimes the best way to win someone over is by first listening.

A Few Questions
In evangelism, the importance of listening cannot be underestimated. Let’s ask ourselves a few questions:

1.)    Do I frequently judge a person based on his or her first sentence, without listening to the rest of what is being said?
2.)    Do I ignore what people say if I don’t agree with them or don’t like the way they say something?
3.)    Do I spend more time thinking about what I am going to say next than I do in listening to what is being said?
4.)    Do I interrupt people to share the gospel, or for that matter, any reason at all?
5.)    Do I struggle to listen actively and engage in conversations using my senses?

If the answer is “Yes” to any of the above questions, it might be time to work on improving one’s listening skills. Good listening takes hard work, but it is worth the effort.

So, what does that mean and why does it matter?

If you know anything about On Fire For Jesus, you have probably heard about my “heart for the lost”. And if you’re new to On Fire For Jesus, you will quickly understand what I’m talking about. The concept of concern, or heart, or caring for ‘lost’ people is pervasive throughout my blog. It is expressed as a primary (if not THE primary) motivator for evangelism.

But sometimes I not only don’t care about the lost, I have disdain and contempt because of their general attitude toward believers. I don’t mind being honest and admitting that. Christians are consistently the only people group who anyone can safely ridicule without fear of retaliation. Try commenting negatively about any non-Christian special interest group, religion, “campus” club, ideology, nationality, etc. –then see what happens. Try the same with Christians and it’s not only OK—it’s most often encouraged. So naturally, it’s easy to project ill-will toward those who propagate the negative stereotypes of Christians and, more seriously, mock God. The warrior in me loses patience knowing that they speak in ignorance about that which they do not know.

None of this should come as a surprise though—Christ did tell us this would happen (If anything—all the ire toward us believers serves to strengthen my faith; not undermine it in any way). However, that doesn’t make it any easier to know you literally have a corner on Truth and yet so many vehemently reject it!

Of course, our job is not to get angry or frustrated, but to share the gospel in love. OK—but we’re in the flesh, remember…human still and far from perfect. So what could possibly serve as a motivator to evangelize when our attitudes toward unbelievers are at their lowest?

The answer is at once simple and yet so complex:

“For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

“He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.  (Deut. 10:17, 18 NASB)

God assures us that He will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth (Psalm 46:10). The power that enables us to reach out to a lost and suffering world is the same power that can motivate us to do so. When we lose patience with unbelievers because of their attitudes toward God and His followers, our motivation should be God and His glory. After all, the work we do is for His Kingdom, not our kingdom.

What we seek to exalt is the Glory of God and the awesome wonder of the Creator of the universe. Ultimately, it’s about more than preventing our friends and acquaintances from going to Hell, it’s about lifting up Jesus and what He has done. When I can focus on that instead of my frustration, I find my motivation to share the good news not only returns, but is made stronger and more authentic.

It is possible to be icy toward the lost and on fire for the Lord.

Remember-it’s all about Him, not us.

“Wait a minute,” someone might say. “I grew up in a church where evangelism was a means of determining if you were a Christian. You had to evangelize or you weren’t saved.” Another might say, “I was made to feel that I had to present the Gospel to everyone I met. One man I knew pigeonholed people and immediately confronted them with the Gospel. I just can’t do that.” Remember that we do not have to live by the impression we receive from others, especially if those impressions are unbiblical. God tells us to follow Scripture as our guide and gives us freedom to be ourselves.

A biblical perspective on evangelism will help us develop healthier attitudes toward it. We can learn to profit from the good in our past experiences (such as recognizing a person’s concern for the lost), while freeing ourselves from mistaken assumptions. Too often people bring baggage into evangelism that isn’t biblical. Seeing evangelism from a biblical perspective can really set a person free.

The answer is found in a biblically sound perspective on evangelism. A careful study of scripture reveals that our God of grace wants us to witness out of grace. He wants us to approach taking Christ to the lost with excitement and anticipation. Evangelism can become an enjoyable experience, not an endurable episode. Join the conversation this week at Evangelism.net and offer your thoughts on the importance of doing evangelism out of grace and not guilt.

God is in the business of populating heaven. If you’re interested, He will let you in on the privilege of assisting Him. The fruit of your life will last into eternity.

As we do so, what we are specifically asking God for is courage or boldness. The courage that makes us go ahead despite our fears. The courage that makes us speak up, not clam up. The courage that produces the “I want to” evangelize not just the “I should.”

After all, as we observed, that is what the apostles did in Acts 4. That is what Paul does in Ephesians 6. In fact, what is striking about the Ephesians 6 passage is that when Paul discusses his fear in evangelism, he does it not to complain or make excuses but simply to ask them to pray for him. We must first and foremost talk to God about our fears, not just to people.

As we do so, we must pray in faith. Nowhere in Scripture does God promise to answer prayer. He only promises to answer the prayer of faith. As we ask God in faith to give boldness we can do so with excitement and expectation because the Person we are talking to is the One “who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). If you ask God for boldness, He will provide.

1. A caring spirit
2. An attitude of grace, and
3. A genuine concern.

I often tell people that it’s not that they don’t’ want to be approached. They simply want to be approached in the right way. Sometimes when people seem uninterested, it’s because they feel like it’s being “jammed down their throat”, or forced upon them. That rarely ever works. But when you come “up from underneath” them, and they sense sincerity about you, it’s amazing how open they are to talking. As you talk, it’s easy to find one way or another to talk about spiritual things, and ultimately the Gospel. In our day when people fear cancer, terrorism, and the uncertainty about the economy, they’re even more open and approachable.

I encourage each believer I meet to just begin a conversation with non-Christians with the objective of hopefully talking to them about Christ. Take it one step at a time and show your genuine concern in them. When they sense they’ve met a friend, they might be interested in talking about your Friend!

Most people don’t think they can share the gospel with someone who will actually believe it and trust Christ for their salvation.  Many have a misplaced expectation that comes from being results-oriented.  We don’t think our job is done unless someone believes.  Not so.

Here are five things we can do:

1. We can share the gospel simply and clearly with someone who knows us; it’s not hard to learn.  Go get some training on how to witness.
2. We can tell them what we believe.  What our life was like before we understood that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.  How we learned we were forgiven, that we could have an actual relationship with God in our life right now and go to Heaven when we die.
3. We can tell how our life has been changed.  We show them the Bible verses. We can ask if they would like to trust Christ too. We can all do that.  If we let go of the responsibility for their belief.
4. We can be faithful to do what He told us to do.  We love Him.  We tell His story.  We smile at the mercy and grace He gives us every day.
5. We are an ambassador carrying the message of the King.  We deliver it.  The one who receives the message must make the decision with Him.

But he did. Instead of getting him to make a decision, in a sense Jesus chased him off. He failed to draw the net. He failed to sign the young man up. Should we allow our ideas of evangelism to indict Jesus? I think we need to allow His example to critique contemporary evangelism. Christ’s confrontation of this young man gives us much-needed insight into reaching the lost.

Turmoil of the Heart
Though rich and a ruler while still a young man, he was undoubtedly in turmoil. All his religion and wealth had not given him confidence, peace, joy, or settled hope. There was a restlessness in his soul-an absence of assurance in his heart. He was coming on the basis of a deeply felt need. He knew what was missing: eternal life. His motivation in coming to Christ was faultless.

His attitude was right as well. He wasn’t haughty or presumptuous; he seemed to feel his need deeply. There are many people who know they don’t have eternal life but don’t feel any need for it. Not this young man. He was desperate. There’s a sense of urgency in his question, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I might have eternal life?” He did not have a prologue; he didn’t warm up; he just blurted it out. He even allowed such an outburst in public and risked losing face with all the people who thought he was a spiritual giant already.

A lot of people, in seeking to understand this passage, have taken the young man to task for the question he asked. They say his mistake was in asking “What good thing shall I do?” But he asked a fair question. It wasn’t a calculated bid to trap Jesus into condoning self righteousness. It was a simple, honest question asked by one in search of truth: “What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

The Issue of Sin
But here’s where the story takes an extraordinary turn. Jesus’ answer to the young man seems preposterous: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (v. 17). Strictly speaking, Jesus’ answer was correct. If a person kept the law all his life and never violated a single part of it, he would have eternal life. But no one can. Since he had come with the right motive to the right source, asking the right question, why didn’t Jesus simply tell him the way of salvation?

Because the young man was missing an important quality. He was utterly lacking a sense of his own sinfulness. His desire for salvation was based on a felt need. He had anxiety and frustration. He wanted joy, love, peace, and hope. But that is an incomplete reason for committing oneself to Christ.

Our Lord didn’t offer relief for the rich young ruler’s felt need. Instead, he gave an answer devised to confront him with his sin and his need of forgiveness. It was imperative that he perceive his sinfulness. People cannot come to Jesus Christ for salvation merely on the basis of psychological needs, anxieties, lack of peace, a sense of hopelessness, an absence of joy, or a yearning for happiness. Salvation is for people who hate their sin and want to turn away from it. It is for individuals who understand that they have lived in rebellion against a holy God and who want to live for His glory.

Jesus’ answer took the focus off the young man’s felt need and put it back on God: “There is only One who is good.” Then He held him against the divine standard so he would see how far short he fell: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” But the young man ignored and rejected the point. He was utterly unwilling to confess his own sinfulness.

Evangelism must take the sinner and measure him against the perfect law of God so he can see his deficiency. A gospel that deals only with human needs, feelings, and problems is superficial and powerless to save since it focuses only on the symptoms rather than sin, the real issue. That’s why churches are filled with people whose lives are essentially no different after professing faith in Christ. Many of those people, I’m sad to say, are unregenerate and grievously misled.

A Call for Repentance
The rich young ruler asked Jesus which commandments he should keep. The Lord responded by giving him the easy half of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.” Then He adds, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (vv. 18 19).

Scripture says, “The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?’” (v. 20). That demonstrates his shallow perception of the law. It’s possible that on the surface he did all those things, but God looks for an internal application. There was no way he could honestly say he had always kept that law. He could not have been telling the truth-he was either lying or totally self-deluded.

And so there was no way the rich young ruler could be saved. Salvation is not for people who simply want to avoid hell and gain heaven instead; it is sinners who recognize how unfit they are for heaven and come to God for forgiveness. If you are not ashamed of your sin, you cannot receive salvation.

At this point, Mark 10:21 says, “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him.” That statement paints a pathetic picture. The young man was sincere. His spiritual quest was genuine. He was an honestly religious person. And Jesus loved him. However, the Lord Jesus does not take sinners on their own terms. As much as He loved the young man, He nevertheless did not grant him eternal life merely because he requested it.

Submission to Christ
Jesus lovingly tried to help the young man see another essential element of salvation: “Jesus said to Him, ‘If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’ (v. 21). Challenging him, Jesus was basically saying, “You say you love your neighbor as yourself. OK, give him everything you’ve got. If you really love him as much as you love yourself, that should be no problem.”

Jesus was simply testing whether he was willing to submit himself to Christ. Scripture never records that He demanded anyone else sell everything and give it away. The Lord was exposing the man’s true weakness-the sin of covetousness, indulgence, and materialism. He was indifferent to the poor. He loved his possessions. So the Lord challenged that.

Verse 22 says, “When the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property.” He wouldn’t come to Jesus if it meant giving up his possessions. It’s interesting that he went away grieved. He really did want eternal life; he just wasn’t willing to pay the price of repenting of sin and submitting to Christ.

The story has a tragic, heartbreaking ending. The rich young ruler came for eternal life, but left without it. He thought he was rich, but walked away from Jesus with nothing. Although salvation is a blessed gift from God, Christ will not give it to a man whose hands are filled with other things. A person who is not willing to turn from his sin, his possessions, his false religion, or his selfishness will find he cannot turn in faith to Christ.

When a telemarketer calls your home, you will be tempted to get rid of him by saying, “I’m busy at the moment, so give me your home phone number and I will call you back later tonight.” But you resist temptation and think of God’s will, not yours. No doubt these poor folks get abused and hung up on, on a regular basis. So, let your little light shine through the phone. When he says, “My name is Greg. I have a real deal for you. It won’t cost you a thing. All I need is your name and address.” Say, “Hi Greg. It’s good to hear from you. Have you been having a good day?” Listen to his reaction. Your genuine warmth will probably shock him. Then say, “May I ask you a few questions (he’s been trained to be congenial and will no doubt react positively)? Do you consider yourself to be a good person?” If you mess up, say, “Gotta go. Thanks for calling,” then hang up.

Don’t stay in the tomb of dead silence. Ask God to send His angels to roll the stone of fear away. Then come out of the tomb. Please. You are needed. It’s not as hard as you may think. Let me share with you a typical witnessing encounter.

A friend and I were recently in an appliance store. The assistant was very helpful. While he was serving us, I gave him a few tracts, for which he was genuinely grateful. One was “101 of the World’s Funniest One-liners.” He laughed as he read the cover. He also loved my business card. It is a tract that looks like a business card but it says, “Department of Annoyance…Director.” The back is in reverse, so that you have to go to a mirror to read it. When he looked at the back and turned it upside down to try and read it, I said, “Annoying huh?” He laughed again.

As we walked across the store, I thought, “If I care about this man, I will witness to him.” In came the excuses: “You can’t to this. You don’t have time. You shouldn’t do this in the store. He will be offended…blah, blah, blah, etc., ad infinitum.” I ignored the whisperings and said, “Those things I gave you were Gospel tracts.” He said, “Huh?” So I said, “They were Christian tracts. Have you had a Christian background?” He said, “Catholic.”

So I asked, “Do you consider yourself to be a good person?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask you a few questions to see if that’s true?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever told a lie?”

“Yeah.”

“What does that make you?”

“A liar.”

“Have you ever stolen something?”

“Yes.”

“What does that make you?”

“A thief.”

“Jesus said, ‘Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart.’ Have you ever done that?”

“Yes.”

“Will you be innocent or guilty on the Day of Judgment?”

“Guilty.”

“Will you go to Heaven or Hell?”

“Somewhere in-between.”

“There’s no such place.”

“Hell then.”

His eyes were wide and his face was sober, so I said, “Do you know what God did so that you wouldn’t have to go to Hell?” He said that he didn’t, so I took him through the Gospel. When he heard about God’s forgiveness, and His gift of everlasting life, his facial expression changed, and he said, “Wow!” There was no offense. None of my fears were realized.

I asked him if he had a Bible, and then left him with some more literature. All this happened in about two minutes.

Join me at my next class of way of the master @ Warehouse 727 Church and you can learn how to do this and see how easy it is to do!

Witnessing for Christ – telling our neighbors about that doctor, what He did for us and offering them His death-defying cure – is a responsibility and privilege of every Christian, not some “gift” or role that can be outsourced to pastors and missionaries by supporting them financially. Yet the percentage of self-declared Christians who regularly witness is a shameful 2-5%.

What if I get ridiculed?

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26)

What if I don’t know what to say?

This brings us to the latter responsibility. God wrote to us a love letter that we call, “bible”, and it is also a responsibility and privilege of every Christian to read and understand it for themselves so that they can obey it and to know what to say when witnessing, as well as to recognize when others are saying or doing things that are unbiblical.

Sadly, most Christians end up paying their pastors to read the love letter for them and to tell them what God wrote. They have become paying consumers instead of the loving bride and disciples of Christ. As a result, not only do they not know what to say to their unsaved neighbors, they also can’t tell when their pastor’s message or conduct stray from the bible.

What should be done?

1. Christians must take ownership of their relationship with God through His word. Instead of the bible being understood through sermons, the bible must qualify sermons. And to enable that, every Christian must read and understand the bible on their own. The destiny of your soul is too important to be outsourced to another human being, pastor or otherwise.

2. Every Christian must witness.

3.Every Christian is also given at least one “gift” by the Holy Spirit that must be used to serve and edify the body of Christ.

Now please keep something in mind here; I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t defend the truth; rather, I am saying that we need to exercise caution when doing so, because it is too easy to mistaken the voice of God for the ego and assume that we are being inspired to defend the truth when its merely the flesh that is enticing us to retaliate and avenge ourselves. By remaining prayerful this could be avoided.

Listen, if a person can’t see the truth in what you are trying to tell them, that doesn’t mean they won’t ever accept it; it just simply means that they aren’t ready to receive it at that time. So why force it? After all, no argument, however sound, will accomplish what Jesus Christ can do when you allow the Holy Spirit to disclose His love through you. That is, we can share what we know, but we should never expect anyone to jump on the wagon at the first sight of what we think to be a strong case for belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ. For we need to be patient when dealing with those who do not readily accept what we believe, and more importantly, we need to be open to hearing the voice of God who will guide us to hearts that are ripe for witnessing. Hence, we will bear much fruit to God’s satisfaction by arguing less and loving more.