No-one can deny that it’s impossible to truly share the Gospel of Christ without communicating it somehow. The very word ‘preach’ implies using words. The gospel cannot be easily understood unless it is explained, and what better way than to use words?! Paul tells us clearly in Romans:
“’Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?”
Romans 10:13,14
In order to believe in Christ, a person must first hear the message about Him. Only then can faith for salvation come. If you’ve never heard, how can you believe? Paul says again:
“Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good News about Christ…’The message of God’s creation has gone out to everyone, and its words to all the world.’”
Romans 10:17,18
Clearly the ‘words’ of the Gospel must be heard for faith for salvation to come.
However, Peter tells us that it’s possible to win people to Christ by not even using words:
“In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept the Good News. Your godly lives will speak better to them than any words. They will be won over by watching your pure, godly behaviour.”
1 Peter 3:1,2
So on the one hand, words must be used to communicate the Gospel message so that people can believe it. On the other hand, a person can be won over by observing the godly conduct of a close friend or relative, without the needs for words. Is it a contradiction? Of course not!
Peter did not teach anything contrary to the truth, and his words complement Pauls. He wasn’t denying that it would be necessary for the Gospel message to be heard in order to be saved, but he was saying that the person could be ‘won over’ by observing the godly conduct of a believer. In other words, his heart could be turned towards acceptance of the Gospel, because he sees the reality of Christ in someone’s life. He sees the change that has taken place. He sees the life, the joy, the godly living, the power of God, and he is won over – he realises it’s real and he wants to know more. Then, when his heart is open, he is ready to hear the message of salvation, and give his own life to the Lord.
You see, many times, before a person is willing to accept the message about Jesus, he needs to see the reality of the Gospel first. I love the work of Operation Blessing, part of the great ministry of the Christian Broadcasting Network, founded by Pat Robertson. One thing I especially love is that they go to various places throughout the earth bringing practical help to people in need. They drill wells in places where they have no easy access to clean water. They provide medical care to those who can’t afford it. They provide humanitarian aid and assistance in times of disaster. They focus first on helping people and demonstrating the love of God by their actions and good works. After this, the hearts of the people are warmed and opened to receive the good news about Jesus. Many times I have heard how people have opened their hearts to the Gospel and received Christ after they received help from Christians who cared and took practical steps to provide assistance in time of need. You see, they are won over by their godly conduct and practical demonstration of God’s love.
Jesse Duplantis says, “The only Jesus some people will ever see is the Jesus in you and the Jesus in me!” You can never underestimate the power in the testimony of a life lived in passionate obedience to Christ! Many people will read you before they will ever read a Bible! I have heard more than one testimony of people who had been imprisoned and beaten for their faith in Christ, who were able to win people to the Lord in prison because of their faithfulness to Jesus. Sometimes they were beaten often, yet because they remained true to the Lord, the strength of their faith had a real impact on the prison guards, so much so that they would ask about their God, and why they remained true to Him even when they were beaten and made to suffer for it. Many guards opened their hearts to the Gospel and received Christ for themselves because of the testimony of those believers’ faithful lives.
Paul tells us in Colossians:
“Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.”
Colossians 4:5,6
Notice that Pauls talks first about how you live, and second about what you say. You see, it’s very important to an unbeliever how you live, not just what you say. If they see a hypocrite and someone who doesn’t practise what they preach, then they will close their ears to what you say, no matter how well you preach it! And notice it says to make the most of every opportunity. It implies that not every encounter will necessarily be an opportunity, but when one comes, we should certainly make the most of it! I heard about someone who was newly saved and very zealous for the Lord, and started preaching to everyone at his place of work. Eventually, he got fired because he preached too much, and worked too little! It was great that he had zeal for the gospel, but he didn’t live wisely among those who are not Christians, and it hurt his testimony as a result.
Peter tells us:
“And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”
1 Peter 3:15,16
You see, when you are wanting to witness among those who are close to you , or with whom you have frequent contact, it’s wise to let your life do the talking first. Of course, we are looking for opportunities to win people to the Lord, and when you have opportunity, or when you are asked about it, you should be ready to testify about Jesus, but you shouldn’t preach to them constantly. If you do, you are likely to be considered a nag and an annoyance and may do more to put them off the Gospel, than open their hearts to it. I believe that’s why Peter instructed wives to live a godly life in front of their unbelieving spouse, so that they could be won over without even a word spoken.
On the other hand, if you are witnessing to people on the street, or preaching the gospel in public, then very definitely you want to use words, because you don’t have opportunity to build a relationship with those people. They can’t see a lot about your changed life in the short time you have with them. You may never see them again, so you want to share as much as you can with them about the gospel. Not in an aggressive or pushy way, but with zeal and passion that is tempered by gentleness and respect.
Ray Comfort is a noted evangelist and founder of the excellent ‘Way of the Master’ evangelism ministry. He does a lot of preaching in public places, and one on one. Once he was asked, is it really necessary to go so quickly into preaching the gospel with people on the streets? Shouldn’t he try to build a relationship with the person first? He replied no, because he may never see that person again, and that may be the only opportunity he will ever have to share the Gospel with them, and it may be the only opportunity that person will ever have to hear the gospel.
When the Apostle Paul went into a city to preach the gospel, his primary focus was not to build relationships with people and win them to the Lord through ‘friendship evangelism’, even though that is a legitimate and often effective method of evangelism. No he went to the public places, where the people gathered, and addressed them all by preaching the gospel of Christ, and not in words only, but also in power and with the demonstration of the Spirit (Romans 15:18,19). The Lord Himself bore witness to the validity of the message with signs and wonders and miracles of healings. If Paul had stayed in one place for a long time, he certainly could have built relationships with unbelievers and try to win them over with the testimony of his godly life. But he was called to travel and never stayed very long in one place, so his ministry was often more public. And remember that Jesus instructed his disciples to ‘Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel.’ (Mark 16:15)
So the type of evangelism you use depends very much on the situation. And in every case, the gospel message must be preached at some point in order for faith to come in the heart of the hearer. Even if a person is won over to the Lord by the testimony of your godly life, they still need to hear the message of the Gospel in order to believe it, and they must believe it with their own heart and confess Jesus with their own mouth to receive salvation (Romans 10:9,10). The Holy Spirit anoints words, but words must go forth for the Holy Spirit to use them. Remember Lot in the Old Testament. He was a righteous man living in a very unrighteous city. He thought he could influence them for God by his own godly life, but they were so given over to sin that it made little difference to them, and he only tormented his own soul with their ungodliness. In that city, a more effective way would have been to preach the Word of the Lord, as Jonah did in Nineveh. Maybe then they would have repented when they realised they were subject to the judgement of God!
So your godly life is an important testimony to an unbeliever, yet sharing the message of the gospel is absolutely essential for people to be saved.
Also consider that words just create pictures in your mind. In some exceptional cases where it is not possible to use words, you may have to use other means to communicate the message of Christ. The great evangelist Arthur Blessitt travelled the world by foot, carrying a large wooden cross, and preaching the Gospel everywhere he went! It was certainly an unusual method of evangelism, but it was something the Lord called Him to do, and what a great way to get people’s attention, walking through their cities, towns and villages carrying a huge cross! In one particular trip he walked from Panama City to Columbia in South America, and to get there he had to cross the very dangerous Darien jungle. He prepared a small team of people to help him make the journey, but as they progressed through the jungle, the team abandoned him, and he was left to get through the jungle alone! After many difficult days crossing the most impossible terrain, trusting only in the Lord to help him, he arrived at a small village. But with no translator, he couldn’t preach the gospel to them with words! Imagine going through so much to get the gospel to these unreached people, only to be unable to talk with them! So instead he demonstrated the gospel in a kind of drama, acting out the life of Jesus and the events of the cross. And the people were able to understand and many received Jesus! Praise the Lord!
Our God is a creative God, and there are many ways to share the gospel and spread the Good News about Christ. We need to have an attitude like Paul, who ‘became all things to all men’ so that he could win them (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). We should seek to employ every method and every means available to share His Good News, and try to find some common ground with everyone, so we can open a door to bring them the Gospel.
Sometimes we can win people by building relationship with them, by showing love to our friends and neighbours, and piquing their interest in the Gospel. Then we can invite them to cell groups, informal gatherings, church evangelistic events, or something that appeals to their interest and at the same time gives them an opportunity to discover Jesus. I know through the Vine church I attend that this method has been particularly effective in Brazil, where cell groups have quickly grown and multiplied through inviting friends and neighbours who come to know the Lord in these informal gatherings.
Or we can go to the streets and public places and events and preach the Gospel to many at once, or to individuals and small groups of people, where we don’t necessarily have to time or opportunity to build relationships with them, but we can preach the Gospel with love, boldness, authority and anointing and bring them the message about Jesus that they may never have heard. I remember some years ago I was cycling home from work, and thinking about how hard it was to ever witness to people in my everyday life, and how little opportunity I had. I was desperate as I asked the Lord in my heart, ‘How can we ever reach people?’ I heard the Lord speak back in my heart: ‘Go TO the people!’ I began to think about the book of Acts where Peter, Paul and the other apostles preached in the public places where many people gathered. You see, you can’t catch a fish if you never go fishing! And the fish won’t come to you – you must go to them! After this, I purposed in my heart to go into the town centre and share the Gospel with some people. The first time I ever did it I was very nervous, but the Lord really blessed it and gave me opportunity to speak with some people. I passed by a group of ‘winos’, and tried to pluck up courage to speak to them. But I didn’t do it. As I walked on, I felt a whisper in my spirit: ‘You just missed an opportunity.’ So I walked around the block wrestling with myself, returned to the group of winos and began sharing Jesus with them. And the Lord let me lead one of them to Christ, hallelujah! It was a great breakthrough in my life! Not everyone will receive the Gospel, but thank God for those who do! And even if they cannot be won on the day, the seed of the Gospel has been planted in their hearts and the Holy Spirit can water that seed. Sometimes we sow, and sometimes we reap, but in both cases we receive a reward!
“You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
John 4:35-38
It is true that our lives must be a good example of the reality of Jesus in order for some people to believe in Him, and this is especially true for those who are close to us. For them, your actions can speak louder than your words, so it is wiser to be sure to live a blameless life before them, and to pray for them and for opportunity to witness to them. Then when opportunity comes, we must be ready to take it and share the Good News of Jesus with them. But don’t be a ‘gospel nag’ and overload them with your preaching, as this may push them away from, not draw them to, Christ.
To those who are not close to us, or a regular part of our lives, we can preach and present the Gospel of Christ, reasoning with them about Jesus (Acts 24:24,25). I know from my own experiences that although some people may never accept the Gospel, if you are willing to talk with people, show an interest in their life, pray for them if they will allow it, almost always you will get a positive response, even from complete strangers, and you open a door to their hearts which our wonderful Saviour can walk through. Oh what joy to lead even a single soul to Christ!
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