WAYS TO SHARE YOUR MESSAGE
I. Proclamation
To verbally proclaim the Gospel is the most direct way to communicate your faith to others. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). The word preach means to publish or proclaim. Sharing your faith by this method is what most people consider traditional witnessing. This method is highly effective in winning people to Christ as is seen in Peter’s proclamation of the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). However, this method of sharing the Gospel is limited to those individuals who are prepared and willing to hear.
Proclamation of the Gospel can be done several ways:
A. One on one with a friend.
B. Approaching a stranger in public (Acts 8:26-37).
C. Preaching in the open to multitudes (Acts 8:4-6).
D. Going systematically house to house preaching to whomever will listen
(Acts 5:42) (Acts 20:20).
E. Going to the marketplace or business district and preaching to anyone who will listen (Acts 17:17).
II. Cultivation
This method of sharing your faith is to prepare someone for the proclamation of the Gospel. It’s like cultivating up hard ground to make it ready to receive the seed of God’s Word. There are many people who will switch off Billy Graham or initially refuse to talk with someone who begins to proclaim the Gospel. These people many times have been hardened because of issues they blame God or possibly a Christian has offended them. Other times these individuals are hardened by worldly philosophies or materialism. You must gently cultivate the ground of their hearts, slowly plant seeds of the truth of God’s Word, and water these seeds with follow-up conversations. Notice the difference between Paul’s approach with the Jews and the men of Athens (Acts 17:10-12) (Acts 17:32-34). With the Jews at who were fair-minded he led many to Christ immediately. However, with the idol worshipping philosophical Athenians who mocked him, Paul had to return to speak with them again. The men were eager to have a challenging conversation, but only a few of them believed.
Cultivation of the gospel can be done in several ways:
A. Be friendly with someone who doesn't know Christ. The religious hypocrites called Jesus a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 11:19).
B. Invite this person to lunch (Luke 19:1-10).
C. Stick-up conversation with others to see if they are interested in talking about spiritual things (John 4:10).
D. Don’t get upset and give up if someone mocks you. Seek another conversation at a later time (Acts 17:32-34).
III. Demonstration
Ultimately, for your proclamation and cultivation to be effective you must be demonstrating the reality of the Gospel in your own life. Remember, witnessing is more than something you do, it’s something you are! You are a living epistle and witness that is known and read by all men (2 Cor. 3:2-3). The question is, what kind of witness are you? People many times will not immediately receive Christ or even seem to be interested in what you have to say concerning Christ. They are sitting back to see if you truly have something different in your personal life. This is why Paul urged Timothy, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12). Because Timothy was young in age he had to show his maturity by his conduct and godly behavior.
Demonstration of the Gospel can be done several ways:
A. Walk in love
B. Walk in faith
C. Walk in purity
D. Walk in the Spirit
E. Be a servant to others
F. Don’t backbite or speak evil of others at work
G. Be on time to work and be the hardest worker on the job
