Selling Jesus

As Christians, we're supposed to spread the Good News.

Normally, sharing good news is pretty easy. Just start saying, "have you heard?" and the news itself takes over from there.

Wouldn't that be great if it were true for the Gospel! Unfortunately...it isn't. Two thousand years of historical accretions have dulled the message, made it unbelievable, or have made it unattractive. Hard to believe, really - the heart of the Gospel message is Victory Over Death, but a lot of preachers really want to amend it to "God Hates Gays", or "Men Who Don't Wear Suits Aren't Godly".

But all of the 'is what it is'. Here are some suggestions for really sharing the Good News. Not all of them work for everyone, but all of them have worked for me.

1. Live the life - if you're committed to the Gospel, but you still like to rob the occasional liquor store, perhaps evangelising should be put on hold until you get that out of your system...
2. Enjoy living the life - nothing more unattractive than a sour saint
3. Keep it simple and short - for example, talk about Jesus' Resurrection, and the people who saw it - and the reliability of eyewitness accounts that are consistent.
4. Back it up - be prepared to back up your arguments logically. Saying 'you just have to believe' begs the question, 'why'?
5. Show respect - saying '"you're wrong, I'm right!" is fun, and might make you feel good, but the Muslim you're talking to may take a different view. Remember - it's about sharing, and not taking away.
6. Know when to quit - unless the person you're talking with has a lot of questions, you're done in about two minutes, and that may be pushing it. You can only hold attention so long.
7. Follow up victory - if you get a person to show interest, be reliable in following it up. Send them literature, meet them, at church, whatever. Do what you say you'll do.
8. Be gracious in defeat - if it's a no-sell, accept it, and be nice. Don't look at the person as doomed to Hell - you don't know that, and it' not your business. If you can demonstrate, at the hardest thing, that living the Christian life is something good, you may have done more than all the evangelising you'll ever do.