Understanding Evangelism

Matthew 28:18-20 (emphasis added): “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What is Evangelism?

Evangelism is the greatest action a Christian can do here on earth. As we see in Matthew, Jesus’ last words to His followers was a command to evangelize and make disciples. The word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word ευαγγελιον, which means “good news” or “Gospel.” The very act of evangelism is to share the “Good News” with people. 

What is the “Good News” that we are to share? The Good News is Jesus came to earth and died for our sins so that we could have a relationship with God as our Father. Because of sin, we have been separated from God’s perfect goodness, but Jesus’ death and resurrection was the solution to the separation. Instead of going through life struggling to find the answers, we can trust in God’s provision and His plan. The first act of evangelism we see is in John chapter 4, when the Samaritan woman rushes into town and says, “29 ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

On your college campus, evangelism can take many forms. It could be walking up to somebody outside and asking to pray with them, it could be sitting down with someone and sharing a table to eat or do work, it could be asking someone if they have ever heard the Gospel before, or it could be meeting someone and inviting them to join you for lunch at a dining hall. It could even be turning around and talking to the person in line behind you at Chick-Fil-A!

There are thousands of students and hundreds of countries represented all around you on campus; all you have to do is look around! The college campus is the most strategic mission field that you will ever see in your lifetime, because nowhere else is there such a concentrated gathering of every tribe, tongue, and nation. As a Christian, our universal call or command is to share the Gospel. As a leader, your specific challenge in this season is to invite students around you to be a part of the faith community. That begs the question: How do we evangelize?

Methods of Evangelism

In The Gospels

When we read the Gospels, we see two main methods of evangelism. One of them is in the aforementioned passage from John’s Gospel, when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman. This is what I call the Conversational Approach. We can see how Jesus does this in John 4: "7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Jesus starts the conversation in a very human, casual way. He is thirsty and He expresses that thirst, asking the woman to give Him some water. He invites the woman into a dialogue, even when she is initially resistant.

This is a great method for campus evangelism, as you will find countless students sitting around campus eating, studying, or just listening to music. Before approaching them, take a minute and observe what they are doing; if you have a connection point then it becomes so much easier. In John 4, the connection point was the woman was coming to get water, and Jesus was thirsty. They both needed water, and that’s how Jesus began the conversation. We see in this chapter how He then shifted the conversation to go from physical water to spiritual “water” to eternal life.

The other method of evangelism we see in the Gospels is what I call the Direct Approach. Jesus simply walks up to someone and spiritually engages them.  In John 5, Jesus walks up to the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda and says, “Do you want to be healed?” He challenges the man to get up in faith and walk. Later, in verse 14, Jesus tells him to go and sin no more.

In the Conversational Approach, we see an introduction -> invitation to live sinless -> transformation. In the Direct Approach, we see a transformation -> invitation to live sinless. Jesus completely flips the model in John 5, yet both are effective strategies. 

Another version of the Direct Approach is in Matthew 9, when Jesus calls Matthew: “9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.” Jesus invites Matthew to follow Him and become a part of the community that He is building. It is this invitation that lays the foundation for the third approach seen in the New Testament.

In the New Testament

There is a third model of evangelism seen after the Day of Pentecost that was effective in literally taking over the world. This is what I call the Community Approach. With this model, we see an introduction -> an invitation to belong in the community -> an introduction of spiritual topics and the Truth -> a second invitation to believe in Christ. 

This model is the most time-intensive, it is also the most intentional model, and I believe it is by far the most effective model at reaching people for Jesus. It was the Community Approach that enabled St. Patrick to reach the entire island of Ireland for Jesus before he died, it was the approach that enabled the Jerusalem Church to explode with members in the early years, and it was the model Paul often used in his ministry to build churches.

When we look at the life of Paul, we often see him enter into a community and stay for a few years - teaching in synagogues, debating in pagan temples, or even making tents in the marketplace - developing a community of believers while raising up leaders. He then entrusts the leadership of the young church to people of that community and moves on to the next mission field. Paul would often share Jesus within a framework of what those people understood culturally, which we can easily do on the college campus.

The Community Approach is the best method because it is the most inviting and most personal. All college students are looking for some measure of community. As ambassadors of the Gospel, we can invite people to be a part of our lives. Yes, it is weird. Yes, it is difficult. But it is so worth it to see an unsaved person become part of the Kingdom of God!

Easy Practical Methods

Now that the theoretical is out of the way, here are some easy practical ways:

• Ask people if you can pray with them

• Ask people if they’ve ever heard a clear presentation of the Gospel

• Spiritual surveys

• Ask someone if you can sit at their table with them - both in the student center and in the dining hall!

• Ask someone if they want to join you for lunch or dinner

• Sit down with someone and just start a conversation (look for a connection point!)

• Join the staff for tabling to invite people to service!

• Go with your co-leader on your small group day and invite people to the group!

• Volunteer with other ministries

• Asking a Question of the Day