Reading Jack

Here's a great couple of paragraphs from Desiring God's post, "Reading Jack," summarizing a book called A Faith Worth Sharing, about evangelism.

"'Evangelism is...one hungry beggar eagerly eating the bread and being changed by it, and then telling the other poor beggars to eat of the same bread' (98). Evangelists who don’t feed their own souls on the message of the gospel are misguided at best and hypocritical at worst. If we are to communicate the gospel to others for the feeding of their souls, we must first feed daily on the gospel ourselves.

The reason that we would want to call other beggars to eat the life-giving and life-sustaining bread of the gospel is because we’ve already tasted it—and are continuing to eat it—and we know personally how good the good news is. Preaching the gospel daily to our own souls precedes and powers preaching that gospel to others. And the more we articulate the profound truths of the gospel to ourselves and then to our believing friends, the more easily we’ll be able to articulate the message to nonbelievers."

The author goes on to give 3 great suggestions about evangelism, also from Desiring God's site:

Sharing the Gospel

Here are 3 practicals (among many more!) from the pages of Jack’s book for how to share our joy in Jesus with others.

1. Study the Bible with Someone.

Jack asked a guy called Big John to read Romans with him. This brought the breakthrough. Not only should we try to get the Bible into the hands of nonbelievers, but also we should seek to study the Bible with them. What a potent combination—the written words of God and an in-the-flesh follower of Jesus to lead and direct and help explain those written words!

2. Invite Unbelievers into Community.

For Gus the breakthrough came in the midst of God’s people. When Jack brought Gus around other Christians, things began to change. The genuineness of other believers’ lives confirmed what Gus saw in Jack and helped bring Gus closer to Jesus. Bringing our unbelieving friends and family around an attractive community of Christians can be a significant strategy in gospel-telling. It can demonstrate for them not only the love we have for one another but also how vital community is in the Christian life.

3. Be Honest About Your Weaknesses

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that Jesus said to him, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” Jack speaks about the potency of this truth in his life. He writes about trying to reach people with the gospel with what he calls “weakness evangelism.” All humans have weaknesses—weaknesses that we try hard to hide—and when we are honest and authentic to relate our weaknesses to others, that may be the thing that initially captures someone.

Most of us go to great lengths to accentuate our strengths. But someone who is honest about their weaknesses may discover common ground and shared needs and open a door for telling Jesus’ story. Our weaknesses can actually be a kind of strength in evangelism.

Find out more here.

If I teased you this post making you think it was about CS Lewis, sorry. But this is good too. If you have no idea what I meant by that just ignore it and move on.

Comments

[Matt Williams]

Pastor J.D.,

My disciple leader gave me the book A Faith Worth Sharing last semester to read and it was a really big encouragement to me. Dealing with a fear of people's reactions is often a major deterrent for me (and others I'm sure) who struggle with confrontation or always want to be well thought of by others. That book was great for me because it really illustrated the power of the gospel, even through less than perfect presentations. The candid, fearless evangelism in that book was a great example; it is certainly a book worth reading.