What we do is intentional share the Gospel with people that we meet. We do this by starting a conversation with people in the natural realm and then swinging the conversation to the spiritual realm. This can be done with starter questions like asking about the weather or if someone has gotten “one of these” coins that we hand out with the ten commandments on them. Once we have some dialog started we shift to the spiritual by asking something like “do you have a church background” or “are you familiar with the ten commandments” or “do you consider yourself to be a good person”.
Not comfortable witnessing one-to-one? We offer Evangelism Training and the Bezeugen Tract Club to help! We also offer the Bezeugen Discipleship Program to teach seekers and new believers about a relationship with Christ!
Witnessing in Malls
One popular place to witness is in shopping malls. We order coins with the Ten Commandments on them from Living Waters. We then walk up to people in the mall and ask “did you get one of these” while holding out the coin. People will stop and ask “what is that”. You explain that it is a coin with the Ten Commandments on it. We then ask them if they know any of the Ten Commandments and if they can name any. Most people can name a few or more. We then ask them “Do you consider yourself to be a good person?”. Most people will say “Yes, I am a good person”. So we ask if we can ask them a few questions and give them the good person test. Normally we start with “Have you ever told a lie?”. Again most people will admit to having broken this commandment. When they say yes, ask them what that makes them. You are trying to lead them to say that they are a liar. Notice in this way you are not condemning them or calling them anything. They are admitting to being a liar themselves. We then address several other commandments by asking “Have you ever told a lie?”, “Have you ever used God’s name in vain?”, etc. If they say yes, try to lead them into saying they are a thief and blasphemer respectively. Another common one is to ask if they have ever lusted. Jesus says that lust is the same as committing adultery in the heart. A this point we bridge to the judgement of the law by saying “You have admitted to being a liar, a thief, a blasphemer and an adulterer at heart. If God judges you on judgement day will he find you innocent or guilty?” The objective here is for the person to recognize their sin as a violation of God’s laws and that they are guilty of it. If they say hey are innocent then go back through some of the commandments. If they admit their guilt then ask “since the penalty of sin is death and death is eternal separation from God in hell, since you have admitted that you are guilty of breaking God’s commandments would you go to heaven or hell?” Again the point here is to get the person to admit that they have condemned themselves and are guilty deserving only punishment in hell. When you get the person to this point, they are ready to hear the Gospel. So ask if having hell as their eternal destination concerns them. “Does that concern you?” Normally they will say yes. This is where you can share the Gospel with someone, telling them that God sent his own son Jesus to pay the price for sin. Jesus lived a perfect life, suffered and died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty of sin. Explain to the person that they must not only know about Jesus but trust in him for salvation. As the conversation draws to a close we give the person an “Are you a good person tract” and a Pocket Testament Gospel of John. We invite them to read both. Many people (even non-believers) have Bibles, but have never read them. However a smaller tract or Gospel of John is less intimidating and many of them will read them. Encourage them to read the material and give it serious consideration. Be sure to thank them for taking time to talk with you.
Some things that are important to note here. First, every person will not talk to you. Some will walk on by. Others will walk off when you bring up the Ten Commandments. This is because the law of the Lord convicts the heart. Many can not take this conviction and will walk away. Do not be discouraged. Your next witnessing opportunity is right around the corner with the next person you meet in the mall. Second, sometimes you will find it obvious that the person knows the ten commandments or has a church background. In this case we will tell the person what we are doing and ask if we can practice our witnessing on them. Most will agree. Then we can walk through the whole process. Who knows what God will do with that experience. Many people are in church every Sunday yet have never heard the Gospel. This may be their time to hear it. Talking with other believers like this is also a great opportunity to encourage them in their walk. Supplying them with a coin, tract and pocket testament may be just the encouragement they need to share their faith with someone. Third, statistics say that people need to hear the Gospel on average 8 times before they accept it. You don’t know if you are the first, third, eighth or twentieth time. You are a seed planter. Plant the seed faithfully. Let God do the rest.
- Witnessing to friends
It can be very difficult and scary to witness to friends and family members. However, an easy way to do is to to talk to your friend about how you witness at the mall. This is a non-threatening way to introduce your non-Christian friends to Jesus. You tell them about what and how you share your faith in the mall. You can walk them through the whole process. This allows starting a conversation with them and opens the door to discussing spiritual things with them.
- Witnessing at the Drive Thru
When I go to the drive thru at a restaurant and am asked to pay I ask if they can break a large bill. They will ask how large. Living Waters offers three great tracts for this situation: Million Dollar Bill, Billion Dollar Bill and the Large Hundred Dollar Bill. When the person asks how large, you pull one of these out and hand it to them. The reaction is great. People love getting these. You tell them it has a gospel message on the back. Many times when the restaurant has a window to pay and a second window to pick up the food by the time I pull up to the second window the person I have given the tract too has shown it all around the restaurant. Then I give additional money tracts to the other people who are interested.
- Witnessing at restaurants and checking out a the store
The Million and Billion Dollar Bill tracts make great additions to a generous tip when eating out. When paying at a fast food restaurant or store hand them one of these tracts and ask if they can make change for a “large” bill. You will get some interesting reactions like “is that real” and “no”. Once they stop laughing or whatever reaction, ask them if they know the answer to the million (or billion) dollar question which is whether they will go to heaven when they die. Direct them to the Gospel message on the back of the bill or talk to them about it. When witnessing to a clerk be sure not to interfere with them doing business with their next customer. Step to the side and let them take care of business then finish your conversation with them.
