Declaring the gospel makes some of us excited, while some of us extremely nervous. Our hope in this resource is to help equip you with simple ways and steps to make evangelism a natural rhythm of your life. This resource is broken into four sections:

identify your mission: “oikos” List

Oikos (oy’-kos) in Greek means “family, household” or network of relationships. All of us, whether we are new to a city, or have lived there for a while, have a network of relationships (even if you are unfamiliar with their names!). We live in apartments with neighbors, go to the same coffee shops or gyms, have co-workers, etc. In discipleship group, you will regularly be asked how conversations with your Oikos are going.

For help, we suggest listing all the names of people in your life who are near to you but far from God. The simplest thing you can do right now is build out a list of around 20 people. If you are struggling to think of 20 names, try using the categories below:

First names the Holy Spirit gives you
Where you live (neighbors, family members, friends, relatives, mail man/woman)
Where you work/ study (co-workers, class mates)
Where you shop (Grocery story, restaurants, barber shop/ salon, coffee shops)
Where you play (gym, sports leagues, teams, clubs).

How to share the gospel: 3 Circles

While there are many helpful ways to share the good news of Christ with people, we have found the 3 circles to be one of the most comprehensive and simple tools to share the gospel with someone.

How to get into the conversation

There is no secret. Engagement starts with the basic elements of conversation and friendship. Before you engage, pray that God would soften your unbelieving friend’s heart.

Lets that about the different layers that make up a person’s life. The first and most basic layer is superficial commonalities and interests. This includes simple things like sports, weather, where you live, etc.

The next layer includes things like their story, family, lies, opinions, etc. Believe it or not, most people don’t have hesitation sharing this with you… they probably have a blog!

The next, deeper layer is thoughts on religion, hurts, hopes, etc. While this is typically a more guarded area of life, it’s also a universal part of the human experience.

The final layer is beliefs about God and reality - the core of how and why people live the way they do, whether they acknowledge it or not. As it did with us, this is where the gospel needs to challenge and change our unbelieving friends.

But how do we get there? (Spiraling to the gospel)

Out of a genuine love and affection for the lost, we start just like any other friendship-‐we get to know them. We take the time to get to know them, spiraling in layer by layer, by simply asking questions. This can happen in one conversation or over the course of several conversations. The point is we want to get to the core, but we don’t want to aggressively intrude, treating them as a project.

When played out in real life, this relationship building begins to spiral to the gospel, rather than leapfrog the person. And if ever we have gotten to a level of discomfort for the unbeliever, we can easily adjust, rather than alienate.

As we seek to win our unbelieving friends for Christ, let’s remember to keep it simple. Pray for them, get to know them and appreciate their layers, but most of all, they need to hear the gospel.

how to introduce the gospel

In order to introduce the gospel, I have found a lot of success with the question, “In your experience, what would you say is the main teaching of Christianity?” Because I have spent a lot of time with this person and the topic of religion has been broached, this is not an awkward question. It’s really just asking their opinion. Inevitably, their answer will involve being a good person and MAYBE something to do with Jesus. It’s a good opportunity to ask them if you can share.

Examples of questions in each layer:

LAYER 1: Weather? What do you do for fun? Where are you from? Sports? Hobbies? Entertainment? Technology? Food? Aches and pains? Health?

LAYER 2: How long in our city? Like it here? Family here? What do you do for a living? Where are your parents living? What is your family life? Sisters, brothers? What’s your place in your family? What was it like growing up in your family? Parents still together? Get along with your siblings?

LAYER 3: What religious tradition? What denomination? What was that life? Are you still practicing? What happened? What does your family think?

Transition to layer 4: “From your experience, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MAIN TEACHING OF CHRISTIANITY?”

Layer 4: Do you mind if I show you the main teaching of Christianity from the Bible? (Share 3 Circles) What is God like? How can you know? What is man’s problem? What is the solution? Who/ what if your authority?

Keys to remember:

Try, and be willing to fail!
Don’t limit your evangelism to people you know your “OIKOS”. You don’t have to be BFFs with the person. This process can happen over time, or in 10 minutes (Ethiopian eunuch, guy in Walmart parking lot.)
Don’t only share “if you feel led.” Look for opportunities and MAKE opportunities. Be proactive in making opportunities, and reactive to where the Spirit leads!

How to continue a spiritual conversation

At this point, if the person has not expressed faith in Jesus, you need to continue the conversation. Here are some suggestions:

1. DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY (DBS)

One of the best things we can do with our non-Christian friends is to invite them and their friends to read God’s Word with us. This is called a Discovery Bible Study (or a DBS). These are simple Bible studies that help your non-believing friends encounter who Jesus is and how they should respond to Him.

DBS GUIDE

2. IF THEY RECEIVE CHRIST

YOUR FIRST STEP is to weave them into your Missional Community rhythms so they can start Practicing the Way of Jesus in community!
Take them through FOUNDATIONS. These are topical studies we have created that will equip new believers in the basics of the Christian Faith. Meet weekly and go through the resources with them until they complete them.

3. NO DESIRE TO FOLLOW OR LEARN MORE

Even if the person expresses no desire to follow Christ or no desire to even meet with you again, the gospel appointment gives you the opportunity to state where you stand and demonstrate the fact that you are a safe person with whom he/she can talk about faith.

Weaving them into your Missional Community could be an appropriate next step so they can see Christian community in a safe, neutral space.

Concluding thoughts

Care about evangelism in front of your family. Pray for your neighbors with your children that your neighbors would love Jesus.
Be persistent. Be winsome, friendly, and persistent. Assume that God is letting the truth sit until just the right time to save them.
Be friends. Just because your non-believing friends are not Christians, don’t forsake being friends with them! Jesus was a friend of sinners! (Matthew 11:16–19; Luke 15:1–4; Luke 19:10).
Know where to look for answers. There are a lot of websites and books that you can reference when people ask tough questions (www.carm.org is a great place to start.
Teach others to do the same. Model evangelism for others. This stuff is caught more than it is taught. Remember what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:2 what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”
Keep trying. Keep praying. Keep trying. And pray some more. Beg God to save people. It is His delight that others worship His son. So don’t stop asking, and hold Him to it! (Luke 11:9-10)

CALEB SPRINKLE | Discipleship Pastor

NOTE OF REFERENCE

Many thanks go to Todd Engstrom and The Austin Stone Church, Austin Texas, for allowing us to use this section from their Missional Community Leader Field Guide for use by Life Church of Charlotte.