WHAT WE DO AND HOW Part II

WHAT WE DO AND HOW Part II 1 Peter 3:15 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Joseph Aldrich, Gentle Persuasion; Michael Green One To One; Wayne McDill, Making Friends for Christ; Michael Simpson, Permission Evangelism October 26, 2003 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] This morning I'd like to present the third and final installment of the series on First  Peter 3:15. As you'll recall, the first study dealt with our preparing ourselves with the proper motivation and motive. That rises out of the first sentence in 3:15, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." Once we have settled the issue that what we do as a witness for Christ rises purely out of our devotion and obedience to Christ as Lord and our grateful response to His grace, we can be sure we are properly prepared and rightly motivated for any evangelistic effort. A monk found a very precious gemstone. He put it in his knapsack and carried it with him. One day he met a traveler in need who asked the monk to share some of his provisions with him. The monk opened his knapsack to share his food, when his fingers found the gem. So he lifted out the stone and gave it to the traveler. Overjoyed by his good fortune in the valuable stone, the traveler went on his way. A few days later, however, the traveler caught up with the monk. He begged him again: "Please, give me something more precious than this stone," he said. "Please give me that which prompted you to give the stone to me." We need to operate from a motivational base that is thoroughly Christian. That is, having a deep love and commitment for our Savior. From that relationship we will find all the resources to love people, serve people, be patient with people and evangelize people. So, first, set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, then love and care for people like He did. Jack Sternberg grew up in a Jewish home in the Northeast. He rejected Judaism and was an atheist. He eventually became a doctor, a cancer specialist in Little Rock, Arkansas. He had a patient who was a Christian. I want to read to you what he wrote about this woman. It's a very sad circumstance about a young mother in her early 30's dying from terminal breast cancer. "Yet," he said, "she seemed more concerned about my spiritual welfare, in my knowing Jesus, than in the fact that she was dying. She saw my lostness, my separation from God as a greater tragedy than her own illness. She trusted this Jesus then and for eternity. God had allowed illness to ravage her yet she still loved and worshiped and followed Him. She seemed confident about her future end. She seemed genuinely concerned about mine. That overwhelmed me." That concern led Jack Sternberg to Jesus. The second sentence in the text deals with the next step - being prepared to respond interestingly to those who ask us about our faith. "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (verse 15) What this exhortation implies is that something about our lives will provoke questions in the minds of those who watch us and listen to us. These are questions like What is it about that person that is so genuine, so good & right? Peter tells us that we should be prepared for that moment when those questions emerge. We should be ready with our testimony about our having encountered Jesus Christ and come to faith in Him. That preparation involves our faithfully and clearly telling our story of conversion and new life in Him. What does that mean to us practically? It means we should rehearse our testimony and perfect it so that it is interesting to others. That means we should keep it short and sweet-that's always better than long and laborious. If you're going to err, err by making your testimony short, not long. If your questioner wants to know more, and you have not already turned him off, he will ask you for more details. Remember, to be effective in sharing our gospel testimony, we must recognize when we have gained permission to go further with an individual. On the flip side, when we sense we have no permission to proceed further, we should stop. That will leave the door open for future questions from them and responses from us. Every parent knows that sooner or later their children are going to ask questions about sex. When they do, the experts tell us, don't make either of two common mistakes: first, don't get so nervous and flustered that you fail to answer them, or put them off in such a way that only increases their unanswered curiosity. Secondly, the wise parent shouldn't respond to these innocent first questions by dragging out the diagrams and books and teaching them an entire course on human sexuality. That's like giving them a drink of water from a fire hose. Dr. Dobson, for example, says just answer the questions matter-of-factly and stop there. If the child has more questions, which he probably doesn't yet, he will ask them. Meanwhile you have satisfactorily answered their curiosity by answering the question they asked. So it is with faith-inquisitors. Be ready to answer their questions with lucid, easy to understand answers that are your testimony about Christ. As the door opens more widely, either right then or even months later, then you can go on and share more and more of the gospel message and invite them to respond to Him as well. The third point Peter makes about our evangelistic encounters with unbelievers is that there are bad ways and good ways to present our testimony and teaching of the gospel to unbelievers. You can make the mistake of coming on very strong and forceful, like a salesman or a maniac, or you can state your case in the manner that verse 15 teaches. "But do this with gentleness and respect..." This is the apostle's counsel on how to present your testimony and teaching to an unbeliever. The two words used here are PRAUTES and PHOBOS in the original language. PRAUTES is translated "gentleness" in the NIV. It is the same word used in Galatians 5:23 for one of the virtues listed as the fruit of the Spirit. It means for us that when we share the gospel with others we are to be sensitive to where they are and not recklessly dominating the unbeliever or trying to intimidate them in any way. The other word PHOBOS is the word for fear (if one is "phobic" he is fearful of something). But in a more casual sense the word means "respect". We often hear the biblical expression "the fear of the Lord", and we know that it isn't a cowering, frightened kind of fear, but rather an attitude of respect and honor. In verse 7 of this chapter Peter uses the word to exhort Christian men to "respect" their wives. When we respect those we are evangelizing we are honoring who they are and what their current feelings are, never belittling them or their beliefs however wrong they may be. A professor at a university was known for his atheistic beliefs. He announced one day to his class, "I don't believe in God and to prove to you that there is no god I'm going to give God a challenge. 'God if you are real, knock me   off my platform, I'll give you fifteen minutes.'" The whole class was stunned into silence and it got pretty tense. As time went on   the professor continued to taunt. After about 10 minutes he said, "God, I'm still here. Are you going to prove yourself or not?" There were just a couple of minutes to go when this 240 lb. linebacker from the football team walked down the hall and heard the professor taunting. He took a sharp left walked into class, knocked the professor off the platform, into the wall and then onto the floor. When the professor finally righted himself he said, "Why did you do that?" The young man said, "Well, God was busy so he sent me." Peter, inspired of the Holy Spirit as he wrote knew what we ought to know-that, unless we show courtesy and thoughtfulness to those we encounter, they will not entertain what we have to say. Bottom line, our calling is to behave and speak in such a way that we gain the attention of the watching pagan world. We are to relate with them in maturity and integrity so that eventually we will provoke questions concerning the faith and hope that drive our lifestyles and speech. At that point we have earned permission to share the gospel with them through our personal testimony and teaching from the Bible. Once we have gotten to the point where someone has granted us permission to share the gospel with them, we should again be prepared to do so. Studying this text we should be convinced that every one of us needs to be able to clearly and compellingly present the gospel to anyone who will listen. We should be able to do so in briefly and interestingly, representing the scripture's teaching accurately. I'd like to close with a brief look at a methodology for presenting the gospel in such a way. My challenge to you is that you learn how to share this teaching with an unbeliever, and you learn it well, so that at the drop of a hat you will be instantly ready to present it. There are a wide variety of approaches to delivering the gospel in such an encounter. And they are all great, as long as they accurately reflect the truth of the gospel. I have chosen to recommend this one because it feels very comfortable to me and to others I know. Another reason I like it is it doesn't rely on using pre-printed material or a tract. To me it seems more natural because you can draw the very simple diagram as you go, and you can easily draw it on a napkin at a restaurant or the back of an envelope while riding the metro-link. Whichever method you prefer, find one you can use comfortably and be ready at all times, in season and out of season, to present it to anyone who grants you permission. This particular outline is often called the "bridge analogy". See appendix #1 for the drawing See appendix #2 for the explanation that accompanies the drawing (See appendix #3 for Questions that help to gain relationship and permission to share the gospel) APPENDIX 1 DRAWING OF GOSPEL PRESENTATION [Open in New Window] APPENDIX 2 EXPLANATION FOR GOSPEL PRESENTATION [Open in New Window] BOX with "us" and "God" together - God's intent from the beginning when he created human beings is that we would be together with Him forever. TWO BOXES - with "us" in one and "God" in the other - The Bible teaches that when sin entered into our world, both through Adam & Eve-and even through us-there was a division, a separation from God and the eternal, abundant life He intended for us. Because of sin we have lost our fellowship with God. God is holy, and He will not dwell where there is sin God is just and He must punish our sin, just as He promised But God loves us and longs to have us reconciled to Him again QUESTION MARK INSERTED - How can human beings be reconciled to God? How can the problem of our sin and our guilt be fixed? DEATH at bottom of chasm between God and man - The Bible says, "The soul who sins will die." [webmasters note: Ezekiel 18:4] This is true in the physical sense-death comes to everyone, and it is a result of sin in our world and our lives. But it is also true spiritually. When we sin and are separated from God, we are distanced from the only true source of spiritual life. So death stands between us and God. For justice to be served someone must die. INSERTION OF CROSS - God found a way to satisfy his justice and His love for us. He paid the death penalty Himself by sending His own Son to die on the cross for our sins. When the sinless Son of God died, his death satisfied the death penalty due for all human beings who would accept it. FIGURE MOVING FROM LOST TO SAVED STATE - When a person accepts Jesus Christ by faith he moves from a lost state of separation from God, to a forgiven state of reconciliation with God. Life is restored: he now has eternal life with God (heaven) and abundant life here and now (Holy Spirit). Would you be interested in receiving new life through accepting Jesus as your Savior? APPENDIX 3 EVANGELISM QUESTIONS LEVEL ONE QUESTIONS 1. Ask for help "May I borrow your _____?" "Do you know anything about _____?" "Could you help me with a small project?" 2. Get acquainted or re-acquainted "Hi, my name is Rich and I live…and I work…and my kids…" "We've been neighbors for _____, and I've never introduced myself-I'm sorry…" "Hi, is that your son? I'm impressed by his courtesy, skill, attitude…" 3. Positive remark/question "Isn't this a great (event, weather, game, way to relax)?" "That was a (nice comment, great play, generous gesture)…" - compliment "I can't remember ever (having such a good time, tasting a better bratwurst, seeing the sky so beautiful), can you?" LEVEL TWO QUESTIONS 1. Getting better acquainted "Have you (lived, worked, been involved) here long?" "Do you have other (children, pets, hobbies, family around here)?" "What brought you to (this city, neighborhood, church, job)?" "Do you work in town?" "Do you live in the area?" 2. Responding to answers of first level questions "We've lived here for _____ years, and we like the area" "Do you like it here?" "What attracted me to this (job, city, neighborhood) was…" (specific) "You?" "I don't know much about _____; my skills are more in the area of _____. How about you?" "We've found one of the most challenging thing about raising children is…" "It's good to finally meet you-I hope we get the chance to visit again soon" 3. Broaching subject of church "Is your family involved in other (sports, activities, organizations)? Church?" "Have you belong to a church in the area? Have you found a church home yet?" "We are involved in MECF-does your family attend a church?" "We attended a similar event; it was a church-related event. Do you belong to a church?" "We have some friends who like to _____; they're part of our small group at church" LEVEL THREE QUESTIONS 1. Spiritual journey "Where are you in your spiritual journey?" "Have you come to the place in your spiritual journey where you have encountered Jesus Christ?" "What are your thoughts concerning God?" "Do you find Him to be personal? "Do you know Him personally?" "Did you know that you can know Him personally?" 2. Spiritual topics "What do you think (grace, mercy, salvation, redemption, hope) is all about?" "What is your understanding of having a personal relationship with God in Christ?" "What do you think heaven will be like?" "Whom do you think will be there?" "Why?" 3. Digging for faith "If you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?' how would you answer?" "Do you know for certain that if you were to die tonight you would go to heaven?" "Did you know that the Bible teaches that you can be certain?" "Have you ever personally asked the Lord (for forgiveness, to save you, to come into your life, to be your Savior)?" "Would you like to?" "Is there any reason why you can't ask Him now?" "Did you know that you can know Him personally?"   [Back to Top]