What’s the Right Formula for Evangelism?
By Michael Kelley
The Four Spiritual Laws.
Evangelism Explosion.
The Romans Road.
The Three Circles.
These are all examples of evangelistic tools that you can use to share the good news of Jesus Christ with another person. Each of them have their own merits, and each of them probably have their own drawbacks. There are people in your church, right now, who have likely been led to faith in Christ using each one of them. So clearly, they are an effective means of communicating the truth of the gospel.
But which one is the right one?
The answer is none of them. And all of them. And here’s a little account from the gospels to show both are true.
The first chapter of the book of John takes us from the eternal nature of Jesus Christ down to a specific riverbank in Israel. John the Baptist was a popular teacher at the time, though not everyone enjoyed his messages as they were particularly biting towards the religious establishment. John had gathered quite a following, but he understood that his sole purpose was not to accumulate his own followers, but rather to point them to Jesus. And that’s what we find him doing starting in verse 35. Here are the next several verses:
The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”), and he brought Simon to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter”).
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.”
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.
“Come and see,” Philip answered (John 1:35-46).
It’s a pretty remarkable chain of events. And in that chain of events, we see the news about Jesus spread in a number of different ways. First, we have a proclamation from a preacher in John the Baptist. Then we see someone offer a theological explanation (albeit brief) about who Jesus is from Andrew. Then we find a direct call from Jesus Himself to Philip. And then we see Philip not quite know what to say to Nathanael, so he just invited him to come to an event.
And all of those things are right. None of them are wrong. Each one of them is an expression of a different way to share the good news. And each one is reflective of the person doing the sharing.
That’s an encouraging thought, isn’t it? It means that if you struggle to find the “right” way to share the gospel, then struggle no more. Because there isn’t necessarily a right way - there is only sharing. Speaking. Inviting. Testifying. You share the good news to whoever you can, however you can.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
