Make Jesus your role model for evangelism. Just as Jesus turned ordinary encounters into supernatural appointments, you can minister to people you encounter while going about your daily life. Be available to respond to needs as they arise, in the way that you’re wired to meet those needs. Remember that you don’t have to meet every need that’s out there – just the ones that God puts in your path. Just as Jesus met people where they were and moved them one step closer to God, you can do the same. Ask God to help you avoid distractions, be completely present with each person, and be sensitive to what God wants to do through our conversation. Just as Jesus prayed often to His Father, you need to pray often for God to minister through you. Spend plenty of focused time with God in prayer, so He’ll work through your life to draw others to Himself.

Listen well. Approach each conversation you have with unbelievers with the mindset of learning something from them rather than worrying about how to accomplish your agenda with them. View them as people to get to know better and love rather than as projects to complete. Keep in mind that unbelievers have valuable knowledge and experience you don’t have. Give them a chance to share it with you. When you listen to them, you’ll build trust between you, which will gradually make them open to hearing what you have to say about faith in Christ.

Resist Satan’s schemes. Stay alert to what Satan is trying to do to interfere with your efforts to share your faith. He wants you to be distracted, so stay focused on what’s most important. He wants you and your fellow Christians to be divided, so don’t compare your gifts to others and guard against jealousy and pride. He wants you to be deceived, so spend time regularly reading the Bible so you’ll know the truth and be able to apply it to any situation. He wants you to be discouraged, so remember God’s promise to always be with you and pray for the courage you need to share your faith well. If you resist Satan, he will flee from you.

Influence people. You don’t need to be concerned about trying to control or coerce people into coming to faith in Christ. All you should do is aim to influence them by introducing them to Christ and encourage them to develop their own relationships with Him. You can do that naturally by simply finding common ground in the relationships you have with others. Share more than just the religious part of your life with others; show them how your faith permeates your entire life by discussing all subjects with them – parenting, your job topics, news events, etc. Ask God to reveal the needs of the people He brings into your path. Build friendships with them so they’ll trust you enough to open up to you and discuss their real concerns. Offer to pray for them. Let them see how you handle similar challenges in your own life. When they observe how your relationship with Christ makes a positive difference in your life, they’ll be drawn to Him themselves.

Become a good conversationalist. Don’t try to force a canned presentation of the Gospel into your conversations with unbelievers. Instead, carry on personal, natural conversations that will motivate them to think more about God. Make sure you stay current with the latest news so you can discuss current topics in interesting ways from a biblical perspective. Ask lots of creative, open-ended questions about people’s lives to encourage them to open up more with you. Talk about some of your own areas of interest or expertise to build common ground with people who can relate well to them. Make eye-contact with people. Refrain from giving unsolicited advice. Simply listen and let people know that you genuinely care about them.

Be intentional. Make sharing your faith a natural part of your daily life on purpose by: being around non-Christians when you can, remembering that you’re part of a team effort when evangelizing so you just have to be faithful to do your own part in any person’s life, being creative about building relationships with others, being patient for God to work in the evangelism process, sharing your faith in your unique style, being available for the encounters God has for you, being aware that your real enemy is Satan – not unbelievers, being involved in your local community (such as volunteering for an organization you support) to reach out to others, finding natural ways to mention your faith in conversations about something else, and shifting people’s focus off of you and onto God.

Adapted from Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style, copyright 2006 by Mike Bechtle. Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.bakerbooks.com. 
Dr. Mike Bechtle is a senior training consultant with an internationally recognized time and productivity management firm, where he's taught over 2,500 seminars to the majority of Fortune 500 companies. He is a frequent speaker and the author of Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style. 

Original publication date: May 14, 2009