Taking the Initiative: Share Your Faith 

Recently the city of Chicago was offering amnesty to people with parking tickets that had late fees. If you had late fees on your unpaid parking tickets, for that period of time, all you had to pay was the original fee of the ticket. Imagine that your friend had several unpaid parking tickets with hundreds of dollars of late fees accumulated. Would you tell your friend about the amnesty window? How would your friend feel if they missed the window and found out that you didn’t take the initiative to tell them about it?

While saving money on parking tickets is good news, how much greater is the good news of the gospel? Taking the initiative in evangelism (also known as sharing the gospel or sharing your faith) takes energy. Sometimes it can feel scary or difficult to know where to start. But the good news that God came to earth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins is too good to keep to ourselves!

Cru defines successful witnessing as “taking the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” What does it mean to take the initiative? It means taking the first step. It means not waiting for someone to ask you about your faith. It means asking thought-provoking questions and gently probing for spiritual interest. It means going.

1. The examples of Jesus and the disciples

Jesus was an initiator. During His life on earth, He approached tax collectors, adulterers, Pharisees, fishermen, beggars, men and women, young and old, rich and poor with the amazing news that He was ushering in God’s kingdom.

The original disciples of Jesus acted in the same manner. They devoted themselves to spreading the gospel throughout the world. This took initiative from them.

In Acts 5:42, the disciples engaged with people in the temple and even went house to house in Jerusalem looking for people who were open to hearing about Jesus.

In Acts 8:27-40, Philip approached an Ethiopian man who was reading the Old Testament and initiated a conversation with him. The Ethiopian man was so eager to hear about the Messiah that he immediately asked to be baptised!

In Acts 17, Paul was invited to speak to an influential group of philosophers in Athens, because earlier he had taken the initiative and “reasoned ... with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day” (Acts 17:17, English Standard Version). Because of Paul’s initiative, more opportunities were opened to him.

We ought to take the initiative to share our faith because the Bible is overflowing with examples of people taking the initiative to share the gospel with others.

You have been initiated with

Imagine that one morning you sit down to breakfast in your home when suddenly there is a knock at the door. As you open the door, you are shocked to find your favorite actor standing there. After a brief greeting, it becomes clear that they want more than just to get you to watch their newest film, they want a personal relationship with you. In essence, they want you to be part of their family; to share everything from food to money, struggles to joys, laughter to tears. They want to know you and be known by you. How would you feel?

If you are a believer in Christ, you have been initiated with in this way by someone infinitely greater than your favorite actor. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (ESV).

Think of your own story — how did Jesus pursue you? The more you think about it, the more you will see that Jesus did not wait for you to come to Him; He initiated with you. Perhaps He used your friends to ask good questions. Perhaps He used a book or a movie, or something from social media that piqued your interest. Perhaps He used a speaker or a Bible study leader at a regular Cru gathering, who said something you had never heard before. Regardless of how Jesus did it, when you look back on your life, you can probably see that Jesus was pursuing you, initiating with you.

If then, we have benefited from the God of the Universe initiating with us, we ought to seek to initiate with others.

And incredibly, when we do initiate with others, we’ll often discover that God is already at work in the lives of people that we initiate with. We get to enter into the story that God is writing in the lives of people around us!

We’re commanded to take the initiative

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (ESV, emphasis added).

Going is not passive. Going doesn’t wait. To go somewhere or to someone is to take action and make something happen. Jesus commands us to go to the whole world with His message of reconciliation. Why should we obey Jesus? One might think that we obey Jesus in order to avoid negative consequences. If you don’t obey your boss, you get fired. But what’s unique about Christianity is that we obey out of gratitude, not fear. The more grateful you are for what Jesus has done for you, the more you want to obey Him.

In John 20:21, Jesus says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” ( ESV).

In Acts 1:8, He says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (ESV).

He commands us to take the initiative in evangelism.

What next?

Initiating conversations about spiritual things can be an intimidating thing to do. Whether the person you are initiating with is someone you have known for a long time or someone you just met, it is completely normal to feel some anxiety when starting a conversation with someone about Jesus.

In fact, even Paul, one of the greatest missionaries of all time, struggled with these feelings. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-3, he wrote, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (ESV, emphasis added).

But the good news is that God is with us. Paul goes on to say that he relied on the Holy Spirit to empower him and speak through him, and God used Paul’s courageous step of faith to produce the fruit of new believers in Jesus!

• Pray

If you are wondering where you should start, prayer is the first step. Asking God to embolden you, to equip you, and for clear opportunities to share the gospel is absolutely crucial.

• Learn about the gospel

In order to share the gospel, it’s helpful to have a clear understanding of the gospel. We invite you to check out this resource: “What is the gospel?” The more familiar the message of the gospel becomes to you, the more confidence you will have in explaining it to others.

Sometimes, the way we talk about the gospel changes based on the person’s background, culture, understanding, and life. The truth of the message always stays the same, but the way we speak about it can shift. The “tools” section found on the “God Tools” app has several different gospel presentations that can help you confidently and clearly communicate the message of the gospel.

• Learn how to talk about the gospel

Maybe you are already confident with sharing the gospel, but are wondering how to naturally bring up the gospel in a conversation. The “Lessons” section in the God Tools app has great resources on how to ask good questions that can easily transition into spiritual topics. You can also check out this article to learn more about bringing up God in everyday conversations.

• Be honest

But perhaps the least complicated way to take the initiative in evangelism is to be genuinely honest about your intention. SomeTime is a great resource that revolves around asking the question: “Sometime, I'd like to hear about your spiritual journey … Would you be up for that?"

One time, some students were on the beach and initiated a conversation with a couple who was there on vacation. The couple was warm and friendly, eager to meet new people and share stories about life. As they were talking, the girl in the conversation held up her hands. “Wait, hold on,” she said. “Do you guys know how I can become a born again Christian? My grandmother was a born again Christian, and she was an incredible person. She died a few years ago, and ever since then I’ve wanted to know how I can be like her.” It was clear that God had already been at work in that girl’s life, and all she needed was for someone to explain the gospel to her. There are countless people like her, who just need someone to initiate with them in order for them to take the next step in their walk with the Lord.

Initiating in evangelism might not be easy, but it’s clear from Scripture that we ought to. From the examples of the disciples to the commands of Jesus Himself and His incredible pursuit of us, we can take part in His kingdom coming to earth by taking the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results to God.

After looking at the text in Acts, let’s now look at some common misconceptions about evangelism and process these misconceptions in light of what we just read in Scripture.

1. If we just live a good enough life, people will come to us and ask us. And then we can share our faith with them.

Response: Of course people ought to be seeing the difference in our lives, and that should make them curious about what we have. But often, they don’t come to us and ask how to know Jesus unless we bring it up. Or even if they know that the difference in our lives is because we are Christians, they may not understand the gospel and why they need Jesus or how to receive Him. We need to offer that understanding to them.

2. If we go to people, we will turn them off.

Response: Yes, if we are obnoxious, pushy and insensitive. But if we learn how to gently and respectfully approach people, then we won’t turn them off. This approach entails offering them the opportunity to interact with the gospel and have a dialogue if they are interested. On the other hand, if we preach at people and force the message upon them, this can turn them off. This is not initiative evangelism in the power and sensitivity of the Holy Spirit.

3. People don’t want to hear the gospel; they don’t want to be bothered.

Response: True, some are not interested at this time in their lives, but others do want to understand more. This way they can consider it later on if they are not ready to turn to Christ yet. We can trust God to lead us to the ones who are hungry now and to lead us to ones for whom we are sowing a seed. Plus, if our approach is dialogue and interaction rather than preaching at them, most people enjoy discussing issues related to the gospel.

4. You can’t share Christ with someone until you have a relationship with them.

Response: Most importantly, the Bible doesn’t teach this and we see that in the lesson above. While having a relationship is valuable and often most effective, the question is how long does it take to build a relationship and trust? A month, a year? Sometimes trust and rapport can be developed in five minutes. God prepares many hearts of people for us to talk with, whether or not we have a relationship with them. In fact, offering to rescue lost people with the gospel is the most loving thing we can do for them.

If a person is drowning and you are on a boat with a life preserver in your hand, would you think, “I really don’t have enough of a relationship with them to throw them this life preserver”? Of course not! They may refuse to use it because they think they are a strong enough swimmer and with a little more effort they are going to make it without your help. But you would still offer them the life preserver. Love takes action and initiates to meet a serious need.

5. Initiative evangelism means street corner preaching or knocking on doors.

Response: While God uses that and, on occasion, we may be involved in those forms of evangelism, most of the initiative we take will involve more relational connection with people. There are many different ways to initiate, ie. initiating with someone you already know from work, your neighborhood, or from coffee shops. Taking the initiative simply means I am going to offer them the opportunity — in a gentle and respectful way — to interact about the gospel.

Take the initiative by starting today! There are countless resources available to help you share your faith.

Check out these free apps to get you started.

Another tool you already have is your personal testimony of how God changed your life through a relationship with Jesus. Learn how to prepare your personal testimony here.