7 Steps to Creating a Spiritual Survey

A survey could help introduce someone to Christ.

Jennifer Abegg

With the help of a questionnaire or survey, Christians are creating ways to engage people in conversations, often leading to gospel presentations.

Questionnaires can be created or adapted to apply to any audience. To try evangelism using a survey:

1. Consider your audience.
Determine the kind of people with whom you want to strike up a spiritual conversation: Golfers? Shoppers? Anyone? What kind of questions best suit your audience? Do you want a general survey, or one tailored to specific interests or topics? If you're interviewing people at the airport, you could start by inquiring about their feelings on flying, for example.

2. Keep the survey short.
Short is best if you plan to interview people in random situations (like door to door or at a park). In light of this, consider multiple-choice questions, leaving room for "other." This standardization will also help you tally the results later.

3. Transition to Jesus.
Ask at least one question that might lead into a conversation about Jesus and knowing Him personally. There are lots of ways to transition into that. For instance: "On a scale from one to 10, how sure are you that you'll go to heaven when you die?" Or, "Rate your desire to know God."

4. Be prepared to explain the good news of Jesus Christ.
Either memorize a gospel presentation or carry an evangelistic booklet such as the Four Spiritual Laws with you.

5. Don't bait and switch.
Be honest. When approaching people on the beach or in your neighborhood, tell them you're conducting a spiritual survey. Or consider saying, "I'm with a local Christian group." That way people won't feel deceived when the questionnaire turns spiritual.

6. Take "no" for an answer.
If someone does not want to answer the questionnaire, simply thank them for their time and move on. You do your part and let God do His. "Success in evangelism," according to Bill Bright, founder of Cru, "is taking the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God."

7. Tally the results.
If you say you're conducting a survey, that implies you are interested in the results, not just conversation.

Pass the results to your local newspaper for an article.
Publish results in your church bulletin.
Mail results. One local church asked neighbors about how they could best meet their needs and then offered to mail the tallied answers back.

If you don't intend to analyze all collected answers, call it a questionnaire, not a survey.

View and download more than 15 spiritual surveys, created specifically for high-school aged people but transferable enough across generations. Surveys include questions themed around July 4, family, character, Christianity and more.

Honor Restored

In honor-shame cultures the main existential problem is shame: this is where the need for the gospel is most keenly felt, and where the good news of the gospel is experienced as truly good news. While many gospel tracts focus on a person’s guilt before a righteous God, this one centers on our shame before a holy God.