This has been a great semester at Liberty University where many have learned to know Christ personally as never before as well as how to share Him with others. We are going home next week for Christmas break and here are some pointers on how to share your faith.
Someone is bound to ask you a question like, “Why do you go to Liberty University?” [Maybe you’re wearing a sweatshirt or you told them where you are studying. Your answer must be wisely framed.]
[Note: Politicians have learned that regardless of the question they have a message to deliver so they put a spin on the answer that quickly turns to their message. Here’s how we can be as “wise as serpents” (Matt 10:16).]
Answer something like this: “It’s the greatest Christian university in the world. You see, there was a time in my life when I was not interested in anything to do with Christianity, but I thought I was a pretty good person and that was all I needed to be. Then I met someone who shattered my false hopes…”
[Notice: I answered his question but immediately started the real reason I am at Liberty, namely because I became a Christian. So far I’ve avoided using Christian jargon (“I was lost”) and I did not get distracted into talking about myself (“I came from a Christian family,” “I was into drugs, sex and sin, etc.,” or “I was a child when I accepted Christ”). All of this may be true, but it is distracting. I call them “trap doors” that will get you off target – sharing the gospel. What I said was enough for anyone to identify with your background: either they are disinterested in Christianity or they think they are a “pretty good person” or both.]
Continue to say something like: “I was asked if I knew whether I would go to heaven or hell when I died?” [Obviously you’ll rephrase this to your situation, but be wise and purposeful in how you say it].
“I had never thought much about it, but then he [or she] asked me if I though I was a good person?”
[This is the false hope that all unbelievers count on as in 1 John 1:8, 10]. “I answered ‘Yea, well, pretty good.’ Then I was asked if I ever told a lie? I reluctantly admitted that I had. He showed me that that made me a liar. He asked me if I’d ever taken anything that wasn’t mine? I finally answered that I had and he made me admit that I was a thief. That was painful to my pride. But then he asked me if I’d ever had lustful thoughts about another person? He told me that Jesus said that if we ever had lustful thoughts it was as though we had already committed adultery.” [For your information that is Matt 5:28]. “He concluded by telling me, ‘By your own admission you’ve told me you are a Liar, a Thief and an Adulterer. If God is going to judge us by the Ten Commandments how do you think you will stand? Guilty or Innocent?’ I admitted that I would be guilty. For the first time I realized I wasn’t good enough to go to heaven. I felt lost.”
[If this is as far as you get, the seed has been planted. The hopes of being good enough have been shattered in your listener, hopefully forever. Now he is obligated to ignore his reality of guilt (a Freudian psychological tactic) or begins to search for a solution.
[Once proclaimed or announced the gospel is the “power of God,” that is, the Holy Spirit begins His work in a person once they have heard the truth about themselves: “he will convict the world of sin…” (John 16:8). Count on this. Continue sharing the good news:]
“Then my friend told me that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, suffered the wrath of His Father for all my sins, so I would never have to suffer for my sins. God punished His Son, instead of me. And He only asked of me one thing: would I trust Him enough to make Him a part of my life as my personal Savior.”
[The gospel is easy to explain once the person has lost hope in his own goodness. This is the purpose of the Ten Commandments, which no human being, except Jesus, has ever been able to obey!]
“I simply told Jesus that I was sorry for my sins and thanked Him for taking the penalty for all my sins. Then I asked Him to come into my life and be my Savior forever. … And He did.”
[You’ve shared the Bad News, the Good News and now the Results].
“Since then I have not been perfect, but Jesus has never forsaken me and I’ve learned from the Bible that His way is always the best way to live. This is why I decided to go to Liberty University, where I can learn how to make a difference for God in this world.”
[If this is all you get to say you have left a seed in a heart that someone else will be able to water with another testimony or explanation of the gospel, which could bring about a salvation encounter with Christ. You may never know what happens until that day when we stand before Christ and He shows us how much we really accomplished for His kingdom. Whatever you do, don’t be ashamed to speak up for your Savior, the King of Kings. If time permits, say…]
“Can I ask you a few questions?….”