"Sharing The Gospel" - Steve Wiggins Special Devotional Series

How To SPEAK To People

Having put the youngest to bed and given instructions to the older kids, my wife & I had stepped-out for a little “breathing room” at the Cheesecake Factory. Over the years, we have learned the value of getting away, just the two of us, and simply re-connecting over coffee and a few needless calories. So, there we were, enjoying our time together, when all of the sudden, an old man approached our table and said, “You two are pathetic!” I could tell by the smile on his face that my wife would probably not throw her drink on him. Also, we knew exactly what he found “pathetic”. And we agreed. Truth is, while we were supposed to be re-connecting, we had our faces buried in our smart phones. Texting and checking emails. Same table, different worlds.

Have you noticed how difficult it is to have a conversation anymore, without at least one person looking at their cell phone? I believe we are losing the arts of two things in our digital generation: Handwriting and conversation. So, as we embark on a journey to learn how to effectively communicate the gospel, perhaps, we should refresh ourselves on how to SPEAK to people. It has been said that people don’t CARE what you KNOW until they KNOW that you CARE. In order to effectively share the gospel, we must actually CARE about the people we are sharing with! Don’t simply view people as a potential “conquest”. Otherwise, evangelism is reduced to a game, a challenge. Nobody wants to be a “goal”. People want to be known and they want to associate with people who are genuinely concerned with their personal well-being. We must be genuinely concerned.

With that in mind, let’s think about “speaking” to people as an acronym.

S: STORY Ask people for their stories. Tell me about growing up, your profession, your family, religious leanings, etc.

P: PASSION Ask them what they are passionate about, and if their lives are fulfilled.

E: ENCOURAGE Encourage them in their passions, if you can agree with those passions. Of course, encourage them in the Word, of G_d’s love for them. (John 3:16)

A: ASSISTANCE Offer yourself (or your network of friends) to help them in pursuing their passions, and their pursuit of discovering G_d’s purpose for their lives.

K: KNOWLEDGE Share with them what G_d has done for you. Share how your life has been transformed and your passions aligned with His will for your life, through your personal relationship with Him, through your saving relationship with Yeshua. Share how they could have that salvation relationship…that joy. Share the GOSPEL. The “good news” of grace, offered to all who would turn and receive it.

Blessings,
~Steve Wiggins, Associate Leader, Worship Leader
Shuvah Yisrael
Friday, January 17, 2014