Evangelism Encounter 1

The other day I needed an oil change and went to a local service station. When I told the manager what I wanted, I was instructed it would at least be 1 hour before they could get it done. The manager offered me some coffee and a place to sit in the waiting room which I happily agreed too. I sat down and noticed an elderly man, “Stan,” reading a newspaper; he offered a section to me. Soon I started to think, “I wonder if he knows Christ.” This thought process happens quite often with me. So I started a conversation with the man. We started to talk and he told me he worked at the Courier Journal before he retired then became a Certified Nurse and a LPN in order to take care of his wife.

I told him that I was a student at Southern Seminary, hoping to turn the conversation to the spiritual realm, but that didn’t work. I reached for a gospel tract to intentionally swing the conversation to the spiritual realm, but to my dismay I didn’t have any on me. So I prayed, asking God to help me swing this conversation to the spiritual realm. The man said, “Hey, I have some pictures to show you, wait a minute and I will get them.” He disappeared into the garage bay and returns with an envelope of pictures. I opened up the envelope and he had several pictures of the recent ice storm that hit the Louisville area. I saw what he called his “favorite picture,” the sun was shining through the clouds, hitting the ice on the trees and sparkling. It was a beautiful picture . . . I could tell this was my opportunity.

As I admired the picture, I said to him “how can someone see a picture like that and believe there is no God”. He looked intently at the picture and agreed. I then inquired where he goes to church and he named a large local church. Then, pausing, almost under his breathe, he said, “When I go.” So I asked him “what do you think happens when you die”? He said he has a friend who he discusses spiritual matters with over lunch. He said that he wasn’t sure if there is a God, but if there was, he would take into account “what good he had done while here on earth”. My next response of course was “so you consider yourself to be a pretty good person?” His reply was, of course, yes. So we then talked about God’s law to see how good he really was against God’s standard of goodness. When he saw his state before God’s law, he saw his sin, and that based on his sin, he deserved to go to hell.

I then had the opportunity to tell the greatest story ever; the fact that God, through His predetermined plan sent his Son to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life and didn’t break any of God’s Laws. He was nailed to a cross, and God poured out his wrath upon his own Son for my sin and the sins of all people who would believe. We talked about repentance and the fact that we must repent (turn from sin), and put our faith in Christ Jesus alone for our salvation. I then returned to the subject of works, explaining that our works cannot save us; it is only through the work of Jesus Christ, his shed blood for our sin, and his bodily resurrection, that we can be saved.
Stan promised me that he would read the book of John, he seemed very interested, but wasn’t sure about repenting, he wanted to read John first. I prayed for Stan and we parted ways. I pray that God will grant Stan faith and that he will repent and put his faith in the only one who can save him, Jesus Christ.

All of us can share our faith; we just need to face our fear of man. What is the worst thing that can happen to you – you are rejected? Look at the rejection that Christ endured on our behalf. Another possibility is that you plant a “seed” that another will water and someone else will harvest, God willing. The person could even repent and place their faith in Christ (and all of heaven would rejoice!). There are many methods to share your faith, but to share it biblically you must talk about: sin; righteousness/holiness; judgment; heaven and hell; and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. If you have questions on how you can do this please contact N.H.B.C. for our training schedule in Biblical evangelism. One last thing; when you pray, pray that God opens Stan’s eyes to the truth of the Gospel.

Now go share your faith!

Danny Allen