-Watch Some Experts At Work-
As you watch, notice patterns of how they deal with the most common questions thrown their way. Also, watch the ways they handle the most crazy off-the-wall questions. These videos are just a small taste of the resources available. (Personally, I love watching YouTube videos like the ones above when I need to be motivated to share my faith better.)
Don’t worry if you never get to the “Expert” level that these guys are at. If you had as many years of conversational experience as they did, you would be a bit of an expert at it too.
Don’t compare your humble beginnings to their years of experience. Instead let them inspire you to share God’s love well with others!
-Learn Some Tactical Questions-
Good conversations require good questions. Questions that make the person answering share from their heart.
Tactical questions are not questions that try to just be mean or drive a point. Instead, tactical questions will patiently and kindly search out where the heart of unbeliever is with God. As they answer these questions you will be able to start to understand why they believe what they believe.
Some great examples of these kind of questions are:
- What led you to that conclusion?
- Why did that ________ seem like the best answer to you?
- Can you give me some background as to why you believe this?
- When did you first become attracted to this belief system?
- How does this belief help you answer some of the big life questions about God?
These are just some basic examples of questions you can ask. If you want more help with learning to ask good questions, I highly recommend that you read Tactics and Questioning Evangelism. Both books have done wonders to help me learn how to ask the right questions at the right time.
Finally, just remember that the more you listen and ask good questions, the more likely they are to ask questions of you as well. Be prepared to share your story too!
-Keep Learning From God’s Word-
Want to know how to share God’s Truth from the Bible? Well, you have to know your Bible. This doesn’t happen overnight. It is an ongoing process but the more you dive into your Bible the more confident you will become in sharing the Bible truths with others, even unbelievers.
Find a Bible reading program that works for you. Over the past three years, I have had three very distinctly different methods that I have used. Each one has been great for a season. Just realize that sometimes you will have to change your reading program to fit a new time in life. Trust me, two kids later, I am learning to be flexible in finding what works.
-Memorize Some Bible Verses-
Often when conversations come along with unbelievers, we don’t have a Bible directly within reach. At best, we might have our phone and we could Google a needed verse. But that will feel awkward in the middle of a conversation that is flowing well.
Instead, try to memorize a few of the important Bible verses that will come up frequently when sharing your faith.
If you are unsure where you want to start, I would highly recommend the Topical Memory System resource. These are verses that I memorized over 15 years ago. Most I can still do from memory, which is pretty amazing considering I struggle to remember how to spell my own name some days.
-Practice Your New Skills In A Safe Environment-
Grab your spouse or a dear friend and practice together. Pretend to be an atheist. Practice asking good questions. Rehearse the basic tenets of your faith and your own Christian testimony. Work out the rough spots where you find you stumble the most often.
If you have a Bible study group or a Sunday School, this can be a great activity for the entire group to participate in. Help each other all gain confidence in talking with unbelievers about Christianity.
-Pray For Opportunities To Share Your Christian Faith-
Finally, pray that as you are faithful in preparing, God will lead the people He wants you to talk to your way. God is the one who opens the doors to conversations.
When we try to do it on our own strength, we will fall flat. Instead, ask God to open your eyes to all the times He does want you to speak up and share.
-Some Additional Resources-
There are so many resources to train you how to share your faith. Here are the six most helpful books I have found to help Christians defend their faith.
- Love Your God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland
- The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel
- More Than a Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell
- Tactics by Gregory Koukl
- I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek
- Understanding The Times by David Noebel and Jeff Myers
Basically, he breaks down 20 of the top worldviews that you will encounter frequently and gives you a basic understand of each one. Yes, it is basic and people may or may not follow exactly everything from one worldview. But this book is beyond wonderful at helping you get a manageable grasp of other religious points of view without overwhelming you. Perfect for starting out in your preparation to talk with an unbeliever.
In additions to reading good books, I would highly recommend that you find out if a local church in your community offers evangelism training or something along those lines.
Over the years, some of our pastors have held special Bible studies that focused on preparing Christians to share their faith well. These types of apologetics Bible studies were what helped me find many of the resources that I mentioned in this article. Definitely do not overlook the local church as a potential resource to help you prepare!
