Try These Questions

I am a concerned man. And it’s rather unfortunate that I am on a mission to make my concerns your concerns as well. What troubles my soul these days, is the same thing that has troubled me before. I am now even bored with crying about the same thing. That is, I walk around and am embarrassed to see the Jehovah Witnesses holding their Awake pamphlets attempting to reach sinners with the Gospel message – at least their version of it. You can disagree with them all you want, but you will never take away the fact that they are trying. They sincerely believe that if you believe something is vital to someone’s eternal wellbeing, then nothing can stop you from trying to tell them about it. And then there is us, the Evangelicals, the people who are proud to possess good theology of this Christian Gospel, yet offering very little in terms of sharing that good Gospel to our closest kindred. What a contradiction!

Now, as much as I have the right to shame you all day about your little evangelism efforts, I am not going to dwell on it, but I choose to work towards providing a fast solution for all of us. I have observed, thought and pondered, until I discovered that many a good Christian, in all their sincerity, wish they were able to talk about Christ to their associates, but they just don’t know what to say – “just how do I start the conversation?” I have heard them ask. No worries, today I have provided you with good questions that you can present to your unbelieving neighbors, as you try to initiate the conversation about Jesus. Here we go…

How was church yesterday?

I usually present this question on Monday mornings to my workmates, even though I know very well that they do not go to church. The point is to use whatever answer they give to expand the conversation about spiritual things, until I get to the message of salvation – hopefully. This question, of course, is not a one size fits all, because there are some unbelievers who are churchgoers. Either way, you can get them to discuss about what they believe in their church for example, “How can I get to heaven according to the doctrine of your church?” Something like that.

How are you in your spiritual journey?

This is also an interesting one to present, especially after the “how are you” greeting. You see, in Africa, everyone is spiritual. Everybody believes something; they all have a spiritual aspect of themselves, albeit most are not bold enough to express that side publicly. Your duty, therefore, is to get them talking about it. Let them tell you how they are spiritually; whether they are satisfied with the current state of their spiritual journey or something is still missing somewhere. Remember though, some people consider their spiritual life a confidential thing, which means it might take a great deal of mutual trust for them to open up. Which also means that you must be ready to also confide about your own Christian journey, hopefully telling them about the goodness of God in your life through the Gospel of Jesus.

What is the best thing that has happened to you?

Again, this kind of question might not work with some who are somewhat distant from you, relationally. However, it is still the best question to introduce the Gospel. It’s my understanding that everyone has something in their lifetime that was a life changer, something that made an impact on their lives. For some, it is their graduation that kick-started their career, while for others, it's their marriage, or their children. Still others have their newly bought car and so on. The idea, therefore, is to hear what they consider as “best” in their life, before you tell them about something better than that; what Jesus has done for that person on the Cross.

What do you think happens when somebody dies?

This is actually my favourite. Have you noticed that topics of death are always part of the everyday news? Each day there are people who die of accidents, murders, natural disasters and everything else in this world of sorrow. Such is the chance to use such tragedies to converse about this thing called death, and present questions like, “why do people die?” “Where are the people who are dead now?” “Is it true that there is a heaven and a hell?” Those kind of topics are the gateway to the Good News of our saviour.

When and how where you born again?

As I have said, most people claim to be Christians, yet if you dig a little deeper into their lives, you will discover that they have no idea about something called, “being born again”. Hence this is a good question. Let the people give you their testimony of how they came to Christ. More often than not, you will end up explaining to them about being born again.

Brethren, there are more questions that you can ask to initiate a conversations about Jesus, such as “what is God doing in your life?” “Are you going to church this Sunday?” “What can you say about the Bible?” “Do you think you are good enough to enter heaven?” The problem is not really that we don’t know how to start such conversations, but are we willing to do it – to at least try?. In fact, you can do anything through Christ who strengthens you. If we really believe that man is lost without Christ, then there should be some kind of evidence in that belief.

You are not called to be the most eloquent theologian. You are simply called to be a faithful messenger who carries a beautiful, life-saving story—the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth you hold in your heart is too good, too vital, and too urgent to keep to yourself. Let your love for God ignite a courageous love for your neighbor, a love so deep that silence is simply not an option. So, let us rise, not in fear, but in the bold confidence of the Holy Spirit, knowing that the harvest is indeed plentiful, and the time is now.

Sinothi Ncube

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