Why is that we freak out when it comes to reaching out?

Maybe we are ashamed of the stereotypical Jesus?

Maybe we don’t know what to say when it comes to sharing our faith? Some of us don’t even know how to bring it up…(“It’s hot in here…It’s hot in hell too!”)

There are all sorts of reasons most of us freak out when it comes to sharing Jesus and my prayer is that we would look to God’s Word for an action plan to overcome our fear and start reaching out to those around us with the good news of the gospel of Jesus:

If you want to begin sharing Jesus it starts when you….

1. Get a heart.

God has given me a huge heart for sharing Jesus. I think that it is because of how I watched the power of the gospel literally transform my life and the lives of my family. You see I don’t come from a religious, Bible-reading, church-going, pew-sitting family. I came from a family filled with bodybuilders and brawlers. But one day a preacher nick-named “Yankee” came to my Uncle Jack ‘s house on a dare to tell him about Jesus. When Jack answered the door he had no shirt, and a beer can was in each hand (one to drink beer out of and the other to spit tobacco chew into).

After some small talk the preacher asked Uncle Jack if he could take five minutes, come into the house, and tell him about Jesus. Jack obliged and over the next five minutes he began to understand the gospel for the first time.

When the preacher asked him, “Will you trust in Jesus right now as your only hope of going to heaven?” Jack simply exclaimed, “Hell, yeah!” That was his “sinner’s prayer.”

He went from fighting thug to witnessing thug overnight. He started sharing the gospel (sometimes laced with curse words because he didn’t know any better) with anybody and everybody. Soon, instead of throwing fists at somebody, he was throwing verses at everybody. He told all of his bodybuilder, tough guy, motorcycle thug friends.

When I watched the transformation in Uncle Jack’s life, I knew that I had to spend the rest of my life spreading this message with as many people as I could.

But of all the people who ever lived who were motivated to spread the good news of Jesus there has been nobody more excited than Jesus himself. He is the gold standard of evangelists. If we want to get a heart for thoses who don’t know Jesus we must….

A. See like Jesus saw.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36 (NIV)

Imagine with me the Son of God standing on a hilltop watching the crowds of thousands scrambling below him. Imagine tears welling up in his eyes as he thinks of their broken lives and unrelenting sins. He knew that they desperately needed the hope that only he could offer and his heart was broken as a result.

Is yours? Do you see your friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers like Jesus saw them?

I remember that my old youth leader gave me a task to do that sounded extremely weird to me at the time. He told me to go to the Westminster Mall on a busy Saturday afternoon, sit on a bench and just watch people. He told me to put an imaginary sign on their foreheads that read, “Bound for hell.” So I did. That exercise changed my life and perspective forever. It broke my heart once and for all for those who didn’t know Jesus.

Think of one person you know who doesn’t know Jesus. Get their picture clearly in your mind right now…now I want you to tag them with that same sign. See the words on their forehead right now “Bound for hell”…and it’s not just the hell that they are headed to that must break our hearts. It’s also the hell they must be living through without Jesus in their lives.

How do people make it without Jesus? Two and a half years ago I was giving the eulogy for my mom. My pain was real, but my joy was knowing that my mom was in heaven. I had the privilege of leading her to Christ when I was fifteen years old. Without Jesus in my life and in hers I don’t know how I could have made it through the pain. No wonder people self-medicate and drink.

We must see like Jesus saw the lost and hopeless then we must…

B. Touch like Jesus touched.

Of the 39 times the word “touch” is used in the New Testament 29 are in reference to Jesus.

o Jesus touched his disciples’ feet and washed them.
o He touched blind eyes and healed them.
o He touched hurting hearts and transformed them.
o He touched broken sinners and forgave them.
o He touched coffins and resurrected the occupants.
o But my favorite “touch” in the New Testament is when Jesus touched the leper and cleansed him.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Mark 1:40-42 (NIV)

The power of this encounter was that Jesus was breaking all sorts of religious rules and regulations with this one touch. In that culture you didn’t even go near a leper, let alone let alone touch one. But Jesus broke all the rules to reach people.

I don’t know why we, especially as guys, have a hard time touching others. Most of us have a hard time even hugging. Watching two macho guys try to give each other a hug can be one of the most painful things you can ever witness.

By the way guys, there are three keys to giving another male a hug:

• Proper head placement • Stick your rear way out (which is easier for some of us) and • Pat the other guy on the back three times (“I’m not gay!”)

Seriously, there is a certain power of the touch that does something that nothing else can do. Maybe it is a hug. Maybe it’s putting your hand on somebody eles’s shoulder or hand and looking into their eyes when they are talking to you. Whatever it means for you, learn to reach out and touch those around you like Jesus did.

We must see like Jesus saw, touch like Jesus touched and

C. Hear like Jesus heard.

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:29-34 (NIV)

Jesus heard through the crowd the drown out screams of two blind men…and Jesus stopped to touch them and heal them. This passage is a perfect picture of our lives isn’t it? We, like Jesus are surrounded by crowds. We are crowded by meetings to go to, projects to accomplish and endless lists of things to do. But in the midst of the crowds, we must take the time to hear the silent screams of people sitting by the wayside who don’t know Jesus.

Can you hear their silent screams?

Or do you find yourself with the uncaring attitude I’ve depicted in the following poem, Don’t Bother Me:

Don’t bother me with souls to save. I have my own agenda. There’s school to do, sports to play, Important stuff to attend to.

Don’t bother me with that little girl, The girl playing by the street. She’s much too young to understand, That the Savior she could meet.

Don’t bother me with my friend at school. He’s got his own religion. I don’t have time to change his mind. He’ll make his own decision.

Don’t bother me with distant sounds I hear, The sounds of people screaming. Although I wonder who they are. What are these victims shrieking?

Don’t bother me with who they are. I really don’t want the blame. For it’s the little girl and my friend at school Who from hell scream out my name . . . But don’t bother me.

We must get a heart. By seeing like Jesus saw, touching like Jesus touched and hearing like Jesus heard. Then we must…

2. Make a plan.

A. Pray for the lost people in your life.

Somebody once said, “Satan laughs at our toil. He mocks at our plans. But he trembles when we pray.” That is so true. When you and I pray we are unleashing the greatest force in the universe. We are tapping on the shoulder of ruler of the universe and asking him to act on our behalf.

Nobody knew the power of prayer like the apostle Paul. He writes these words in Romans 10:1:“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”

Literally the apostle Paul is saying that his heart is broken and that he is begging God to save the Israelites.When’s the last time your heart was so broken for somebody that you begged God to save them?

Think of that one person that the Spirit of God has placed on your heart and make a commitment to beg God to save them. But be forewarned. When you begin to beg God to save them, God will be prompting your heart to reach out to them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And when we pray we must pray in faith. For years my wife and I wanted to have children, yet we remained childless. One day, while I was attending a gathering of ministry leaders, all of us were challenged to share a personal prayer request and pray with for other. Reluctantly, I shared our struggle with infertility. But boldly, one of my Pentecostal brothers stepped up to storm the gates of heaven on my behalf – asking God to give us children. In less than a year, our first child, Jeremy, was born, soon to be followed a few years later by our little girl, Kailey.

What’s true in the miracle of conception is true with the miracle of being spiritually born again! Do you believe that God can save that person on your heart? We must beg God in faith that God will use us to reach out with the good news of Jesus.

The first part of the plan is to begin praying for this person, literally begging God for their salvation. Then it gets a little tougher. We must…

B. Pursue A relationship with this person.

What I mean by this is to pursue a relationship with this person on a spiritual level. In other words, “bring God up” with them. Write those words in the margins of your outline, “bring God up”. Jesus was always doing this with those he encountered. He was the master evangelist. In John 4 he took a conversation about a cup of water and transformed it into a spiritual conversation telling the woman at the well that he was the living water and that if she partook then she would never thirst again.

Jesus calls us to bring it up with those we know who don’t know Jesus. Let me give you a couple of ways you can do that…

• Use direct questions like, “What are your spiritual beliefs?”

And then just listen to them. Don’t shake your head and say, “Dude you are bound straight for hell.”

• Look for natural opportunities in everyday conversations. There is what I call a “fork in the road moment” in most conversations where you can turn it toward Jesus.

• Use the latest news, world events, movies, etc.

Whether it’s the Virginia Tech tragedy or the death of a famous person,for example,these events can easily be turned to the subject of death, heaven and hell. As a matter of fact as I was preparing this article I was convicted about the two guys who were always at the Starbucks I study at named Ron and Otis. I had never really shared the gospel with these guys before. I decided to go for it. I stopped typing my article and went up to both of them and began to talk to them. I mentioned a recent tragic death that had been in the news and pretty soon came to that “fork in the road” moment where I said somehting like, “It goes to show you that any of us could die at any time and the only thing that matters at that moment is whether or not we end up in heaven or hell.” For the next ten minutes I was able to share the gospel with Ron and Otis and they were completely open.

People are more open to talk about this stuff than you may think. We just have to bring it up.

As a matter of fact Dare 2 Share Ministries has a tool for you to use. It’s called Culture Commission and it’s designed to help you use current movies, music, news and trends to naturally ‘bring god up’ in your conversations.

• Check www.dare2share.org/culturecommission every week for ideas!

We must pray for our friends, begging God to save them. We must pursue them on a spiritual level and then we must …

C. Persuade them in a loving, non-coercive way to...

• Attend Church.

One of the easiest ways to reach our friends for Jesus is to take them to church with you. And there’s something about the gathering of believers that convicts our friends who don’t know Jesus.

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you! 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (NIV)

We must persuade our friends to attend church. We must also persuade them to…

• Believe in Jesus.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. John 6:47 (NIV)

One of the problems is that most Christian have never shared their faith. I am convinced that the biggest reason is that most Christians don’t know how. That’s why I wrote the book Dare 2 Share. It’s pretty much everything I know about sharing the gospel. It tells you how to

Begin a conversation
Share your personal story of how you became a Christian Defend your faith without being offensive.
Share the gospel in a powerful and simple way.
It even gives you 14 different belief systems and how to begin the conversation with them…How to witness to Marty the Mormon… Hari the Hindu…Jessica the Jehovah’s witnesses…Andy the Atheist, etc.
It is a field guide to sharing your faith with anyone, anytime, anywhere.
It is designed to take with you in your backpack, briefcase or purse so that you have a ready-to-use witnessing guide. I’d encourage you to buy one for yourself and for every teen you know.

If we are going to reach our friends for Jesus we must know how to explain the gospel and get them to believe in Christ. Once they believe we must…

• Connect to a small group.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

There is nothing like a small group to help a new believer grow deep in their faith. Once they get tied into relationships via a small group, their faith can become strong. We’ve seen countless people come to Christ through this ministry over the years and I guarantee you, the ones that get connected to a small group early on, are the ones that stay strong and keep serving Christ over the long haul.

• Develop spiritually

Every church needs a plan to help new believers and newcomers develop spiritually. At our church, the 101-301 classes help ground new believers and newcomers into the basics of the Christian faith so they can grow.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14-15 (NIV)

We must help new believers grow in Christ and finally to…

• Evangelize others

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16 (NIV)

As you purposefully pray, pursue and persuade your unreach friends, you will find that you are cultivating personal relationships on a deeper spiritual level.

3. Just do it!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NIV)

After you get a heart like Jesus’ heart and make a plan, it’s time to just do it! Begin with your ‘Jerusalem’—these are the individuals in your life who are your closest friends, your family, your co-workers. Think of that one friend or family member or neighbor who’s been on your heart during this sermon.

Then expand outward! Reach out to those in your ‘Judea”—others you know, but not as well. For me this was Otis and Ron and my neighborhood Starbucks. For you it may be fellow parents you stand on the sidelines with at a soccer game Your ‘Samaria’ would include those you wouldn’t normally hang out with, someone from a different background or lifestyle. Perhaps that neighborhood teen with all the tattoos or pierced eyebrows or the custodian you see regularly at the gym. Why stretch yourself outside your comfort zone? Because that’s who Jesus would reach! As for the uttermost parts of the world—that includes everyone else! Whether you go yourself or you support missionaries who take God’s word to the ends of the earth, Jesus commands us to think globally.

Think of one person you are going to bring God up with in the next 48 hours, with the goal of getting them to ‘attend, believe, commit, develop and evangelism’. Why 48 hours? Because studies show that if you don’t do what you learned in 48 hours, then the chances are that you will never do it at all.

Look again at the ‘Pray, Pursue, Persuade’ diagram illustrated in this article. Write that one person’s name in the center of the circle and commit to reaching out to them and developing a relationship with them that takes them to a deeper spiritual level. Then go to www.gregstier.org and tell me how it went!