Evangelism - Paint a Picture
December 5, 2021 Sunday Evening Study

You all may remember back when I was still pretty brand new here, we were meeting in the multi-purpose room on Sunday mornings. I preached a sermon on the book of Jude, and I began by having everyone close their eyes and listen as I laid out a scenario. I spoke about you with a group of people you trust, traveling, as you come upon a mountain. You didn’t know this mountain was coming, but you had worried that it might be there. And now it is there and you can see the treacherous path and the danger and you start to second guess yourself.

I used the mountain to represent any difficult or monumental task in life, and we talked a lot about placing our faith in God to climb the mountain with us. Yet during that story - you were there - you saw the mountain. There was a vision in your mind - a picture totally unique to you. Many of you may have just now brought up that same picture from before, or even another entirely unique picture of a mountain or struggle.

I approached that sermon in that way so as to put you in that place at that time, and to feel the fear and uncertainty - to try and get you to experience it first hand - to see with your mind’s eye. And really, almost every sermon I preach I approach in the same way - just like this lesson tonight. I want to engage your mind - get you to start thinking for yourself before I begin hitting you with information. I will usually tell a story that will help you to relate somehow in your own life so that when we get the lesson from God’s Word, it is relatable to you in the same way that it was relatable to me. This practice is the responsibility of the second role in conversational evangelism - the artist.

We spoke about the musician - the one who listens and learns the story, listening for the sour notes. Now we have the artist who takes what the musician has learned and paints a picture of what we have been told so that the person we are talking to can see it for themselves - both the good and the not-so-good. We do this by asking them probing and thought-provoking questions so that they begin to build a mental image of this tapestry of belief. The purpose of this exercise is to begin to surface the truth of what a person believes, discrepancies and all.

There are two main types of questions we are going to use to attempt to paint this picture. One, we will ask questions to clarify their beliefs and then we will ask questions to surface any uncertainties in their beliefs. 

Clarifying beliefs - the easy way is through questions which begin with “What do you mean by…?” Often people have a different understanding of many terms than we do as Christians, so this is crucial. When someone says “I believe I am a pretty good person, so I will go to heaven.” We might ask “What do you mean by good?” If they say “Jesus is my Savior” we might ask “what do you mean by Savior?”

Sometimes we will need to go deeper than that question and ask “What brought you to that belief?” or ask “What influences you to believe that way?” Usually here we will learn about educational experiences or religious experiences that have led them astray, even fed them lies about God and about themselves. This also allows us to uncover differences between different faiths as we discussed a couple of weeks ago - as Christians and Mormons and JWs may all use the same language to describe very different things - here we clear up any multi-faith confusion.

Asking these clarifying questions will not only help to paint a picture of what a person actually believes, but will also help us to understand their current spiritual condition with that belief. Consider your own walk with God - some days it is much stronger than on other days, and the truth is that we are more susceptible to distraction on the days we are far from Him. In the same way, those with false beliefs of themselves or of God are going to be more susceptible to the truth when they are falling away from their own faith structure.

Asking people to clarify their own faith will also lead to more honest discourse. We all have the personna that we want to show - how we wish to appear to each other. The deeper we dig, the more we learn about a person, and the more honest about themselves they will become. As they become more comfortable with you, they will likely be more honest with you, and therefore more honest with themselves about what they believe.

The author tells a story of being on a plane next to a man who confessed himself as a “free thinker.” Yet during conversation, he let slip that he believed that there was a creator. As the author asked him clarifying questions, he learned that the man was actually a secular Muslim. He had a problem with Christianity in that he did not like the idea that Jesus was the only way to God. Yet his admission that he was a secular Muslim led to far more open and honest discussion about his barrier to Christianity. Uncovering barriers to God is exactly what this role is about.

We paint the picture and we look for the barriers. Chances are the barriers will be the clearest part of the painting, as the person you are speaking with will make plenty sure you understand their position in those matters. By asking questions in a sincere way, we use our own ignorance of another person’s beliefs to give them a chance to tell us what they are all about, and it will minimize their defensiveness. Once again, people who trust you like it when you show genuine interest in them.

Clarifying questions can also turn around the burden of proof for someone. When people make statements or accusatory questions regarding Christianity, we can ask them what they mean and place the burden on them to explain their position. For instance, if someone tells you “I believe Christianity is just a crutch” we can ask - “what do you mean by crutch? Do you believe it gives a sort of advantage or aid in life?” Or maybe they might say that they do not necessarily believe the Bible is reliable - we might ask what they mean by “reliable” and what makes other writings of the time more or less reliable in their eyes. This allows us to avoid being caught in the trap of being put on the defensive, and is a tactic Jesus used often. Open to Luke 20:1-8.

When attempting to surface uncertainty in a person’s beliefs, there are some questions that will aid in this. Of course we need to use the appropriate questions for the appropriate situation, but here are some examples that are known to stir up some conflicting thoughts: Page 88 in Book.

You will likely begin to expose cracks in their belief system, if not huge valleys. Here are some follow-up questions that could help to widen the gap and keep a person questioning. Page 89 in Book.

Ultimately, remember that all of this has to be done in love. When we break it down like this it seems so clinical, so procedural, and that drives me a little nuts because it feels more and more like a transaction than a life change. Yet part of healthy evangelism is recognizing your audience and meeting their needs, hence the name of this class - Evangelism in a Post-Modern world. Let’s pray.