The salternlite blog transcribes 10 "evangelism tips" from Tim Keller. I believe these come from this talk. By the way, for some reason blog trolls love commenting on how "preach the gospel" isn't on the list. If you assume Tim Keller isn't talking about preaching the gospel in and through these things, you are dense and your comments will not be appreciated. For those of us who are thinking about how we can bring the gospel to our neighbors, these suggestions should be simple and helpful. A bit more context is given at the end.
- Let people around you know you are a Christian (in a natural, unforced way)
- Ask friends about their faith – and just listen!
- Listen to your friends problems – maybe offer to pray for them
- Share your problems with others – testify to how your faith helps you
- Give them a book to read
- Share your story
- Answer objections and questions
- Invite them to a church event
- Offer to read the Bible with them
- Take them to an explore course
Keller suggests, according to salternlite, to start with 1-4, move to 5-7, and then 8-10. Too often we start at the bottom.
How about praying? Just kidding. I see that one all the time, too from people who want to sound super-spiritual.
Posted by: Frank Gantz | 06/22/2012 at 04:19 PM
Frank, yes, see that one all the time.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 06/25/2012 at 11:03 AM
Thanks much for pointing us to the audio. Really good stuff. He also breaks this down here: Redeemer Newsletter
On the prayer thing, it can be reductionistic, for sure. But I was appreciative of Keller's comment at the end of the audio when he said that "Evangelism is talking about Christianity in the context of prayer."
Posted by: Ryan Phelps | 06/26/2012 at 12:25 PM
Thanks Ryan.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 06/28/2012 at 10:57 AM
Great post! Thanks for sharing. ~Lizette
Posted by: Lizette Beard | 07/05/2012 at 05:21 PM