Evangelism: Doing the Math, Together

Imagine you are working a long math problem.  You have worked through several steps, and after all that work, you get an answer of 4.  Now, you go to your teacher, and you show them your work, and they tell you “No, the answer is 12” with no further explaination.  Not terribly useful is it?  

Now imagine you are dealing with someone who is in the middle of a life crisis, and you tell them, “The answer is Jesus”...   Again, not terribly useful.  Evangelism is about more than just telling people Jesus is the answer.  You must “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. ”  It is not as simple as telling people what we believe, we must be prepared to tell them why we believe.  That means, like a good teacher, we must be willing to take the time and sit down with people and work through the math together.  

So, what does that look like?

That means doing your homework.  You cannot help someone solve a math problem unless you know the math yourself.  You cannot explain to someone what happened in the Garden of Eden or why Jesus had to die for our sins if you don’t know these things for yourself.  This is why careful, reflective study is core to the Christian philosophy.  It is essential to the process of sanctification, and it is essential to evangelism.  Before you can teach someone else, you must know it for yourself.

That means seeking to understand them before we make ourselves understood.  You cannot help someone with a math problem without looking at their work.  Similarly, if we do not understand the other person, we cannot possibly know where they went wrong in their thinking or how they got where they are.  In addition, this helps establish common ground.  You can’t work a math problem with someone until you both agree than 2 + 2 = 4.  Talking to someone who believes that “God does not exist” is very different from talking to someone who believe in a distant God who is no longer involved in the world.  You need to find what you have in common, and work from there.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” -1 Peter 3:15-16