Getting Permission in Evangelism

Getting Permission when you Evangelize

Permission Evangelism is a style of evangelism not the rule. Lets list some styles of evangelism.

1. Lifestyle evangelism – Displaying Christ with your life. We should all be doing this.

2. No-fear evangelism – Starting conversations with complete strangers calling them to turn to Christ.

3. Open air preaching – The person preaching to anyone who is in earshot.

4. Conversational Evangelism – A way to get someone to want to talk more about Christ through Conversation

5. Convention style “Billy Graham” – “Promise Keepers”

Key Verses
1 Peter 3:15 - ¹⁵But in your hearts set apart 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,

Colossians 4:5-6 - ⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Reflection question: What must you do to get someone to ask you about your
faith? 2-3min

In today’s culture of fast, quick, cheap, easy, and “What’s in it for me?” Christians are faced with a society the does not want God. Getting permission to share your story to anyone is a hard thing to do, but is necessary to engage people where they are.

Co-Worker Story: One day, my non-Christian co-worker came to me and asked me for help. He was struggling with issues that were weighing him down. He asked me for advise and I was able to instruct Him in the direction of the Lord. The reason why he asked me for advice was because he saw my actions and way of life and saw something different. In working with my friend, he was watching how I acted, or rather, didn’t act, and wanted to know why I was different from other people and how I could best direct him. It was because of
my bringing up key words throughout our working relationship that helped him to understand that I was a Christian and am working on being a better Christ follower.

How do you get people to ask you about your faith? How do you get them to be genuinely interested in what you have to say about your faith? Let’s look at what the bible says…

It all starts and ends with God.

John 6:44 ⁴⁴"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- God draws us to Himself. I believe Jesus means that it is not our works, deeds, thoughts, or actions that earn us eternal life. The glory is all God’s for the drawing of the person.

Psalm 65 ³ When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave ^[b] our transgressions. ⁴ Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

- God is the one that changes hearts for His own glory.

God does call us to accept Him even though
we have the ability to not.

Matthew 22 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' 5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and
destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 13"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14"For many are called, but few are chosen."

In any Evangelism you do, be sure to saturate the person and situation with prayer. Pray for the Lord to do the work, and that you will be the vessel He uses to draw people to Himself.

Reflection time: How has God used you to reach someone in your life for Christ – 8min.

Matthew 5:16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Understanding Permission

Matthew 13 – Parable of the Sower

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

¹⁸"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is
the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. ²²The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. ²³But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

This is the parable of the “Sower”, not the “seed”. It is our job to bring the gospel to everyone and we need to draw wisdom from it. We as evangelists, which we are all called to be, must know when to walk and when to talk. When to talk is when the person is receptive and ready for the gospel, and when to walk is when you should leave the conversation for another time. Always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit about both cases.

1. You are building Trust first and foremost.
- Through getting permission and trust, you begin to know who they are, what they want, what their experiences are, and how best to reach them for Christ.

2. The ultimate goal is permission to explain Christ so that they make the decision to follow Him.
- Permission Evangelism is to “get them to give you more and more permission over time to share with them Christ.

3. Permission is nontransferable and it is a process, not a moment.
- Another Christian can’t come into a person’s life an pick up right where you left off. It must be gained again.

Understand about debating and arguing.

It is easy to get into a debate and try to “win” the soul by “winning” the debate/argument. I have given the best debates to non-believers and have won, hands down in our argument, even as far as to show them how ignorant and flawed their arguments are, and still lose the person. I know myself. I love to win. When I see a challenge, I take it head on and forge through it triumphantly. It can be extremely detrimental for us Christians to enter a debate since it may drive people further away from Christ. So we will get the opposite reaction that we desire.

Jesus never chased anyone down to receive Him. He called them and let them choose.

Personal discussion question: Like the parable of the Sower, How do you know when to
walk away from a conversation?

A Permission Conversation

When people ask you questions, how can you direct that question toward getting permission to talk about Christ? If someone asked you about what you do for a living, you could simply state your job title and expound on its complexities. Just after you state your job, you usually are able to instantly tell if the person really cares to know you as a person or just making chit-chat. The people that are making chit-chat don’t really care what you have to say, so it is not likely, although possible, that they will not want to hear about what you have to say about Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. You can do the same thing with any question you are asked and spin it toward spiritual things to see if they are receptive to what you are saying.

Reflection Time: What questions are you asked frequently that you could direct the answers
and the topic toward Christ and spiritual issues? How could you answer the question and bring up Christ all at the same time. All this is to gauge the person’s “spiritual temperature” in regards to their receptiveness to Christ.

Personal Reflection: What triggers can you use to start the conversation toward Christ

These words and phrases bring superficial conversations into a personal direction toward Christ without force, into the direction

Trigger Words: Church, Christ, Ministry, God, Jesus

Trigger Phrases:

1. Spiritual Experience
   

2. Work with an organization that helps people who__________

3. I used to think that way but I had an experience that changed my perspective…
   

4. Discovered I was wrong

5. Change in belief

Personal Reflection: Are people asking you about your story?

Homework – Memorize 1 Peter 3:15

Why its time for Permission in Evangelism

Why it is time for permission...

What is Evangelism: Evangelism - noun - the preaching of the gospel.

Evangelism is important for the non-Christian as well as for you. It helps you to understand and clarify what you believe. If you don't know what or why it is you believe, how can you effectively share to anyone about Christ.

Sharing the gift of God's love is not just a duty or an obligation, but is also blessing. We get to share Christ’s love with everyone.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Types of Evangelism:

1. Evangelists: Billy Graham, Ray Comfort, and Jarod Ramirez would be that type.
   

2. Missionaries: Christen Morrow, Jeremy & Suzy Bullard, Steve & Andrea Cabrillos, etc.

3. Pastors: Sheppard’s of Christ’s flock in the Church. Reaching out to new people, while growing the believers.

4. You!: We are all called to be an evangelist. To our co-workers, Friends, Neighbors,
   Family, Children, etc.
   

Prerequisite to evangelism:
No matter which type you are, you MUST show Christ through your life.
If you don’t display Christ with your life, actions, words, deeds, you are not a good witness.

Acts 1:8 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."

Why I share Christ to everyone?

1. It is a commandment.

2. Apart from Christ, everyone is going to hell.

3. Show love to our neighbor: Matthew 22:36-40

4. I grow, because it forces me to learn and study. I need to learn how to respond to answers.

5. We get blessed for evangelizing and by evangelizing.

   Table Time Questions – 1 per table: 5 min
   

1. How do you know whom you should start a conversation with about the Gospel?
2.How does a Christian relate to a non-Christian?
3. How do you communicate the work of God in your life.
4. How do you know when to talk and when to walk?

Ways to evangelize with words, deeds, actions:

1. Confrontational - blunt, forward - Simon known as Peter.
2. Intellectual – reasoning and rational explanations - Paul the Apostle
3. Testimonial – like the blind man who Jesus opened his eyes. "²⁵He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" John 9:25
4. Interpersonal – Jesus did this often. i.e. speaking to the woman at the well one on one. John 4:1-26
5. Invitational– you can invite people to church, your home, anywhere so they see Christ.
6. Service – serving others is a great way to evangelize with your life.

***Everyone should be sensitive to the situation and the Holy Spirit when evangelizing.***
Table Time: Which style are you more drawn to? 3 min

- America and Permission -

The American culture is on of self centered, selfish, and inclusive. They want everything their way right away. The media shows celebrities getting and doing whatever they want. Businesses are exploiting this in their marketing and are perpetuating it. American’s feel like you need their permission to “invade” their personal space, possessions, and time. This is not everywhere around the world. In places like El Salvador, where we send missionaries to, people can’t wait to hear the Good News. They come running. In places like Europe/England they are so against religion, because of the Church of England, that they do not want to have anything to do with conversations about religion/Christ.

Jerry Seinfeld:

Telemarketer: Hello, I was wondering if you are interested in switching telephone companies?
Jerry: I can’t talk right now, why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you back later?
Telemarketer: Umm, we're not allowed to do that.
Jerry: Oh, I guess because you don't want strangers calling you at home.
Telemarketer: Umm, no.
Jerry: Well, now you know how I feel.

American's believe that people must earn the right to talk to them. In being all things to all men, we need to earn the right to be heard by others. They feel like you are violating their space and that you should be invited in. Same goes with evangelism. People expect you to have permission to "Invade" their life.

Conversion Cycle for Believers

Old Cycle of Conversion: Person  Church  GOD (Salvation)

New Cycle of Conversion: Person God through Salvation  Church

The New Cycle is really the old cycle which originated from Jesus Christ. We are called to go out and make disciples of all nations. The Old Cycle, I believe, came about with good intentions but did not totally follow the biblical model Christ portrayed.

(Church is the body of believers. Christ said, wherever 2 or more are gathered, There I will also be.)

Read Church Statistics on page 19 and 21 “Permission Evangelism”Of all the people who accept Christ, 80% - 90% “Backslide” after they make a confession. Example: 294,000 people accepted Christ in a denomination; only 14,000 can be accounted for in Church.

We need to look at how to evangelize like Christ did. What Did Jesus Do

Mark 10:17-22
The Rich Young Man
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'[d]" 20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus did:

1. Corrected the man. – “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.”

2. Instructed about the law – “You know the commandments…”
   

3. Loved the lost person – “Jesus looked at the man with love in His heart.”

4. Showed that the man broke the law. – “One thing you lack…”

5. Called for a decision – “Then come, follow me”

Think if I told you someone paid a $25,000 speeding ticket for you breaking the law, you would say, “That’s ridiculous, I haven’t broken the law! I don’t need anyone to pay for me!”

Now, imagine if I elaborated on the offense. If I told you that the law caught you driving 55mph through a 15mph school zone that was clearly marked and that offense costs $25,000. But, someone you don’t even know loved you enough to pay the fine for you and take the penalty in your place; you would say, Thank you! To that person who paid for your breaking the law.

This is how Jesus did it. We should follow his example and do what he did.

We are not all called to become Missionaries, Evangelists, or
Pastors. But we are called to make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Where is your calling? Where does God have you right now?

Acts 1:8
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."

Every Christian has all of these necessary elements already, but those that have difficulty sharing their faith are living with one or all of the following barriers:

* They don't understand how to relate to today's seeker.
* They can't articulate the work of God's grace in their own lives.
* They don't share God's passion for the lost.
* They don't know how to respect each individual's unique journey.

Homework

Answer the following:

Why do you believe the Bible?


Why do you follow Jesus?


Why do you care if anyone else does?


Why do you have hope in Christ?


What has He ever done for you?


What would your life be like without God?

If you would like to learn more about evangelism check out these Evangelism ministries:

1. Way of the Master: http://www.wayofthemaster.com

2. Evangelism Explosion: http://www.eeinternational.org

3. Christian Business Men Committee: http://www.cbmc.com

4. Exodus International: http://www.exodusinternational.org