The first official SBC-sanctioned witnessing training I received was called “Lay Evangelism School.” A leader from the state convention came to our church and taught us how to use a “survey method” to share the gospel on a Saturday morning. Then we went out and did it. We knocked on doors in the neighborhood and asked the people who answered the doors a few questions about their faith.
When we reported the results in the afternoon, we were surprised how many people knew nothing about our church, though it was only a few blocks away on a main thoroughfare. We were more surprised how many people knew nothing about Jesus—nothing accurate, that is.
Mostly we were happy how many of our teams got to share their faith using the “4 Spiritual Laws” tract we had been schooled in that morning. Even more, we were thrilled that one team reported a couple had prayed to receive Christ.
I remembered all that recently as I challenged a congregation to share their faith. I named all the witnessing tools I had studied and used across the years. There were over a dozen of them, from Evangelism Explosion to Three Circles, tracts and marked New Testaments, wordless books and bracelets and “evangicubes,” and soccer balls with Bible verses printed all over. I was surprised how many people had not heard of these witnessing methods.
We soon bore down on four things:
- learning The Romans Road,
- writing the short “elevator speech” version of our personal testimonies,
- praying for FRANs—friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors
- and initiating Gospel Conversations.
We marked Ping-Pong balls with the initials of people whose salvation we sought, put them in a big tank, and prayed over them often. We were inspired by the “Who’s your one?” campaign, which will be making a comeback in SBC life soon.
What I learned from my recollection of the many evangelism emphases our denomination has rolled out—a new one about one every 3-5 years—was the importance of a verbal witness. Evangelism is inviable without speaking about Jesus. Sharing our faith simply doesn’t happen unless we open our mouths.
Some people quote Francis of Assisi inappropriately, as if a famous statement attributed to him were an excuse for not speaking directly about the gospel. “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary” means the Christian’s lifestyle should back up what he says, but it’s not justification for silence. Words are necessary.
That’s the main addition to the Baptist Faith and Message Article 11 in its 2000 revision: “verbal witness.”
As Southern Baptists, we are Great Commission People (see Matt 28:18-20). But in a time when the term “relational evangelism” seemed to excuse believers from saying anything, convention messengers adopted language to make it clear that Christians have to speak up. Even at the risk of offending someone, we must tell people how to be saved. We can’t just hope they will figure it out from our behavior.
The article also made explicit the extent of our verbal witness: “The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations.” Not everyone has heard the gospel. Even where there is plenty of exposure. Even the neighbors near the church.
“And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” Paul asked. “And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” This is not a rhetorical question.
Closely related to the call to evangelism and missions is education. Baptists support education in many forms because all truth is God’s truth, but mostly because educated people have more tools to discover the truth about the Truth, Jesus himself.
