The Easy Conversation Starter
The greatest gift we can give anyone, whether family, friends, or strangers, is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yet…can you imagine any more awkward conversation?
What if there were an easier way to open that important conversation that takes less than five minutes? And that anyone can quickly master? I’ll bet you’d be “all-in!”
Well, there is! We learned an extremely easy approach this spring when we went through a discipleship program led by our Senior Pastor, Tony Walliser. It was an enjoyable five-month course that was worth the time we invested. The book we studied was The Timothy Initiative: Disciples Making Disciples (Level 1-USA Edition). This is a great book and is changing lives around the world as it teaches how to become a Christian, how to lead others to Christ, and how to easily facilitate group Bible studies.
Our job as Christians is to share the gospel and make disciples. It is not to save people, that’s the Lord’s responsibility. He does not need us to spread His Word but allows us to partner with Him to reach the lost. Isn’t that an amazing thing to consider—an Eternal Partnership with our Creator!
So, this book teaches how to initiate a 3-Minute Gospel Conversation. There is an easy format to this conversation that allows you to change it up for variation. When you are speaking with someone, you can easily move to a gospel conversation with the following four simple steps:
Step 1: There was a time when I….
This is the beginning of a conversation that shares what life was like before you became a Christian.
For Example-
- There was a time when I was afraid of death and didn’t know what would happen when I die.
- There was a time when I felt no one cared for me and I didn’t matter.
- There was a time I attended church for years out of obligation and never got anything out of it.
- There was a time I struggled with fear and depression.
Step 2: How I came to Know God
This is where you briefly share how you came to believe in Jesus Christ. You don’t necessarily need to have all the verses memorized. Tell your story. Who told you about Jesus? What interested you when they spoke to you about Jesus? Why did you decide to accept Jesus Christ? Your personal salvation story is your story and hard to refute.
Step 3: But Now…
This is where you share how your life changed and what life is like as a Christian.
Here is where you briefly share what it is like to know God personally and have the peace that passes all understanding. This is the place to share how your new life in Christ dramatically changed for the positive. This is the “so-what” to your conversation… the place where the person you are speaking with can hear the difference and importance becoming a Christian makes in life.
Step 4: Do you have a story like this?
After telling your story you ask this question. If people respond that they do not have a story or testimony, perhaps they are not a Christian and this is where you can ask if they would like to hear how to become a Christian and experience what changed your life. If they respond no, you can thank them for listening and add them to your prayer list.
That’s all there is to it…a simple gospel conversation starter you can use with friend or stranger alike. Just begin some conversation and weave these four steps into it. Pray first, for the words He wants you to share and for a receptive heart to hear.
Go ahead…give it a try! And you can practice this on your own with different variations so it never has to be the same and you can change it to match different conversations.
