Horizon

Step Ladder Evangelism

Church Administration / The Baptist Horizon / Canadian Baptist Builders

Step Ladder Evangelism

By Paul Johnson

Are you afraid of heights? Acrophobia, it’s termed. I was reminded of it in March when I tried to stand on the top of an 8-foot ladder, the very top. I couldn’t do it.

I had actually tried to jump to the top rung first, in one leap. I couldn’t do that either, to the delight of those watching. I was illustrating how many view evangelism to a gathering of CNBC pastors and leaders at the recent Focus meeting.
It’s so up-there, so incredibly difficult to do in one jump; I give up!

We often give up bringing the good news to others because of spiritual acrophobia.

I have to be a know-everything evangelist, but I’m not!

Sadly, Christians, and even leaders, give up in frustration and defeat. But you don’t climb a ladder in one bound – you do it rung by rung.

It is the same with evangelism.

That’s the way the Share Team helps a church with Action 52 evangelism training.

What are the spiritual rungs? The first must be prayer.

Even if you are too shy to talk to someone about God, you can talk to God about someone! We’ll train you to pray intentionally, passionately, effectively.

The second rung should be presence—being salt and light among your network of relationships.

You may not want to speak, but you can serve. Like Jesus, doing acts of kindness can be an entrée for the good news.

The Share Team will give you 101 sample ways to show caring love to your community.

And telling your story: this is the third rung. What has changed as a result of the journey you took to get to Christ?

Even if you’re shy, you can tell your story; it is uniquely you!

Then it gets scary, the next rung does: answering the hard questions. Once you’ve identified yourself as a follower of Jesus, you’re bound to field questions, maybe curious ones, maybe hostile.

Here’s where most want to get off the ladder, for fear the questions will be too hard.

Yes, they might be hard. But you can learn! The Share Team will help you research what questions most people ask.
Questions like: If God’s a God of love, why is there pain and suffering? There’s an answer to that!

The next two rungs are both risky and exhilarating: asking good questions—ones that lead to a spiritual discussion. Like: After death, what then? That’s the fifth rung.

The sixth is, share the Good News.This is done as we earn the trust of a friend, then share how to become friends with God.

You climb a ladder, not jump it, of course! You overcome acrophobia one rung at a time. It is the same with evangelism. We climb it rung by rung.

A question: What rung are you comfortable on?: prayer? telling your story?

Now an encouragement: Ask God to move you one rung up.

Don’t stop until you’re on the sixth one, confidently sharing the good news with a friend!

“Climbing the Ladder” training materials, to view or download, can be found at this website for Step Ladder Evangelism: https://drop.io/StepLadderEvangelismCNBC (login password: 12345)