Witness Ideas

Ideas for Spreading Truth

You are in a lot of different places where you can share the Gospel. It may seem challenging, and so I have included some suggestions for some of the places you may be in. I would advise using these ideas along with your own brainstorming. You are in these situations, you will know which ideas will work best. I would also not do this alone. When Jesus first sent His disciples out to minister on their own, He sent them in groups of two. Having friends to work with and alongside is valuable—work together, pray together, plan together. Lastly, remember your motivation. You are not trying to be cool, you are trying to make Jesus known.

Here are a few ideas for sharing the Gospel and building the Christian community at school:

Live as a Christian. This has to happen before anything else can.This is the best ministry to have.
Pray for those you hope will come to Christ. Don’t forget to think of your teachers too.
Start a prayer and Bible study during lunch
Join and be part of any Christian clubs
Consider starting a Christian Evangelism club
Prayerfully consider joining the “Free thought” club or other agnostic clubs if your school has one.
Pray and be creative on how to use opportunities God has given you.
Have conversation starters. Instead of wearing a shirt about Nike, wear one with scripture.
Carry your copy of God’s Word. Keep the Bible nearby and don’t hide your faith. Don’t hide your devotion, but be bold.
Help those who are hurting, find ways to serve.
Bond with other Christians, help one another. This is a witness for those looking in. This is also good for your health and theirs.
If you are in a class that belittles God, confront these issues in class. You can let other students know of the lies and strawman. You could maybe start a study group. If you are in a biology class, you and your classmates could even go through the biology section of this book.
Call your teacher out. If they will speak lies, and you have the ability to share truth, share the truth with the class. If it's the evolution section of Biology, consider having you and other Christian students walk out.
If your church is having a youth event, invite your fellow peers at school. Believe it or not, your youth leaders are on to something. Trust them.
Some class assignments love to make it about you, instead you can make it about Jesus. Instead of writing a report about what you did at the beach over the summer, write about your spiritual growth over the summer instead. Teachers need the good news too!
Look at what God is doing around you, and take part in His work.

Sharing your faith with your family is difficult. I understand that personally. When we are witnessing to a loved one, we may have to plead to God for their salvation for years. This is not an easy ministry. Here are some ideas for witnessing to your family:

Respect and love your parents, or those who are your parental authorities.
Mentor a sibling. Discipleship is not just telling someone they need Jesus, but also showing them how to follow Him.
Pray for the lost loved ones. Realize that this may take time. Remember in your prayers that your are trusting the Lord to work through you and not in your own actions. The relatives I thought least likely to worship God are the ones who do so most.
Ask your parents to participate in your church event or to attend for special occasions. Do not expect this to be easy or for them to come to Christ in your first conversation. Be respectful and patient.
Care about what is important to your loved ones. If you expect them to listen to you, pay attention to them.
Strategize with other relatives who are Christian. Work together.
As you study, if someone is nearby, ask them their thoughts and share what scripture actually says
Ask your family member to be part of a short Bible study with you.
The author of Hebrews says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Are you living in the peace that Christ has given you? You should be living in a way that your presence is a blessing to your family around you.
Remember your place and family setup. Sharing the Gospel must include the essentials on recognizing sin and a need for a savior. The way you share this news to your little sibling or your mother will not be the same. Be respectful of your position in the family and the position of others in your family. Your primary goal is not challenging family structure, but using the closeness of family to share the most important news in the world.

School and family may be almost a complete summary of where we spend time, but let’s not neglect when we are with friends or playing sports. You may find some of the above tips helpful, but I have a few more for social gatherings that you can consider:

Don’t participate in activities that Jesus would not be part of. There is a strong correlation between getting hammered and being a bad witness. Pursuing sin will not make Christ known.
Be willing to help. If you are participating in a party or social gathering, do more than just consume. Show the host honor by helping them prepare and clean up, or at least let them know your willingness to help. Christians should not be burdens on others.
Use the holidays to your advantage. Everyone wants to have a Christmas party. Even the atheists I know who revile God the most. Halloween handouts do not only have to be candy, you can include tracts.
Use social media if you have it. It is a constant virtual social gathering.
Realize your circles. You may wonder if that person on your sports team will ever hear about Jesus. Congratulations, that gets to be your job. Part of listing ideas is realizing all the places that you have the opportunity to minister in.
Don’t be quiet during injustices. Use these times to show God’s love and His justice. Only Christ gives the answers that people really need.
Do not have a judging attitude. It may be easy for us to ask, “How could they act or think like that?” We as Christians recognize that we have the ultimate peace of Jesus. Our judgement should move us to compassion and action, not to a sense of looking down on others. That other person you are wanting to witness with, does not have the peace that you do. They are going to do things that do not make sense to you.
Let sports, your school club be subject to Christ. School, family, and all else can be important. It should pale in importance to Jesus. Make sure that in your social circles it shows. You are not a sports player. You are a Christian sports player. You are not just a trusted friend, but that person’s Christian friend too. This will make you open to witness opportunities. When someone needs help, they know you are the one with answers. When someone needs help, do they go to the friend they go to the friend that is the pessimistic atheist or loving Christian?
Like with family, do not take it for granted that people want to hear you. People are not by default obligated to listen to you. You must earn that. We share the Gospel because we care for that person. If we are not keeping up with what is going on in their life, paying attention to what matters to them, and listening to what they have to say, we are being poor witnesses. If we are not listening to them, we have no reason to think that they should or would listen to us.
This is not so much a point, but to show how friends can win someone to Christ by being compassionate to them. A couple friends were invited to this young man’s house. He was a Christian, these new friends were not. He did not make them feel like they were less because they did not know the savior. These friends met once a week to play tabletop games. This Christian friend did not “push” Jesus on these friends. He was open to questions, but did not proselytize. He set ground rules on what was okay for his house, but that was it. It was a year or more that I would hangout with this Christian friend before we ever talked about church. When my heart was convicted, he made time for me to speak to him alone so that I could ask and learn. My friend Dillon sacrificed a lot of time. Yes, he enjoyed the time, but he made a long term commitment so that little by little I would see the truth. Be like him.