Rebecca (Becky) joins me to discuss sharing the faith you live in a post-Christian world, celebrating God’s power in our weakness, and asking good questions like Jesus.

Questions Becky and I Discuss:

1.  (9:23) When did you begin walking with Jesus?  Briefly share a bit of your faith journey with us.
2. (16:20) Let’s go back to when you first released your best-selling book Out of the Saltshaker, what did you hope a book on evangelism would accomplish 40 years ago?
3. (22:39) Forty years later you decided to write a new book on evangelism:  Stay Salt: The World Has Changed your Message Must Not. Why? 
4. (26:21 and 37:25) What I found helpful in Stay Salt is that you write not only about how the world has changed, but you address how to deal with our feelings of inadequacy, lack of confidence, and knowledge.  What are some ways you encourage Christians to overcome those feelings when sharing about Jesus in our post-Christian world?
5. (37:25) Can you share with us how to bring up in the subject of faith in our conversations without sounding pushy or intrusive? 
6. (41:36) How do we move from a natural conversation, a normal conversation to a spiritual one? (continuation of #5)

Quotes to Remember:

“The way He [Jesus] communicated the gospel was tied to the person, tied to their longings. He never treated anyone like an evangelistic project.”

“Back then, evangelism was very strong on truth, but very weak on relationship…. Now it’s much stronger on relationship, very weak on truth, and particularly, the verbal expression of truth.”

“Biblical evangelism is threefold.

1. Biblical evangelism is visual: You’ve got to demonstrate the love of Jesus in who we are and how we relate to people, how we care for our cities, how we care for our society. This is where justice fits in. It’s an aspect or people won’t take us seriously.
2. Evangelism is also verbal: As important as love is, it’s not enough. Because if you love people, and you never tell them why they’re just gonna think you’re a Girl Scout… Love is going to open the door, but there has to be truth. And we have to know how to communicate the truth of the message. And that’s where we’re so weak in the West.
3. Evangelism is invitational: At the right time, we need to know how to invite people to respond to Jesus.”

“So what’s changed? We have been living in a world and particularly in the West, that is dominated by what I call the lethal distortions of post modernity. And that wasn’t true when I wrote Out of the Salt Shaker. What do I mean by the lethal distortions, [of post modernity]? The collapse of absolute truth.”

“There is a designer religion approach that picks cafeteria style, so and it doesn’t matter if the beliefs we pick completely collide, and are contradictory or are inconsistent. It doesn’t matter, because there is no truth anyway.”

“Jesus didn’t say, ‘Go, therefore and make disciples, all you extroverts, all you gifted evangelists, all you professional clergy, and Okay, all you Baptists. And the rest of you just hang out, sing some hymns, I’ll be back. Jesus calls every disciple, in every age, from every tribe, to be his witnesses. And here’s what’s so interesting. He doesn’t say one word about our gifting.”

“We’re not the Creator, we are God dependent. We are not self sufficient. God doesn’t send us out empty handed. He’s provided everything we need for witness through the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the truth of the gospel, the power of Jesus love. But not only that, He is delighted to reveal His glory, through human weakness.”

“One of the underlying themes of all of Scripture: God reveals His glory through human weakness.”

“What do you see in the Bible? You see there is this profound relationship between human weakness and God’s power. God always uses people who complain they’re weak and inadequate…[Why?] ‘My power is made perfect in weakness’.”

“Where we need to begin in evangelism is, celebrate our smallness, and then lean on the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“When we’re talking to somebody, how often we think, what if I don’t have the right answer? What if I’m not clever enough? What if I can’t do that? That’s not the point. It is that we have another who dwells within us. We’ve got to start learning how to lean on the Spirit. We may very well not be great evangelists. But you see, it isn’t self confidence that we need. It’s God confidence.”

“I began looking for common ground. Any conversation you’re having with somebody, what are your common interests?….Here’s what happens when you find common ground and why is it so important, because when they find out, you’re a Christian, it’s going to be much harder for them to put you in a box because you’ve already connected authentically as human beings.”

“When you’re talking to somebody, always pray a silent prayer and invite God, His presence, His person to guide that conversation.”

“You need to ask good questions….Why are questions so powerful? Because they aren’t preachy? They reveal we’re really listening. And questions can actually cause people to reconsider their views.”

“Secularism does not have the power or the answers to address our deepest human longings. God has placed in every human being identity, meaning purpose in all human hearts and even if the non Christian can’t quite identify, articulate what it is they’re longing for, it’s there because it’s God given.”

“But don’t forget Jesus, He defeated Satan. He is a defeated foe. So expect that there’s going to be difficulties, don’t be surprised by it, but remember that he is a defeated foe.”

Invite people to read the New Testament. “Jesus is irresistible.”

Scripture References

• Matthew 28: 19-20
• 2 Cor. 12 The apostle Paul prays for the thorn in his flesh to be removed….My grace is sufficient…
• 1 Cor. 2

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Out of the Saltshaker by Rebecca Pippert
• Book: Stay Salt by Rebecca Pippert
• Book: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• Book: Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• Intervarsity Campus Ministry

Related Episodes:

• 79: Amy Carroll | Sharing Your God Story

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