Everyday Evangelism: Intersection
People can argue with propositional truths like: Jesus is the only way to God, the Bible is the Word of God, God is real, etc. But they cannot argue with your experience. Your experience opens the door for them to hear the truth of God’s Word.
When your story and their story intersect, it creates room for God’s story to be spoken and received.
As many of you know, me and my family used to live in New Zealand. One day we tried an experiment. We went to the downtown area of Auckland and simply held up a sign that read “What’s Your Story?” To our amazement, people kept coming up to us and tell us their story. We were able to listen to people tell details about their lives and experiences. And do you know the question they asked after telling their story? You guessed it, “What’s Your Story?” It was at that time we were able to tell them about the impact Jesus Christ has had on our lives.
The apostle Paul told his story every chance he got. In the New Testament you hear Paul’s story at least 5 times (Acts 9, Acts 22, Acts 26, Galatians 1-2, and Philippians 3).
Look back over your life and pick out the kairos moments that have shaped you and write them into a timeline.
With each one of these points, I can tell the story and lead it into how God worked in my life in that time or event.
After you have done that, spend time crafting the re-telling of your stories for these different opportunities.
Elevator (or waiting for coffee) story (30 seconds)
Airplane story (5 minutes)
Kitchen table story (15 minutes)
I would also encourage you to get with a friend and practice telling your story and listening to their story as well.
Blessings,
Paul