When our children were younger, Colleen and I caved into the constant pressure that our kids were putting on us to go to Disney World in Florida over Easter break. So while visiting her parents, we decided to take out a second mortgage on our home so that we could spend one day there. The morning that we were set to go, we got up early and were there in time for the opening of the park. Colleen and the girls had planned this day with such detail you would have thought we were going to take Normandy again! We started early and went hard the entire day, hitting one attraction after another.
By dinner, we were all completely exhausted. After dinner, we decided to take a break from the rides to stand in line to get a couple of autographs from Mickey, Minnie and some other goofball. Since Jonny, our youngest, was only five and had a propensity to wander, Colleen or I had held his hand the entire day. While we were in line we both looked at each other and asked, “Where is Jon?” Our first response was to blame each other for not knowing where he was. Our next response was to sit the older kids down and we asked them to pray while we each went separate ways to search for him.
While I was looking, I was softly yelling, “Jonny, Jonny.” After fifteen minutes, we came back and neither of us had found him. Both of us had heard the horror stories of what happens when kids get lost and we were now in full fledged panic mode. We went to security, showed them a picture of Jonny, and they swiftly put in motion a full court press to find him. We both split up to look again, and this time, I was in full fledged search mode. From my perspective, this had now turned into a search and rescue mission. I was running and yelling at the top of my lungs, “Jonny, Jonny, Jonny!” I did not worry one iota about what others thought of me, because that which I loved more than anything in the world was lost, and I was going to do everything possible to find him.
After what seemed like an eternity, I ran into a store and saw Jonny, sitting down next to a shelf of stuffed animals, innocently holding a stuffed Simba in his lap. By this time I was bawling. He looked up at me and said, “Daddy, what is wrong, why are you crying?” You see, Jon did not even know that he was lost.
This is not very different from the 7 billion people on earth who do not know that they are lost as well. They are designed, created, and loved by their heavenly Father and He calls each of us to be part of a search and rescue mission with eternal ramifications.
This, of course, is why Jesus left the glory, majesty and splendor of heaven and came to earth. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, it is the reason he went to the cross. In Jesus, we have a model of how to reach men who are lost without Christ, who are seeking to live life on their own, men who are in desperate need of a Savior. Below are a few lessons that we can learn from the life of Jesus.
- Everyone of us has a circle of influence. A relational circle made up of people we interact with in our work and personal lives. The studies tell us that the average man has 154 people in their circle of influence. Think about that for a minute. While these people are all different, they all have one thing in common; they all need to hear about Jesus, the Good News, and they need to see something real, a living, breathing demonstration of the Gospel. All of us have the capacity to influence the people around us, to live in such a way that reflects Jesus’s Heart for the world. It does not matter the size of our influence, just that we are faithful with who God gives us. If we are going to reach men, it will be on their turf, their time and their agenda.
- It involves Prayer. Jesus began his ministry in prayer and ended his ministry in prayer. He modeled this on 30 different occasions. We will only move the kingdom forward as we move forward on our knees. God is ready, willing and able to answer our prayers, and in fact He is more willing to answer than we are willing to pray. Every great movement of God has started with prayer.
- Live it Out. People want to see the gospel message lived out. The visualization of the gospel provides the platform for the verbalization of the gospel. Our lives are to be an accurate reflection of Jesus to the world. Ask yourself, is there any area of your life that is not consistent with your commitment to Jesus?
- Share Your Story and God’s Story. Jesus spoke of being the ‘living water’, of being ‘the light of the world’, of being ‘the good shepherd’. He challenged the disciples to deny themselves and follow him. He called them into a relationship. If we are going to share Christ with others, we need to be prepared to share two stories:
- Your Personal Story. One of the most powerful tools that you have is your story. No one can argue or debate it. It is what God has done in your life. Take time to write it out and learn it.
- The Gospel Story. There are a number of ways to simply and confidently share the gospel with another person. I would encourage you to learn one way that you feel most comfortable with, whether that is the Bridge Diagram, or the Three Circle Diagram or Do/Done. Whichever one you use, the goal is not to point them to a church, denomination or set of rules. The goal is to point them to Jesus. Jesus asked the disciples to ‘follow Him’, and that is what we are doing as well.
The overarching principle I want you to grasp is that sharing your faith is not a Tuesday night mugging session, but a process. Many people have grown up with a model of evangelism where it is strictly an activity to do or a notch to have on your belt. The picture we have in Scripture, especially in the Gospels, is that of farming. When we look at John 4:34-38, we discover three aspects to the process. The first is cultivating. This is the intentional building of relationships with those who are far from the faith. Through these relationships they will see Christ in you, experience the love of Christ through you, and hopefully some of the false caricatures they may have regarding Christianity can be broken down. Second, it involves planting. This involves interjecting faith statements and ideas into the relationship by asking questions, answering questions, and sharing your story. Finally, there is reaping, which is making a clear presentation of the Gospel and allowing them to respond.
I have found that by seeing evangelism as a process and not a thing that needs to be checked off of a list, it really takes the pressure off and allows one to make talking about Jesus a normal and comfortable part of everyday conversations.
Steve Sonderman is regarded as one of the pioneers of the men’s ministry movement in America. In 1994, he began the annual No Regrets Men’s Conference which today draws thousands of men across the country and around the world. Steve regularly consults churches on leadership issues and leads seminars helping to develop men’s ministries both in the US and abroad. He has authored books on leadership and curriculum studies for men. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Divinity degree from Bethel Seminary. Steve and his wife, Colleen, have four grown children and are proud grandparents.
