RZIM SUMMER SCHOOL IN TORONTO 2015

Natural Evangelism in Everyday Life

Nick Hill
Power to Change, University of Toronto (Web: www.nickandjenhill.com | Twitter: @nickandjenhill)

Workshop Description
How do you interest those who arent interested? How do you reach people who are not
open? How do you bring the gospel to people who see no need in their lives? How do you
share the gospel naturally in everyday life with coworkers, family, friends, and
neighbours? In this session we will explore these questions and provide some practical
help for you to reach out relationally in a post-Christian culture.
Introduction Evangelism today
Why is evangelism hard today?
1. Inoculation many secular people think they know what they are rejecting;
meanwhile they do not know the gospel.
2. Defeater beliefs and cultural narratives many things are believed by the culture
that are road blocks to people even considering the gospel.
3. Ourselves we may be afraid of what people think, or of persecution, or of doing
a poor job, or that it will be ineffective, or that it isnt our gift, or we assume that
people arent open and arent searching (when countless people are). Many are
content to leave it up to the professionals evangelists, apologists, and
missionaries.
Know the gospel well
What is the gospel? Jesus Christ is the good news. He is the gospel. Cf. Mark 1:1
If you look at the sermons in the book of Acts and analyze how the Apostles preached the
gospel you will find these common four points as they shared the gospel (whether with
Jews or Gentiles):
1. Who made us, and to whom are we accountable? God our Holy Creator
2. What is our problem? In other words, are we in trouble and why? We have sinned
and rebelled against God.
3. What is Gods solution to that problem? How has he acted to save us from it?
Jesus life, death, and resurrection.
4. How do Imyself, right here, right nowhow do I come to be included in that
salvation? What makes this good news for me and not just for someone else?
Response Repentance and Faith

Know the benefits of this salvation in Jesus

Here are a few: life after death, resurrection bodies, right standing with God, we are
clothed with Christs righteousness, we are adopted into Gods family God is now our
Father, we experience freedom from the power of sin, full acceptance by God, our bodies
are the temple of the Holy Spirit where God dwells, we have received an eternal
inheritance with God, etc.
There are two ways of rebelling against God by trying to save ourselves:
1. Legalism 2. Antinominianism
Two areas in the Scriptures illustrate this well:
Antinominianism: Romans 1:21-25. Legalism: Romans 2:17-21
Luke 15:11-32 Antinominianism seen in the younger son: vv. 12-13. Legalism seen in
the elder brother: vv. 28-29.
Both antinominianism and legalism self-salvation projects. Both try and save themselves
through their own works: irreligious works and religious works.
Our culture, even though it doesnt seem very religious is very religious. People are
trying to save themselves through the idols they worship. Idols such as sex, money, and
power.
Idols
Before we can be effective in our evangelism, we need to identify the idols we are
tempted by in our own lives, things that we often look to instead of Jesus for our security,
identity, and purpose.
Once God reveals these to us, we need to preach and to apply the gospel to ourselves in
these areas of our lives. We often think of the gospel as the way to get into a relationship
with God and then we move on to more important matters. However, as Tim Keller says,
Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to
address every obstacle and grow in every aspect. The gospel is not just the ABCs but
the A-to-Z of the Christian life.
However, before we get there, lets look at what idols are in more detail. Im drawing a
lot from Tim Keller for this next section.
Romans 1:25 tells us that idols are not sinful things, but good things God has created that
we make ultimate things in our lives. We look to them for meaning in life, for covering
our sense of insignificance, for developing a righteousness or worth.
D.M. Lloyd-Jones said: An idol is anything in our lives that occupies the place that
should be occupied by God alone.

Stephen Charnock said: [Each person] acts as if God could not make him happy without
the addition of something else.
According to Romans 1, idols distort our thinking and enslave us.
Here are some different idols:
Power idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have power and
influence over others.
Approval idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am loved and
respected by _______________
Comfort idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have this kind of
pleasure experience, a particular quality of life.
Image idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have a particular kind
of look or body image.
Control idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am able to get mastery
over my life in the area of _______________.
Helping idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if people are dependent
on me and need me.
Work idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am highly productive
getting a lot done.
Achievement idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am being
recognized for my accomplishments, if I am excelling in my career.
Materialism idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have a certain
level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions.
Religion idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am adhering to my
religions moral codes and accomplished in its activities.
Individual person idolatry: Life only has meaning/ I only have worth if this one
person is in my life and happy there and/or happy with me.
Irreligion idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I feel I am totally
independent of organized religion and with a self-made morality.
Racial/cultural idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if my race and
culture is ascendant and recognized as superior.

Inner ring idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if a particular social
grouping or professional grouping or other group lets me in.
Family idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if my children and/or my
parents are happy and happy with me.
Relationship idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if Mr. or Ms. Right
is in love with me.
How to Discover Your Idols: Some Diagnostic Questions
a. What is my greatest nightmare? What do I worry about most?
b. What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even want to live?
What keeps me going?
c. What do I rely on or comfort myself with when things go bad or get difficult?
d. What do I think most easily about? What does my mind go to when I am free? What
preoccupies me?
e. What unanswered prayer would make me seriously think about turning away from
God?
f. What makes me feel the most self-worth? What am I the proudest of?
g. What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
Healing Idolatry with the Gospel
1. Avoid the Moralizing Approach.
A very typical approach to personal change among orthodox and conservative Christians
can best be called the moralizing approach. Basic analysis: Your problem is that you
are doing wrong. Repent!
This focuses on behavior but doesn't go deep enough. We must find out the why of our
behavior. Why do I find I want to do the wrong things? What are the idols and false
beliefs behind them?
2. Adopt the Gospel Approach.
Basic Analysis: Your problem is that you are looking to something besides Christ
for your happiness. Repent and rejoice! This confronts a person with the real sin
under the sins and behind the bad feelings.
Our problem is that we have given ourselves over to idols. Every idol-system is a way of
our-works-salvation, and thus it keeps us under the law.
Paul tells us that the bondage of sin is broken when we come out from under the law
when we begin to believe the gospel of Christs-work. Only when we realize in a new
way that we are righteous in Christ will the idol's power over us broken. Sin shall not be
your master for you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14).

You will only be under grace and free from the controlling effects of idols to the degree
that you have both repented of your idols and rested and rejoiced instead in the saving
work and love of Jesus.
Exercise: How would you apply the gospel to a person who is (first to the Christian
and then to the non-Christian). Pick one of these and discuss with the person beside
you:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Addicted to pornography
Is racking up large amounts of debt on their credit card
Is always worried about money
That is working such long hours at work that their health is failing and they dont
ever see their family.
5. Is filled with anger when things dont go as they planned.
Once we know the gospel well and know how the gospel applies to our life, we are then
ready to engage in the work of relational evangelism. Applying the gospel to your own
life first will take away any sense of moral superiority. The only difference between you
and the non-Christian you are trying to reach is that Jesus sought you out and found you.
Therefore, you will approach the people you are trying to reach with genuine humility.
Here are some practical things I do as seek to reach out relationally to nonChristians.
1. Pray, Show Care, and practice hospitality. Really care about them as a person (not as a
project). Ask God to give you a deep love for them.
2. Pray for the Spirits leading and for opportunities to engage.
3. Build connection. Get to know them: family background, work, passions, interests,
hobbies. Find places of common interest.
4. Ask questions about their spiritual background like Do you have a religious
background? Was it a positive experience?
5. Find out what they believe. What do you believe about Gods existence? Why do
you think that we are here on earth? "What do you think happens after we die? How
do we know what the good life is? How should we live and why?" Find out what they
think about questions of origin, why the world is broken, and what the solution is.
6. Find out what they are looking to for their purpose, identity, and hope. Find out what
they are looking to for salvation. What is their self-salvation project? (How they are
trying to save themselves). E.g. Their moral performance, career, family, money,
romance, sex, being a part of a certain social circle, where they live, being well thought
of, etc.

7. Identity defeater beliefs that they hold to. Tim Keller explains that every culture
hostile to Christianity holds to a set of "common-sense consensus beliefs that
automatically make Christianity seem implausible to people.
These are what philosophers call "defeater beliefs". A defeater belief is Belief-A that,
if true, means Belief-B can't be true. For example, Science has explained away God,
there cant be one true religion. Note: these are often assumed and held by blind faith. In
other words, they havent come to these beliefs through careful thought and research.
8. Do your best to identify the question behind the question (the misunderstanding of God
behind their reason for rejecting God). For example, when they are asking If God is
good, why is there suffering? they may be really asking Where was God when he let
my neighbor sexually abuse me? Try to get to the deeper issue. Gently probe. Ask a
question like: Why do you ask?" Often people are looking for a safe place to express the
turmoil going on inside.
9. Respectfully ask questions that challenge their self-salvation project. Ask questions
that show contradictions in their worldview (what can be called positive deconstruction).
As questions that show them that their defeater beliefs are unfounded and are shaky, and
that the good things they cherish like justice, human value, right from wrong, etc. do not
follow from logically from their worldview but actually from a Christian worldview
foundation.
Let me explain the more about the idea of positive deconstruction. I learned about this
from Nick Pollards book Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult: How to Interest
People Who Aren't Interested.
1. The first task of the process of positive deconstruction, then, is to identify the
underlying worldview that the person holds to. We need to do a bit of homework here.
Reading books like Dr. James Sires The Universe Next Door and Abdu Murrays
Grand Central Question will help here.
Most people do not hold purely to one worldview or religion, but often hold to different
contradictory beliefs that they have gleaned from various places.
2. Second, we should ask at least three questions of their worldview: 1. Does it cohere? 2.
Does it correspond with reality. 3. Does it work?
The first question is: does it cohere? This question derives from the theory that holds
that, if a statement is true, it will cohere. That is, truth will make sense. It will not contain
logical inconsistencies or elements that are mutually contradictory. Something which is
incoherent cannot be true. It cannot be true if it does not make sense.
Atheists often want to affirm the dignity and worth of human beings. However, if one is
to hold to atheism, this cannot be true.

Atheist physicist Lawrence Krauss said: We are a 1 percent bit of pollution within the
universe. We are completely insignificant.
And atheist professor Dawkins often attacks religion as evil. However, on atheism, we
can never say something is evil, only that we do not like it.
Dawkins himself has said: The universe we observe has precisely the properties we
should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but
blind, pitiless indifference.
The second question is: does it correspond with reality? This question derives from the
theory that says that if a statement is true, it will correspond with reality. That is, truth
properly describes the real world and does not make claims inconsistent with reality.
For example, Muslims claim that Jesus never died. However, there is good historical
evidence both inside and outside the New Testament that supports the fact that Jesus in
fact died. This Muslim belief does not correspond with reality.
The third question is: does it work? This statement derives from the theory that says that,
if a statement is true, it will work. That is, truth enables us to function, whereas error does
not.
For example, in recent years a slogan has been put on public buses around the world that
says: There is Probably No God. So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life. However,
can you really enjoy your life if there is no purpose, no meaning? And we wonder why
there is an increase in suicide and depression in our society.
3. Next, we are to affirm the truth we find in the worldview. If indeed God is the God of
every person and God is working in every person, we should expect to find truth in every
worldview.
C.S. Lewis has said: If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other
religions are simply wrong all through When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade
myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that
mattered to them most; when I become a Christian I was able to take a more liberal
view As in arithmeticthere is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers
are wrong; but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others (p.
35). Mere Christianity.
These places of truth are often where we can speak the gospel into a persons life.
4.Lastly, we are to discover the errors in their worldview.
We may find that a particular worldview is not coherent, or that it doesnt correspond
with reality, or that it will not work, or indeed any combination of these. Only then shall

we be able to help people see this error for themselves so that they become
uncomfortable with their current view and begin looking at Jesus.
10. Share the gospel contextually and powerfully in a way that is personal and connects
with their hopes, longings, passions, convictions, and dreams.
11. Give them resources like YouTube videos, articles, books, that relate to conversations
that you have had. You could watch some videos together. You could go to a debate or
talk together. In both scenarios discuss what they learned, what they disagreed with, and
any questions that they have.
12. If they show interest after sharing the gospel, ask them if they would be interested
meeting one on one an hour a week to read one of the biographies of Jesus together or the
highpoints in the Biblical story (e.g. Uncovering Jesus Bible study produced by the Good
Book Company or something like this that I have put together, a Bible reading plan
covering the highpoints of the Biblical story: www.bit.ly/bibleoutline).
13. The goal is to clear away roadblocks and get them one step closer to Jesus. This is
what successful evangelism looks like. You dont have to lead someone to Christ to be
successful. Realize that this is going to take time.
The usual spiritual process that someone goes through is the following:
Trusting a Christian: distrust -> trust
Wondering about Jesus: apathetic -> curious
Opening up to Change: closed -> open
Seeking after God: meandering -> seeking
Entering the Kingdom: lost -> saved
(Taken from I Once Was Lost by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp)
Start Practicing These Things
1. Continue to apply the gospel to yourself. Apply the gospel in your everyday life, to
your hopes, dreams, struggles, attitudes, relationships. If you apply the gospel yourself,
you will know how to better apply the gospel to others in an appropriate and life
transforming way.
2. Know the gospel well. Know how to present the unchanging gospel in different ways.
3. Know how to address defeater beliefs.

4. Be a good listener.
5. Have courage to take risks.
6. Have faith that God will use you and that God can use you to transform other peoples
lives.
7. Learn how to enter into another persons perspective, worldview and see their world
through their eyes. I.e. try on their worldview from the inside and start to see why they
believe what they believe and also the problems, contradictions therein. This might shake
your foundation a bit, but this is a good thing. It will help you see why they believe what
they believe and that it is somewhat reasonable. This will help you to better apply the
gospel to their lives and practice positive deconstruction.
8. Learn from others who are compelling in their presentation of the gospel. Ask what
makes them compelling. E.g. Ravi Zacharias, Andy Bannister, Tim Keller.
9. Have perseverance to keep reaching out to people (or even the same person) when
things dont go as planned and you are rejected or there is a negative reaction. How you
handle yourself in these situations can be used by God in a powerful way.
Recommended Resources
Articles:
1. Atonement Grammars by Tim Keller [Understanding the gospel]:
www.bit.ly/atonementgrammars
2. Deconstructing a Worldview by Nick Pollard [Worldview evangelism, positive
deconstruction]: www.bit.ly/deconstructingpt1 and www.bit.ly/deconstructingpt2
3. Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs by Tim Keller [Addressing defeater beliefs]:
www.bit.ly/defeaterbeliefskeller
4. The Gospel in All Its Forms by Tim Keller [Understanding the gospel]:
www.bit.ly/gospelformskeller
Books:
1. Corner Conversations: Engaging Dialogues About God and Life by Randy Newman
[Conversational evangelism]
2. Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult: How to Interest People Who Aren't
Interested by Nick Pollard [Worldview evangelism, positive deconstruction,
conversational evangelism]
3. Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself by Joe Thorn [Preaching the
gospel to yourself]
4. Questioning Evangelism: Engaging Peoples Hearts the Way Jesus Did by Randy
Newman [Conversational evangelism]
5. The Reason for God by Tim Keller [Addressing defeater beliefs]

6. Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl
[Conversational evangelism]
7. The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges [Preaching the gospel to yourself]
8. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog by James Sire [Understanding
other worldviews]
9. Uncovering the Life of Jesus Bible Study [to do with your non-Christian friends one to
one or in small groups]: www.bit.ly/uncoveringjesus
10. What is the Gospel? By Greg Gilbert [Understanding the gospel]
Videos:
1. Jeff Vanderstelt on Gospel Fluency [Understanding and applying the gospel to yourself
and others]: www.bit.ly/gospelfluencyjeff
2. Tim Keller at Google Headquarters speaking about his book Reason for God
[Addressing defeater beliefs]: www.bit.ly/kelleratgoogle
3. Tim Keller and Os Guinness at Oxford: www.uncoveroxford.org/watch-thetalks [Positive Deconstruction and Applying the gospel]
4. Burning Questions DVD featuring Andy Bannister [Addressing defeater beliefs]:
www.burningquestions.ca

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