Never share alone
A couple of years ago our staff team agreed to never share the gospel alone again.
If we want to be a multiplying ministry that makes disciples who make disciples, sharing by yourself doesn’t make sense.
We’ve talked about “discipleship in the context of evangelism,” or DICE for a while.
It’s a concept I picked up from Student Mobilization and Campus Outreach staff, and I’ve used it in my ministry for over a decade now.
Basically instead of making evangelism and the gospel a piece of your discipleship process, we build our discipleship process around sharing the gospel and reaching the lost.
We model this after Christ who came to do “on the job training” as He went to “seek and save the lost.” From the beginning He called the disciples to “send them out to preach.”
Here are three reasons why you should always have a student with you when you share the gospel on campus.
You become a better steward of your time
If you’ve ever scheduled a time to meet with someone, you know there is typically time before and after where you are waiting for them.
Even worse are the times when you realize 30 minutes after you were supposed to meet that you got stood up.
Sometimes I can be super productive during that time, but usually I’m checking my social media feeds (follow me btw).
When I have a student with me, we are able to talk about things we normally would in discipleship meetings.
Your students learn to share
Brandon was a disciple of a disciple of a disciple of mine who grew into a leader in our ministry.
We had never done any formal evangelism training with him, but he went on several gospel appointments with staff.
I had an appointment and invited Brandon and asked if he felt comfortable enough to share. I was amazed to watch him share the gospel almost exactly the way I share it.
Three generations removed and he used virtually the same illustrations and scripture because he had been trained by doing and not just watching.
The most amazing thing is that it was not robotic or forced. Because he learned how to share in real life situations, he was able to use the method we taught in a way that showed he didn’t learn it in a classroom or from a handout during a one-to-one.
It’s less awkward
Often the push back here is that it might be more awkward with some random guy sitting in on the conversation.
The truth is, conversations with new acquaintances happen every day.
It’s as simple as introducing the student you’re with and including them in the conversation. It’s only as awkward as you make it.
In fact, students typically have more in common and can relate better to other students so with the right student it usually becomes less awkward.
Please stop robbing your students of the best evangelism training you could possibly offer.
Please stop robbing your students of the best evangelism training you could possibly offer.
An old discipleship mantra is, “I do, you watch. I do, you help. You do, I help. You do, I watch.”
I learned methods of how to share the gospel during workshops at conferences. I learned how to share the gospel by going with a staff member to actually do it.
It does take more planning; I have to work with more schedules, but the payoff is eternal.
When you share the gospel on campus, please never share alone again.
Reflection questions
What are the pros and cons of sharing the gospel accompanied by a student you are training?
How would this philosophy benefit your ministry?
What steps can you take to make sure you always have a student you are discipling with you when you share the gospel on campus?