Ray Comfort is a popular street-preacher who makes it his mission to show others how to share the gospel. Just last week, I tried out his methods, with a little twist of my own to it, and it worked spectacularly. It was so nice to go up to someone already knowing what to say. So today, I'm going to share with you the outline that Ray Comfort uses when he walks up to share the gospel with someone. Take the things that you like about his outline, and the next time you share the gospel, insert your preferred way to share the word.
Going into the conversation- How to do it?
First and foremost, Ray Comfort prays before he just walks up to anyone. He tries to let God lead him towards the right person. When he goes into the conversation, he is smiling and has his arms at his sides, coming at the person trying to look as harmless as possible. He will shake hands and introduce himself to the person he is evangelizing to, and he'll begin by saying something like:
Do you believe in eternal life?
Are you afraid of death?
The core of the gospel- How to continue?
After they answer the questions above, going forward, things are liable to be different for every person. But the important part of having an outline is knowing that it's ok to go off of it for a while. Then, it is important to come back to it after all questions are answered. This way, no part of the gospel gets left out. After hearing the person's answer, Ray Comfort ask something like:
Do you believe in God?
Do you believe in Jesus?
If they are struggling to believe in God, an argument that Ray Comfort uses regularly is this:
"Do you see that building over there? If I said, I don't see the builder, therefore the builder doesn't exist, would you believe me? All creation is proof that there was a builder, and the Bible tells us that the builder is God."
The Heart of the Problem- How to address sin?
Sin is the reason there is death. Sin didn't just come because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, but because we ALL disobey God every single day.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.
Because we are sinners, God gave the us the law. But in the end, our inability to keep the law ruined us and sentenced us to death. What if people don't realize they are sinners? Ray Comfort makes a point when he shares the gospel in trying to put the fear of God into the people by making them feel convicted. It is important to recognize and tell the person that we are not judging them, for we all have sinned. We are leaving them to judge their own hearts.
"As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:9-19
So, Ray Comfort goes down the list of a few sins like this:
"Have you ever lied? What do you call someone who lies? A liar."
"Have you ever stolen something no matter how small? What do you call someone who has stolen something? A thief."
"Have you ever used God's word as a cuss word? Would you use your mom's name as a cuss word? No? You have used God's name, the God who created you, in vain. This is blasphemy."
"Have you ever lusted? What do you call someone who's lusted? An adulterer at heart."
He lets the person answer and leaves it to them and the Holy Spirit to convict them. Be SO careful to not judge. If they say they have sinned, but it is irrelevant because it was in the past, point out that everything that is happening right now is in the past. This is roughly how Ray Comfort would explain:
"If you committed murder, and you were standing before a judge, would you just tell the judge 'It happened in the past, I've changed'? No, because you still committed the crime and now you must pay for it."
"Death is just our wages. We sinned, and God our Creator is paying us our wages in death."
Then ask them if they think they are going to heaven or hell.
Restoration- Explaining salvation
Once they have realized their sin, it is important to show them how God offers his grace and mercy by sending Jesus to die for our sins. Ray Comfort would say something like:
"The Old Testament was God's promise that he would destroy sin, and the New Testament tells how He did it."
"The Ten Commandments are called the moral law. We broke the law. But God loved us, so He sent Jesus to pay our debt in full.
Explain how God is so just, we deserve death, but He loved us so much, that He sent Jesus to come and pay our dept.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Wrapping it Up- How to finish gracefully
When trying to wrap up a conversation about the gospel, Ray Comfort says something like this:
"So, will you think about what I've told you? Yes, well 160,000 people die in a day, and one of them could be you. So, will you think about this with a sense of urgency? If you were in a plane had to jump 10,000 feet, and your only plan was to flap your arms and save yourself, I would try to stop you and offer you a parachute. You need realize you can't save yourself and use the parachute to live. This is what I'm trying to do for you. Take the parachute that God is offering you. So, when are you going to repent?"
If the person is more receptive an eager to be saved this is a good addition:
"Do you want to repent and ask Jesus to come into your life? Don't wait a second longer to come to Christ. You aren't guaranteed another second."
You can explain how making this decision should not be taken lightly.
"If you walk away from this conversation and don't change how you live your life, nothing is going to change."
From here, if they understand what it takes to follow Christ, you can pray for them. This is the basic outline of how Ray Comfort shares the gospel. You can take what you like and apply it to your own evangelizing. Next week, look out for the next article, because I'll be sharing a special video I picked out, and you can see Ray Comfort sharing the gospel in action.
"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Romans 10:9-10
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