IN FOCUS: Sharing the hope of Christ

How can we mobilize Christ-followers to share the hope of Christ with everyone in Texas by Resurrection Sunday 2010?

When did you come to know Christ? Did you make a commitment to him in an elevator? Perhaps you came to know Christ when someone shared with you in a hotel lobby. Some tell stories of 30,000-feet conversions in an airplane. After the “miracle on the Hudson,” this might happen more frequently now.

We always should seek opportunities to share our faith. I certainly have prayed on planes, especially in storms. I have had meaningful conversations that often relate to faith. Yet most of the stories I hear about individuals coming to Christ are the result of the influence and prayers of a friend or family member. Even those who make decisions in church services or evangelistic rallies typically are brought to faith in Christ through the primary influence of someone they know.

Yet many of our evangelism strategies relate to winning strangers to Christ. This is important, but how do we reach our children, or our parents, or our neighbors, or those who work beside us? How can we share the hope of Christ with a friend?

Concentric Circles of Concern is the best book I have read that provides practical insight for reaching out to those in our circles of influence. Oscar Thompson, one of the most beloved professors of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote this book a few decades ago. Even though his life was cut short by cancer before the book was completed, his wife finished the book that continues to guide us in telling others about Christ.

Recently, his book has been put into a workbook format, Witness to the World, which is a helpful tool for leading small groups or congregations in training for evangelism. A copy of this book has been sent to all of our pastors and also will be given out at our Engage conferences.

The BGCT evangelism department has provided video lessons to assist with teaching this book. They will be available at www.texashope2010.com and www.bgct.org/evangelism later this month. The author’s wife, Carolyn Thompson Ritzmann, gives a video testimony about the book and ways to use it in effective evangelism. She and her husband, Bud, also will teach the book during the breakout sessions at the Engage conference in Grapevine Jan. 25-27. Multiple copies of these books can be ordered by going to the BGCT evangelism website or going directly through LifeWay Christian Resources.

I was staying with the Thompsons in Fort Worth the first time I heard his concept of concentric circles. He said the evangelism in Acts 20:20 was household to household. We will fulfill the Great Commission by being faithful witnesses throughout our circles of influence—from family, to friends, to work associates, to neighbors and even ultimately with strangers.

Most Texans probably live within one of the circles of influence of one of our Texas Baptists. Will you be available for God to use to reach your circles?

Randel Everett is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.