There are many ways to share God with people. I have either heard or watched as others tried their way. One person told two young women they were going to split hell wide open. He judged them after learning they were lesbians. That wasn’t a very effective method at all. I told the individual, “Those ladies needed to hear of God’s love, not your judgment.”
I watched one Saturday night as an individual argued “religion” with another person, thinking they were going to convince them to accept their views and accept Jesus. It didn’t work.
People come to God in many ways. One way of sharing God that I have found to be effective is what I like to call “Lifestyle Evangelism.” If you come across an individual that you know you are going to be seeing from time to time, you can start sharing God and his love little by little. Whether it is going out of your way to help them, or remembering them in a time of need, or if they are celebrating a life event.
Eventually, they begin to realize that you are not “weird” but that you really do love God and want to love on people. People will begin to see that you and your way of life are so different from anyone they have ever known. It happened to Jesus. This can lead them to ask or to be open to hearing how to accept Jesus Christ into their life.
People don’t like to be controlled; they prefer to be led.
You could put it this way: people don’t want to be told what to do. But they are sometimes open to being led in the way they should go. Jesus is the way. Show people the way. Show people, Jesus!
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NET)
Be imitators of me (Paul), just as I also am of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1 (NET)
(The insert of the name “Paul” is mine.)
Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
brady, mark a. 
Good points, Mark. “Lifestyle evangelism” is a great way to show people the love of God – as long as the words of the gospel come with it. As you say, the one opens the door for the other. We need both. 😉👍
I try to keep my posts as short as possible, so I didn’t go into details and perhaps I should have. But it has been my experience that showing God’s love without sharing scriptures right away is extremely effective. Most people have heard scriptures, and they know them, yet they resist accepting them. If you share scriptures right away, they will feel “preached” at or down to. It is not our job to “convict” them. That should be left to the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus did, he lived a life of loving people and when questioned he spoke truth. Trust me, you show someone love and concern like they have never seen before it doesn’t take long before they ask you why. Then, you can share the hope and glory that is in you about God. And the great part about that is they asked you, first. Then, they cannot get upset with your answer and sharing of scriptures. It works in showing them the way!
With that said, if I feel I may never see a person again and only have one opportunity to share God’s word then yes, of course I share God’s word with them.
I still would not underestimate the power of “lifestyle evangelism!” Keep in mind, some plant and some water, but God is the Lord of the harvest.
I knew what you meant, of course. Just thinking that “lifestyle evangelism” is sometimes an excuse for never actually explaining the gospel clearly.
That last way (the shortcut) is what I’d call the airplane method. I can’t recall how many times I have had a “divine appointment” on a plane, when time was definitely limited.
When I was being interviewed for membership in our church, the last question was, “How would you share the gospel with someone on an elevator? You have 30 seconds ..GO!” That was challenging, but good to think about.