Evangelism Tip #5: Tell A Better Story

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking a pause to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, as a result, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord on your own as well. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or question, as long as it is offered in respect and humility.

Today's devotional is taken from Chan, S. How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being THAT Guy): Personal Evangelism In A Skeptical World, Zondervan Reflective, 2020. Evangelism Tip 5

What The Text Brought To Mind: This chapter of Chan’s book immediately takes me back to my days in sales. There was a time when I sold credit cards (personal and business) over the phone. Yes, I was one of those annoying phone salesmen. I began my credit card sales training as part of a small business sales team. When they trained us to sell credit cards, they taught us tactics to help up do our job: (1) know your client’s story, and (2) know the story of your product. Our job was to demonstrate to our clients how their story was not only compatible with the story of our product but that their story would actually improve as a result of integrating our product. This meant we needed to thoroughly understand both the story of our clients and the story of our product. Over time I became a trainer and team leader for the company. The thing I discovered was that if a sales rep believed in the product and found value in the story they were selling, the better of a sales rep they would be. The more they saw the benefit of the product, the more they could see all the nuanced ways our clients could benefit from the product. And, since every client’s context was a bit different it required the sales rep to do a lot of listening to figure out the best ways to integrate the product productively into their client’s story. The one thing I enjoyed about the company I worked for was they did not want us to sign people up for an account if they were not the right fit. They wanted all their clients to have success with the product, which meant that the whole process was about ensuring that our clients were not just another sale, but genuine converts to the benefits of using our product. 

Evangelism works in a similar fashion. We have a product that has the ultimate story of God creating, redeeming, and sustaining his creation through his ultimate gift of love and mercy. This is a story that is anchored in fundamental truth, which means it is compatible with everyone’s story. The job of the evangelist is to help others see this compatibility.

The odd thing is people can often be very defensive against others who are looking to share with them a positive benefit for their life. Even though the company I work for encourages us not to sign up people who were a wrong fit and would not find benefit from our product, most people we called were highly suspicious about what we were offering. Even when we told them we wanted to create a profile to ensure compatibility and would not extend offers to people who were not a good fit, we were often met with hostility. It was only in our willingness to listen and show our genuine pursuit of understanding the client’s story did they lower their defenses and allowed us to share our story. And by listening, we would know which element of the story would best speak to their needs for their personal or company life.

Opening Prayer: Lord, help us to seek the wisdom needed to become skilled evangelists. Help us to be so devoted to Your will, that we long to share that will with all those we know. Help us to share it in our actions and words, and in the stories that we tell people about Your Son. Help us in all we do, so that we may express outwardly the glory which belongs to You. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 15:34 – And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’

Reflection: Jesus often would make references to the scriptures. Jesus would sometimes outwardly point to the scripture, saying things like, “As it was written” to let people know he was referring to the Torah or Prophets. Other times Jesus would make reference to the scriptures and it was left for the hearer to know the stories of old and make then the connection. The Mark passage I noted comes from the point in Jesus’ life where he is upon the cross, in the agony of what was happening, Jesus, in the ninth hour cries out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” To many people, they assume that this is just Jesus letting out his anguish and confusion from the very traumatic experience he was enduring. However, there is more to these words than suffering, Jesus is actually telling those who are witnessing his death, and who know the scriptures, to retain hope; hope within the bleakness of a dark moment such as that. He tells the hearer this because these words of anguish are actually a quote from the opening line of Psalm 22. The 22^nd Psalm is a lament; a literary expression of sorrow over loss and suffering. Now, the interesting thing about Psalm 22 is that the last section of the psalm is very hopeful as it anticipates a day when “all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to YHWH. So in one moment, Jesus told two stories, on one level he showed the very human side of the Christ, voicing anguish and lamenting over the loss and suffering that he was enduring. The other story is a story of hope, that the very moment of anguish that the people were witnessing was the fulcrum to the promise outlined in the Psalm, of God making way for all people to come to Him. Even in his dying breath, Jesus told the good truth, the story of stories.

The two sides/stories to the words upon the cross would have spoken to different people in different ways but brought them all to the same source. For the Roman soldier who did not know the scriptures, seeing a crucified man crying out to his God for help would have been a sobering reality, but even more so when that man’s God answers his call and people start speaking about the resurrection. A god who responds to a criminal’s cries would have been a curious story that would have broken down the walls of many Romans who witnessed the death of Jesus. Those who know the scriptures from their heritage would have heard those words and be reminded of a promise, and when the resurrection occurred, the store of old would have found affirmation in a modern context for them (and vice-versa) and would help to break down barriers within those who knew what Jesus was referring to. Two amazing stories, two amazing approaches to bringing people into a conversation about God, and that is just one quote from Jesus. The Bible is a treasure trove of avenues to God, it is a library that points to Christ in millions of ways, which means there is always a story to share to help people begin to see the compatibility faith in Christ has for their story.

Now not every Christian may know all the amazing ways that the scriptures intersect with each other, but we all have stories that we find profound and help connect us to Jesus. And those stories are significant to us because they have connected with us in a deep and meaningful way; they may have inspired us when we needed it or helped us find the strength to endure. We know what that gift feels like, so we aim to offer that same gift forward. So, we need to tell a better story about who Jesus is, what he does and has done for us, and what hopes and promises we look forward to in our faith journeys. Chan articulates a solid basis for being able to share Jesus: Manger, Cross, King: in other words, we should be able to articulate the Incarnation, the Atonement, and the Restoration. This means, to a degree, we need to know our Bible and Christian theology. Now, again we are not all going to know all the scripture intersections, nor are we all going to become Biblical scholars, but we should be able to articulate a good story that tells people about these three things. And if you have heard the stories of the Bible most of your life, then you likely already have a foundation in the back of your mind that you can lean into, you just need a little foresight and intentionality to focus it into a usable skill.

For those who may struggle in telling that story, Chan offers some summarized Gospel point form notes, which are useful tools for sure, however, I think the best thing you can do is practice speaking about Jesus with your Christian friends and community, get together in Bible study, or read the scripture with your family and spend some time in discussion, become more comfortable speaking about Jesus as if He were any other subject. If speaking about Jesus is about as normal for you as talking about the weather, then you will know how to tell a good story, as that story will be part of your life.        

 Challenge for the Month: Think about a Biblical story or stories that share the value of the Manger, Cross, and Kingship of Christ. Once you have done that, ask yourself why the stories you have compiled speak to you as explanatory and ask yourself, how might others who differ from you encounter the story you would consider sharing. 

Prayer for your Month: Lord, guide us towards Your story; Your metanarrative found within the Holy Bible, give us a steadfast determination to learn and seek the wisdom and foresight which can be found in Your Word. Amen.  

Final Thought and Picture:

Artists use paint and canvas to tell a story. It is amazing what can be done for your heart when someone paints you a picture of something meaningful. Working sales is kind of like painting a picture for someone, you show with your words and data what their futuristic landscape would be like if the client bought into the product. If you paint for them a meaningful picture in their mind, it will speak to them, and you will have a sale. Evangelism is both like sales and art, but much more important, your reminding people of who they really are, they are a portrait that God has created, a portrait that God will make shine even more beautifully if they could only realize they are part of a much bigger picture. Evangelism is reminding people of the story which God has painted, is painting, and will continue to paint and that is a story that will sell itself.

Germany, Trier, Church Sankt Paulin, ceiling fresko, Triumph of the Cross, by Christoph Thomas Scheffler. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons