Are you craving more courage in your heart? I am. Are you compelled by men and women of courageous faith around us, like Charlie and Erika Kirk? Yes, me too. This past month, I have been challenged afresh to become a believer filled with more courage. And I don’t think I’m the only one. Charlie Kirk’s assassination sent a wake-up call to the Church: Are we being courageous for Christ? Are we willing to risk it all for the Gospel?
I have the joy of working every day at Decision Point with some of the most courageous teenagers for Christ. We team up with local churches to empower teens to share the Gospel boldly at their public schools. They are seeing a record number of their classmates come to know Jesus. They are driven by their love for Christ and broken over their lost generation. They simply can’t keep quiet about Christ. These teenagers inspire me every day with courage for the Gospel.
What could it look like to cultivate courage in your life? Not the soft, easy, convenient kind that goes with the crowd. Courage comes when we do hard things for Jesus. Speaking God’s truth when it’s not popular. It’s when we share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, not dependent on our personality or self-confidence. Courage for the Gospel demands confidence in our Creator and King, the only One who can save and set people free.
Two countercultural ways you can cultivate courage:
1. Share the Gospel with strangers
If sharing the Gospel with a stranger sounds hard or intimidating — good! That means you’re normal. Some say they would rather feed sharks than share the Gospel with a stranger. Let’s normalize that feeling of nervousness or fear. We all have experienced it around sharing the Gospel. Therefore, if more courage is going to come, we can’t wait for fear to leave. Choose to share the Gospel while afraid.
The Lord is clear in his command for every Christian to share the Gospel (Matt 28:19-20). Notice this command is not based on personality or gifting. Phew! All my introverted friends, you are not left out of this one. All God’s children are called to share the Gospel. The same Holy Spirit that lives in extroverts lives in introverts too. What a kind God we serve to give us all the same Holy Spirit to proclaim the same Gospel to the lost. It really levels the playing field.
We live in a culture where being kind is the most sought-after trait. It’s on T-shirts and mugs. Kindness is good. But kindness alone never led someone to a saving faith in Jesus. People must hear the Gospel with their ears, in order to believe in Jesus and be saved (Rom 10:14-15). We also know “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
Before we go and share the Gospel with people. Let’s define success in evangelism. Obedience is success. We share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results to God. There is great freedom knowing when you get rejected — it’s success. When someone comes to know Jesus, it’s success. Why? Because in evangelism, obedience is the win.
If this still sounds crazy to you, let me encourage you that it’s happening today. See for yourself in this video how teens are starting conversations and sharing the Gospel with people they have not even met before or barely know. If they can do it, we adults can too! You would be surprised how many people are open to talking about God.
What if we normalized starting Gospel conversations with strangers? In the gym, at work, at the park and in coffee shops we go to regularly — all great places to start Gospel conversations. What if we got a few believers together and went to a mall with the purpose of initiating Gospel conversations? I wonder what divine appointments God would already have planned for us.
Let’s get practical. Check out this training video on how to share the Gospel. Here are three questions and tips to start a Gospel conversation:
- “Have you ever heard the gospel before?”
Ask someone how their weekend was. Then share about your weekend: “We went to church on Sunday and they talked about the Gospel. Have you ever heard the Gospel?” If no, ask if you can share it with them. If yes, ask what it is to their understanding, listen and continue the conversation.
- “Do you know Jesus?” “Can I share with you who He is?”
- “Can I pray for you?” and after praying for them, ask, “Have you ever heard the Gospel before?” If no, ask if you can share it with them.
2. Give away Gospel tracts with joy
What is the beauty of a Gospel tract? Let me say it simply — a tract gets to the point, shares the Gospel clearly and completely, not leaving anything out. What a beautiful gift! The whole Gospel with Bible verses clearly explaining God’s gift of salvation available to all who believe.
There is something unique about tracts. You and I can give them to any person as a gift, even if we have a quick interaction with them. Even if I don’t have time to have a full Gospel conversation with them, I just put the full Gospel in their hand to read on their own time. That’s such a gift! Lives can be transformed by receiving God’s Word in a Gospel tract. I personally know a fellow missionary, Jason, who got saved because his friend read him a Gospel tract page by page. Another friend of mine received a Gospel tract from a stranger, read it on his own, put his faith in Jesus, and now is faithfully serving as a pastor in the southside of Chicago.
If you have a negative view of tracts, I’d love for you to consider this: When you have a Gospel tract that has the Gospel and God’s Word in it, with a heart motivated by the love of Christ, you smile and give that booklet as a gift to a person you just met at the grocery store. Do you think God will be glorified by that? Yes! The answer is yes. Even if the person says, “No, I don’t want one.” Okay, no problem. They turned down your gift; it happens. It’s not the person’s response that defines success. Obedience to faithfully share God’s Word is success. Don’t shun the Gospel tract because you are afraid of what someone may think. Don’t dismiss the Gospel tracts as gifts bringing glory to God, just because you have this image in your head of some Christian somewhere doing it in the wrong way. Treat a Gospel tract like it is: a gift containing God’s Word to be given out freely and faithfully. I want to challenge you to try giving out five Gospel tracts as gifts to people you meet or a neighbor who lives near you. Courage grows in our hearts when we share God’s Word with people.
Let’s get practical. What does this look like for me, a 31-year-old mom of three young kids, to joyfully give Gospel booklets away?
First, keep Gospel tracts accessible. I have Gospel tracts in my wallet, kid’s diaper bag and stroller, drawer by my front door and in my car. I want to be ready to give the best gift I have — God’s Word with the people God puts in my path. Order your family Gospel tracts to give away. My favorite Gospel tract is the Jesus Changes Everything booklet.
Second, start by giving one to the cashier at the store: After checking out, I normally smile, give the cashier a Gospel tract, and say, “Here’s a gift for you. It’s a booklet of hope. Feel free to read it on one of your breaks!” I have yet to have someone reject the Gospel booklet. They usually smile even bigger, feel noticed and say thank you! Don’t stop there, you can give them out to neighbors with a plate of brownies, people you interact with when traveling or running errands.
Lastly, get your kids involved! If you have kids, this can be one of the most fun things to do. I took my kids on the train a few towns over to a special restaurant. When at the train station, I gave my 5-year-old the tract, and we all walked over to a person sitting on the bench waiting for their train. We went up and said, “We’d love to just give you this booklet of hope as a gift, to encourage you. Is there any way we can pray for you?” My 5-year-old handed the woman the Gospel tract, and we got to pray for her briefly before our train came.
Whether you work in corporate, study at college or work as a stay-at-home mom — may God cultivate courage in your heart. Let us follow Paul’s example of wanting to be a courageous Christ follower as he states, “…it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20). Remember, obedience is the win. Let’s obey Christ’s command to share the Gospel, and we will see courage grow.
Heather Barnes is Decision Point’s Special Projects Director, focused on recruiting and training staff, while furthering the mission by leading strategic projects across the organization. Heather is married to her husband Drew, and together they have three kids Sadie, Lawson, and Mia.
