Compilation a Valuable Resource for Learning to Share the Gospel
by Allie Martin
May 12, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An Alabama-based evangelist is trying to help Christians become better equipped to carry out the Great Commission. Scott Dawson is president of the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association. In that capacity he travels the nation and world conducting crusades and holding seminars for fellow believers, and has reached more than half a million people through those venues. Dawson says he has been concerned at the lack of personal witnessing among believers -- which led him to compile The Complete Evangelism Guidebook: Expert Advice on Reaching Others for Christ (Baker Books, 2006).
Evangelist Luis Palau, one of the book's contributors, summarizes in the foreword his own vision of the importance of sharing the gospel. "Evangelism saves people not only from dying without Christ, but also from living without Him. And as they live with Him and for Him, they become salt and light in a world lost in darkness, sorrow, conflict, violence, and fear.
"I cannot imagine anything that helps people more than introducing them to Jesus Christ," Palau writes.
And preparing Christians to do exactly that is the objective of the Guidebook. It features 57 Christian leaders, teachers, pastors, and authors who examine various aspects of personal witnessing. Section headings include "Defining Your Faith," "Demonstrating Your Faith," "Declaring Your Faith," and "Defending Your Faith." Following those sections are breakdowns for witnessing to various groups according to relationship, age group, vocation, religion, race, situation, and gender or sexual orientation.
Every believer, says Dawson, should be involved in evangelism. "The Christian understands that life is not about what you can get; the rest of our life is about what we can give," he shares.
And giving in a community, he asserts, is based on a person's love relationship with God and originates out of their burden and love for other people. He offers a word picture. "Hey, if the bridge was out down the road and you're driving a car, a real friend's going to say, 'Slow up. Slow down. Stop. Bridge is out. There is that negative. There is that sin. There is that punishment that's ahead -- but the good news is, you don't have to go off the cliff.'"
In that light, he says, personal evangelism should be viewed by believers as a privilege rather than a duty. "If we love Christ, the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is going to speak," he says, referring to Matthew 12:34. "If we have that dynamic, vibrant love relationship with Jesus Christ, it's going to come out. So that's the number-one reason why it's not a duty, it's not an obligation, but it is a privilege to me to talk about the One that's changed my life."
Contributors to The Complete Evangelism Guidebook include Palau, Josh McDowell, George Barna, Rick Warren, Joni Eareckson Tada, Les and Leslie Parrott, and Dolphus Weary.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
