Many say that contact evangelism and context evangelism is beyond their comfort zone. They prefer to keep their evangelism in the realm of talking with friends. But friendship evangelism also has its challenges. Often, the friendship has grown and developed, sometimes for years, and the topic of spiritual things has never percolated to the surface.

Over the years, I have noticed at least three different kinds of evangelistic contexts we may encounter when engaging in personal evangelism. Of course, if there are three types of contexts, there may be 33; but for the purposes of this article, let’s look at these three.

First, there is contact evangelism.

This is the kind of situation similar to what is depicted in John 4, where Jesus meets and speaks with the woman at the well, or the passage in Acts 17, where it speaks of Paul in Athens talking to anyone he happened to meet in the marketplace (or Agora).

Unique to this context is the fact that the one with a heart to share the love of God and his offer of forgiveness in Christ goes out and encounters whoever happens to come by. The context is one of intentionality.

Both Jesus and Paul are there with the goal to share the gospel with others. It is interesting to note that both begin their discussions with what is accessible and noteworthy, common to all parties. Jesus begins his discussion with the woman at the well with water. He even puts himself and his needs at the disposal of the woman and begins with the request, “Give me a drink.” She is surprised by the Jesus’ disregard of social custom and her curiosity awakens. From this, the discussion begins and opens up until the gospel is presented to a hungry soul.

Similarly, Paul is talking to those he meets also using the signs he observes in the culture. Consequently, he is brought before the intellectuals of Athens as they gather at Mars Hill. Here, Paul’s observation of Athenian culture provides further points of contact and he is able to open the door wider, enabling him to share the gospel also in the context of growing curiosity.

In this context, it should be noted that the one sharing the gospel is intentional about it. At times, one who has a heart for winning others for Christ may want to ask a complete stranger, “I’m out talking to people about Jesus, would you be willing to talk?” This puts all the cards on the table and gives the person an opportunity to say “Yes” or “No”.

My personal experience is that approximately 60% of the people I ask are willing. I think, in part, the openness is due to two things. First, since Jesus said, “The fields are white unto harvest,” (that is, there are people out there who want to know about him), he has already prepared the hearts.

So I pray, “Lord, if you are preparing people to hear about you, I am here willing to share about you. Would you be so kind as to lead me to those whose hearts are ready to talk about these things?” If somebody says he or she has no interest, I thank that person for his or her time and move on. Nevertheless, I always find people interested and even eager to talk.

The second reason why I find this is because I believe our culture is spiritually hungry. Our secular society remains by-in-large silent about serious talk about spiritual things. I think Augustine was right when he said, “Our hearts are restless. O God, until they find their rest in Thee.”

When a person is open to talk, introduce yourself to that person and ask him or her if he or she is a person of faith. Listen to his or her story. Ask God to guide you. When it comes time to actually present the gospel, you will know a little bit about the felt need of this person and can connect the good news at the very place of felt need. Of course, not all are as wired to engage in this method used by both Jesus and Paul, but there are at least two other ways remaining.

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