Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. – 2 Timothy 2:4
This Bible verse tells us to be ready to share the gospel when the opportunity is easy and circumstances are favorable. And be ready when the situation may be inconvenient, difficult, or unexpected. It’s good to begin each day by praying that God will give us both the opportunity and the courage to share the gospel.
A Different Way to Approach the Conversation
In counseling, there is a technique called motivational interviewing that is designed to encourage change in people who feel uncertain or conflicted about changing their beliefs or behavior. Developed by psychologists William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, it is based on a simple principle: people often become resistant when they feel pressured, lectured, or told what they should do.
Rather than trying to persuade someone directly, motivational interviewing helps the person explore their own reasons for change. The interviewer listens carefully, asks thoughtful questions, reflects back what the person is saying, and helps them consider what they truly believe, value, and want.
Motivational interviewing is commonly guided by four key principles:
1. Express Empathy
Listen carefully and try to understand the person’s feelings, beliefs, and experiences without judgment.
2. Support Self-Efficacy
Help the person recognize that they are capable of change by drawing attention to their strengths, abilities, and past successes.
3. Roll with Resistance
Avoid arguing or pushing back when the person resists. Instead, allow them to explore their concerns and consider possible answers for themselves.
4. Develop Discrepancy
Help the person recognize any difference between their current beliefs or behavior and their deeper goals, values, or convictions.
The goal is not to win an argument or force a conclusion. It is to create a conversation in which the person can think honestly, hear their own reasoning, and express for themselves why change might be worth considering.
Applying Motivational Interviewing to a Brief Gospel Conversation
The central message of evangelism is reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. A brief gospel conversation does not need to cover every doctrine or answer every objection.
The goal is to clearly introduce the central issue: our relationship with God, the problem of sin, and what God has done through Christ to reconcile us to Himself.
If we apply the principles of motivational interviewing, we can help shape how that conversation takes place. Rather than beginning with a lecture, an argument, or a long explanation, begin by inviting the other person to think and speak. A simple approach might look like this:
1. Begin with a sincere question.
Ask something that allows the person to express what they already believe.
For example: “Do you ever think about God or what happens after this life?”
The goal is to understand where they are starting from.
2. Listen before responding.
Allow the person to explain what they believe, doubt, or wonder about. Even in a short conversation, listening communicates respect and may reveal what is actually important to them.
If they say they believe they are basically a good person, for example, that creates a very different conversation than if they say they are unsure whether God exists at all.
3. Look for a point of discrepancy.
One of the central ideas in motivational interviewing is helping people notice a difference between what they currently believe and something else they value or recognize as true.
This might mean gently asking questions such as:
“If God is perfectly just, what do you think He should do about the wrong things we have done?”
or
“How good do you think a person would have to be to stand before a perfectly holy God?”
Rather than immediately supplying the answer, the question allows the person to think through the problem.
4. Present the Gospel as the answer to that problem.
Once the issue has been raised, the Christian can explain the heart of the gospel very simply:
“God tells us in the Bible that all of us have sinned and are separated from God, and none of us can make ourselves right with Him by being good enough. But God loves us and provided the way back to Himself through Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins when He was put to death. Through faith in Christ, we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.”
That may be all that time allows – and it contains the essential message.
5. Invite reflection rather than forcing a conclusion.
A brief conversation does not have to end with an immediate decision. A simple question may leave the person with something important to consider:
“Does that make sense to you? Have you ever thought about Christianity that way?”
The objective is not to win an argument or pressure someone into saying the right words. It is to faithfully communicate the gospel while giving the other person room to genuinely consider what it means.
In a very brief encounter, success may simply mean that the person leaves understanding one important truth they did not understand before. By sharing the Gospel in this way you just planted a seed – or maybe you watered it. That is how to share the Good News.
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6
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