If we want to impact people’s lives the way Jesus did, it is going to get messy. Jesus dealt with Pharisees, prostitutes and intellectuals and Jesus built relationships by making time for people.
Our role in the world is to be “salt and light” in our actions and lifestyle. It is important to understand that we don’t need to force the gospel. I have seen so many people make decisions based solely upon emotion and have been fed a “half-gospel” where there is no understanding of following Christ with their whole life. We must do our part of being a student of not only God’s Word but of the culture we live in. Paul did not try to fix people before they came to Christ. Paul’s view on reaching people was, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” Are we meeting people where they are at?
In order to impact our communities for Christ, we must be willing to engage them in daily conversations. We must be willing to listen to people’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Once we understand their background, we need to be faithful to present the gospel in a clear and relevant way. We need to realize that we are not able to change people. We are the messengers of the gospel. Let’s just face it; people have a lot of baggage. Today’s culture of single family homes, depression, and moral relativism make it even more crucial for us to be willing to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and keep asking wise questions to help people out of their hang-ups and issues. It's important for people to know that we care about their thoughts and feelings. We need to help diffuse their frustrations with Christianity and be able to lead them to understanding their true state before God.
A misconception of evangelism that I have seen is that we must follow a certain evangelistic program (FAITH, EE, etc) in order to share the gospel. I believe we should make our own testimony the focus. Many times people would follow an outline and it would seem “choreographed” and not real. I am not saying that people shouldn’t follow a clear presentation, but we must not lose our own personality as we share the truth of Jesus Christ.