A Better Way of Presenting the Gospel: A Casual Conversation That Will Open Heaven’s Door

I have developed a new system or method of presenting the Gospel.  Yes, I know that this will raise eyebrows, but the only thing that is new is the method.  The Gospel of course remains the Gospel.

This method is many times more effective than the traditional “Roman’s Road.”  It has far less to do with merely repeating a prayer and everything to do with the non-Christian realizing the personal cost of his or her human nature and the only true way to circumvent that fate.

I start by doing something that will endear most anyone to another human being: ask their opinion.  The question that I ask is a deep yet simple  philosophical question about which most everyone has an opinion: “Do you think man is basically good or bad?”

Before someone can react or evaluate your motives, this question almost always engages them because it strikes at the core of what is personally important to them: who are we?

If they say that man is good, then I ask them to name one civilization in history where man’s goodness prevailed.  When they cannot, I name them several that have failed.  One can also offer, “You know, in reality, every attempt ever made by man has led to moral and social failure, if not war and annihilation.  Do you think this reflects good or evil on the part of man?”  They will get the point.

I tell them that man is like an old car with loose steering.  If you let go of the wheel, it is foolish to assume that the car will stay on the road for long.  I then add something like, “You know, there are a lot of people who have done good things in this world, but in our heart of hearts, we will do wrong when we think that nobody is watching, won’t we?”   I have never had anyone disagree.

Then I go to the next question: “What do you think is the nature of God?”   The answer is almost always that God is good.  You can help them to define God’s nature more specifically by using terms like “holy, righteous, just, perfect, etc..”

Now comes a very important phase of this conversation.  I will then say to them, something like this: “So how then do you think that sinful man can be reconciled to a perfect & holy God?” I ask them, “Can God just look at our sins and say, ‘Don’t worry about it’ without violating His perfection & holiness?  Can God just give the whole world blanket forgiveness or amnesty concerning sin? Does God forgive everyone, even those who do not ask for forgiveness and have every intention of continuing in their sin?”   Most everyone will realize that this kind of practice cannot be attributed to God.

For those who are not sure, I ask them something like this: “Can a righteous judge declare a guilty man not guilty and still be a righteous judge?”  With that, they most always see the light.    Then I ask them again: “So how do we reconcile sinful man to a holy God?

I continue in that vein: “You see, we owe a debt that we cannot pay, don’t we?  Heaven is a perfect place, so as long as it is, how can a person carrying their sin enter in?  Would Heaven be perfectly pure and holy if you or I walked in today?  It wouldn’t really, would it?”  Their head starts shaking in agreement.

Then I get to where I was going all along: “Have you ever heard of Jesus?” I always wait for an acknowledgment.  Then I tell them about Jesus: “You see, Jesus was without sin.  He never sinned once in His 33 years on earth.  He never held a grudge.  He never took what was not His.  He never told a lie.  Yet at the end of His life, he paid an awful penalty for sin.  Do you know what that was?”  They will then answer that He went to the cross.  I then ask, “But He wasn’t guilty of anything was He?”  Again, you wait for their answer.  Then you follow up with something like this: “So when He was nailed to that old wooden cross by Roman soldiers, and when the life drained from His body one drop of blood at a time, whose sins was He paying for?”  Very often the person will say, “mine.”

At this point, they have understood.  You then summarize: “we owe a sin debt that we cannot pay to a holy God.  If He accepted us in our sin, He wouldn’t be God, would He?  But Jesus paid a debt He did not owe.  The Bible says that Jesus was God’s gift to pay for the sins of all who would trust Him to pay for their sin.  Would you like to trust Him today?  Can you and I pray and tell Jesus that right here and now?