Don’t Be a Dead Sea Christian

The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Israel and Jordan whose shore and surface level is 1412 feet below sea level, our planet’s lowest elevation on land. It’s nearly 10 times as salty as the ocean. The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, and, get this, there are no outlet streams. In other words, water flows into the Dead Sea, but nothing flows out.

There are a lot of Christians who are like the Dead Sea. We read the Bible, have an active prayer life, attend amazing worship services, and hear life-changing Bible teaching, and it all flows into us and changes us and we feel so spiritual. But none of it ever flows out of us and into others. We’re Dead Sea Christians.

That is not the life that God has in mind for his disciples. The life that God has in mind for us is that we become conduits of his love, which flows through us and into others so that they can know and experience God themselves. 

In fact, this is one of the very last things Jesus told us while he was here in his earthly ministry: 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The fact is that you know people – friends, people you live near, go to school with, work with, family members – who have no relationship with God and who are going to spend eternity without God if they don’t come to Him through Christ. And you are the person God wants to use to reach them with the gospel. He has strategically placed you in their lives so that you can influence them for him.

For many believers, however, all of that sounds extremely intimidating. How in the world are we supposed to make a difference in the lives of people around us when the thought of it scares us to death?

I believe that personal evangelism, telling others about the good news of Jesus, begins in our daily quiet time with God. When you pray each day, ask God to give you his heart, so that you love people who are without God the way he loves them:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

Pray not only that God would give you his heart, but pray also that he would give you his eyes, to show you people around you who don’t know him. Then begin to pray by name for those people God shows you. Really begin to call their names out to God, and ask him to use you in any way he sees fit to help them to know Jesus. 

Ask God to put them in your path and ask Him to help you know just the right thing to say at just the right time. Maybe just a little comment about how great God is, maybe your testimony of how God has changed or impacted your life, maybe an invitation to a church event, maybe sharing the gospel story of how they can become a Christian, whatever he calls you to do. 

And pray for more than just the folks around you. Pray for those around the world who don’t know Christ, and who live in nations and cultures where it is very difficult for people to hear and/or respond to the gospel. One fantastic help in this is the Unreached People of the Day app from the Joshua Project. Every morning during my prayer time I open this app and pray for that day’s unchurched people group. This is your opportunity to make a difference somewhere else in the world while sitting at your home in prayer!

Every believer should pray regularly for those who have never heard the Good News. What would happen if we actually did this? What would happen if every Christian in the world prayed on a regular basis for those who have never heard of Jesus? Can you imagine what this world would be like?

The next step, then, is to move from praying for people to actually talking to people who don’t know Christ. No one winds up in heaven until an average, ordinary Christian like you and me says “from now on I will be a speaker for God.”

What are some things I can do in order to be a speaker for God? Here are just a few…

1. Build Relationships – Look for authentic relationships to build with people you already know, people you used to know, or people you would like to know. Be friends with non-believers, without compromising with evil. Be certain you are the dominant spiritual influence. Please note that I emphasized the word authentic. I’m talking about having a heart for people and hanging out with them because you truly care for them, not because you’re using that relationship just to tell them about Jesus. 

2. Share Your Story – Be able to share what your relationship with Christ has meant to you. How is your life different because you’ve placed your trust in Christ? Do you have faith to get through difficult times? Has your fear of death been taken away? Do you have an excitement each morning because you know God is in control of the day? The point is, ask yourself how your life is different because you know Christ, then be able to share that at a moment’s notice.

3. Share His Story – something like this:

1) God is love, but God is just

2) We are sinful and deserve death

3) Christ, who is God, died as our substitute and offers His forgiveness as a gift.

4) We must accept Christ as our forgiver and leader.

That’s a very simple outline of the gospel, but be ready to share it whenever the opportunity presents itself! 

Another great summary is the gospel is this: The difference between religion and Christianity is that religion is spelled “D-O” – it’s trying to do enough to please God. But we never know when we’ve done enough, plus the Bible says we can never do enough (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Christianity is spelled “D-O-N-E.”  Christ has already done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived the perfect life and died for all of our wrongdoings.

Something else I’ve taught through the years is the “Bridge Illustration” that I learned from the good folks at the Navigators. They also have a tract that I have used for years and that I have given to students in evangelism classes – here is a link.

Whatever method you use, learn a simple way of telling someone how they can have a relationship with God through Christ. 

I challenge you to begin praying every day for those around you, and those around the world, who don’t know Jesus. Pray every day that God will place you in someone’s path who needs to hear from you. Pray that God would help you to love them the way he loves them, and pray every day that when the opportunity presents itself, you’ll be able to share your story and God’s story. 

NOTE: For years I have taught classes on personal evangelism. One such course is Evangelism Explosion, which teaches us to ask two very important questions: “Do you know for sure that if you were to die today that you would be with God in heaven?” and “Suppose you were to die today and God asked you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” Another excellent course that I’ve taught and used is “Becoming a Contagious Christian.” Both of these courses have influenced today’s blog post. If you’d like to learn more, just follow the links. 

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