When writing to the Hebrew Christians, the apostle Paul admonished: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.” (Heb. 13:15) When writing the Christians in Rome, Paul said, “that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rom. 10:9) One way that we can offer up a sacrifice of praise to God with our lips is when we seize every opportunity to carry out the two commands that we have been given by the Father and the Son.

We find that Matthew in his Gospel highlights two main objectives for us when we are carrying out our proclaiming of the Good News, i.e., making disciples. The first is that we “make disciples of all the nations.” (Matt. 24:19) The other is that “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the inhabited earth[1] as a testimony to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) There is little doubt of the importance of both objectives, but we will focus on the latter here. Why?

“As he [Jesus] was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming,[2] and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3) It is in response to this question that Jesus responded about proclaiming the gospel in all the inhabited earth. The question that is often overlooked is this, was Jesus speaking about making disciples at Matthew 24:14? No. Look again, “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations.” The proclaiming of the good news earth-wide is an important feature of the sign of Jesus’ second coming.

While our goal is always to make disciples, we must remember that most of the earth’s people will have unreceptive hearts when it comes to our proclaiming of the good news; however, we are carrying out the second great commission that Jesus gave us, that of giving “a testimony to all the nations.” Even if the people’s hearts are not receptive, they will be well aware of what we are doing, which is carrying out and fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy. (Isa. 52:7; Rev. 14:6-7) What a privilege our heavenly Father has given us to not only make disciples but to give “a testimony to all the nations.” – 2 Corinthians 2:15-17.

As we go about our business every day, most of us come into contact with many other people. If we stay alert so as to recognize opportunities that we come across; then, we can make an effort to share God’s Word, we should be able to sow many seeds of biblical truths through informal witnessing, which is unplanned witnessing that you are prepared for  because you have a history of consistent, regular personal Bible study and preparing for Christian meetings. This brief opportunity that happens to you on any given day need not require some extensive conversation but rather may only need to be a brief comment or a question of interest that requires one to ponder. This alone could ignite into a conversation that will give you an opportunity to share a few Bible verses and a good message about the Scriptures. Depending on the reaction of the person, you may even be able to get contact information for another conversation.

Preparing for the Unplanned

If we are going to be successful in our informal witnessing, we must be prepared for the unplanned. This means some effort on your part. First, a Christian life of regular personal Bible study is of great necessity because it means that we will (1) be familiar with the Bible as a whole, (2) be about to reason from the Scriptures and defend the Word of God, (3) be able to explain biblical beliefs, and (4) persuade or convince or cause others to adopt a certain position, view, belief, or course of action. You convince or persuade another, by bringing about a change of mind by means of sound, logical reasoning. You convince or persuade another to adopt a new belief and to act on that belief.

We know what we are doing each day so in some ways, we can analyze what type of people we might be coming into contact with that day, which will allow us to consider what we might say to such ones to initiate a conversation. We need to be mentally prepared, which will calm us and make it much easier to talk with others informally about God’s Word. We now have software apps on smartphones that allow us to bring up a Bible verse within seconds in many different translations and even Bible software that may highlight original language words that give even deeper insight into the verse we are sharing. Of course, informal evangelizing is generally very brief and only goes longer if the person is the one with serious interest. Unless the unbeliever is showing much interest, we keep it brief, simply whetting their appetite, so as to not weigh them down with more than they can process.

We should stay up to date on local current affairs as well as worldwide events that can give us talking points. Many unbelievers are truly interested in how the Bible, a book penned 2,000 (NT) to 3,500 (OT) years ago, relates to current events and can be applied in our lives today. The more aware we are of the troubles our world is facing, we can be confident in introducing a subject that will have broad appeal.

Take the Initiative

If you think about it, you can turn any moment of contact with another into a Bible discussion: doctor’s waiting room, store checkout line, public transportation, bus stop, when a repairman visits your house, work, school, events, and so on. In your own home when salesmen, deliverymen, neighbors, relatives, and others visit them.

Heartfelt appreciation for the truths of God’s Word and an appreciation of the importance of our times in these last days should move you to embrace every opportunity to share with others the incredible message of hope that you have. (1 Pet. 3:15) May you continue to take advantage of every occasion to sow seeds of biblical truth through informal witnessing.—Matt. 24:14.

[1] Or in the whole world

[2] Presence; Coming: (Gr. parousia) The Greek word literally means,” which is derived from para, meaning “with,” and ousia, meaning “being.” It denotes both an “arrival” and a consequent “presence with.” Depending on the context, it can mean “presence,” “arrival,” “appearance,” or “coming.” In some contexts, this word is describing the presence of Jesus Christ in the last days, i.e., from his ascension in 33 C.E. up unto his second coming, with the emphasis being on his second coming, the end of the age of Satan’s reign of terror over the earth. We do not know the day nor the hours of this second coming. (Matt 24:36) It covers a marked period of time with the focus on the end of that period. – Matt. 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Cor. 15:23; 16:17; 2 Cor. 7:6-7; 10:10; Php 1:26; 2:12; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:2.

SCROLL THROUGH DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW

BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM

BIBLICAL STUDIES / INTERPRETATION

EARLY CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

TECHNOLOGY

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

CHRISTIAN FICTION