Anyone—regardless of age, church experience, or Bible knowledge—who has understood the Gospel well enough to believe it should be able to communicate the Gospel to others. Otherwise how can we be assured that they have understood it well enough to believe it themselves? Having gone through the experience of hearing the Gospel, comprehending its implications, and responding to it with repentance and faith, they should be able to describe that message and response (on their own age and theological level, of course) to someone else.

For example, if someone explains to me "the message" of changing a tire, and I go through the experience of changing a tire, I should be able to relate the essence of that message to you when you have a flat, even if I don't know the precise terms of components like "jack," "wheel cover," and "lug nut." If I am unable to tell you the basics of changing a tire, you have a right to question whether I've really been through the experience myself. That's why it looks darkly on the experience of any professing Christian who maintains that he does not know enough to speak to someone about the salvation of their soul.

I'm convinced that many true Christians doubt their ability to verbalize the gospel because after their conversion they were never asked, in the words of 1 Peter 3:15, to "give an account of the hope that is in" them. From the very beginning of their own relationship with Him they've never had to talk to anyone about knowing Christ, so now they've come to believe they can't.

For the past several years, people in our church have hosted home evangelism meetings. They invite neighbors, coworkers, and friends into their home for the expressed purpose of hearing a guest talk about Jesus Christ and answering their questions about Christianity and the Bible. The hosts may not feel confident about their ability to articulate the gospel, especially to groups of people, but by serving through hospitality, they are providing an opportunity for evangelism by someone whose strength is a verbal presentation of the gospel. By opening their home and working with another believer, evangelism takes place that wouldn't have happened otherwise. But this kind of evangelistic serving still requires as much discipline as any other. It still requires the discipline to put the date on the calendar, to invite the people, to cook the meal, to pray for the gathering, and so on. Without such discipline, evangelistic serving never happens.

[Taken from page 110 of Don's book, Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life. Read a chapter from this book]

Talk to your pastor or another church leader about hosting a home evangelism meeting where you can assist in a gospel witness even though you may not be the mouthpiece. Invite guests who have questions about God, Christianity, and the Bible to come and ask their questions of a "Bible expert." Tell them that the speaker will first give an overview of the Bible as a platform for questions, then they can ask any and all sincere questions. I've met many who feel incapable of speaking in such a meeting but are willing to open their homes for one.

[Taken from page 101 of Don's book, Spiritual Disciplines within the Church. Read a chapter from this book.]

If you'd like more of the practical details about home evangelism meetings and an example of a brochure (in Microsoft Word document form) to be used as an invitation, click here. If you'd like to read more about how Don conducts these in local churches, click here to go to the Conference Topics page and scroll down to "Home Evangelism Meetings."

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This volume does not replace the two books it contains. In addition to the original editions of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, NavPress has merely combined the two works into a new, third product. This small, mass-market paperback edition is designed primarily for special markets—quantity giveaways, overseas distribution, and other settings where price is more important than book quality. Be aware that the print in this book is much smaller than the regular editions of the originals.

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