Running Head: SHARING THE GOSPEL 1
Sharing the Gospel
Kimberly Morales
Liberty University
Online
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Introduction
Mark 16:15, “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the
whole creation.” Sharing the Gospel is one of the most important things about being a Christian
but it also is a commandment from Jesus Christ. God tell all his disciples to go into all the world
and preach the Gospel. To share the Gospel effectively we must well equip ourselves with
challenges we might face. In this paper we discuss sharing the Gospel with the Postmodern and
Eastern individual. We will dive into the worldviews of each individual and values that impact
them. We will discuss challenges and address different tactics to overcome them. The Gospel is
the same message that we share with individuals across the world, however the individuals we
are witnessing to are constantly changing and we must learn how to effectively share the good
news of the lord with them.
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Sharing the Gospel with a Postmodern Individual
To fully understand what a postmodern worldview is and how to share the Gospel with
them, one must understand what postmodern people believe. Postmodern people look to
individual rather than group experience for evidence (Rawson, 2019.p.83). Both Postmodern and
traditional worldviews give priority to relationship. Many people who have learned from a
western education, may have certain assumptions of postmodern individuals due to global media.
Therefore, they may not realize how many different factors really influence them.
For a postmodern individual, everything is about them. Their beliefs, experiences, and
feelings are what influence their actions. These individuals are more interested in themselves and
with their self-concept than their relationships with other individuals. Postmodern individuals
also believe that traditional authority is false and corrupt, including Christian beliefs. Fame-
shame values and innocence-guilt values greatly influence postmodern individuals. A
postmodern individual ranks innocence more highly than guilt, therefore, motivating them to
obey the law to avoid being found guilty or facing condemnation (Rawson, 2019. P.93). These
individuals also rank fame higher than shame which causes the person to only focus on
themselves. Rawson explains how Fame-shame is an individualist form of honor-shame where
people search for public approval through social media and there is less or no thought about
saving the face of others (Rawson,2019. P.94). Rawson mentions five stages: trusting a
Christian, becoming curious about Christ, opening up to change, seeking after God and entering
the Kingdom. Since these individuals are searching for public approval, this makes the perfect
opportunity for the first stage, trusting a Christian. As a Christian, we are to show them that we
are unique in relation to the negative view they hold of “Christians”. As Christians we should
make the effort to build relationships with these individuals to build their trust and through being
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honest and practicing what we preach, we could spark their curiosity. If we help them seek this
curiosity and pray for them, the Holy Spirit can then do its work. “But if from there you seek the
Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul”
(Deuteronomy 4:29). However, even if they build trust in the Christian community that doesn’t
mean that they will necessarily be curious about their faith. The most ideal approach to reach
them at this stage is to share stories or answers to prayers from scriptures. Your capacity to be
straightforward and genuine with these individuals will be exceptionally fruitful. For these
individuals if you can make them “feel” something with your story it will be far more impactful
and possibly lead to curiosity. Once these individuals gain curiosity about Christ this leads to
the next stage, curiosity to openness. According to Rawson, this stage can be the hardest of them
all because changing religions can bring dishonor to one’s self and their families and even
sometimes it can go as far as leading to death threats. In this stage, people begin to calculate the
expense of following Jesus in this level and imagine how this will affect them and their
communities. It is important that as Christians we pray for these individuals during these trying
times as well as to emphasize that "life in Jesus provides hope for healing relationships with
friends and family and with oneself.” The fourth stage is openness to seeking, where people
enthusiastically seek to know everything about Jesus that they can. These new prospects are
searching for safe places to learn about Jesus, and trust that they won't be coerced into any
choices. All things considered, postmodernist need to feel like their experience was one they
made or came to all alone as opposed to the experience of a gathering. The last stage is Entering
the Kingdom, this is where the individual moves out of the seeker stage and enters a serious
relationship with Christ. This stage normally ends with an invitation where the believer openly
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admits their relationship with Christ. This stage is a perfect opportunity to share Romans 10 and
the beauty that comes with confessing that Jesus as their Lord.
Personally, I feel that the most effective and strongest thing we can use to share
the Gospel in this scenario, and any other scenario, is through the power of Scripture and Prayer.
Before I even approach any individual to share the gospel I would pray and ask God to help me
and give me the strength and knowledge to impact the individual. The first thing I would do
before sharing the gospel would be to get to know the individual on a deeper level. Get to know
who this individual really is and their interests, beliefs, and upbringings. I would make sure to
point out common interests and make connections with the individual as this would help build a
personal relationship. I would then invite them to gather with me, whether it be hosting a dinner,
game night, or a like activity. Once a relationship has been established with the individual we
can then share the truth and how it has impacted my own life. Personally, I wouldn’t just sit there
and preach as if I was reading straight from a book. Instead I would share my life story and
explain how the gospel has completely transformed me and explain what the gospel is all about.
Once I have shared the gospel and made sure that they know I am open to any questions or
curiosity I will leave the decision up to the individual. I believe that what an individual chooses
to do after you share the gospel with them is ultimately their choice. I wouldn’t pressure them
into making any decisions, just as God gives us all a choice to accept Him or not. It is not our
place as Christians to force or push our beliefs onto anyone. All we can do is pray for the
individual and pray that the Holy Spirit does its work. 1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
Sharing the Gospel with an Eastern Individual
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To comprehend the Eastern individual, I believe it is ideal to recognize what their
qualities and attributes of thought are. Eastern individuals see all relationships at the heart of
reality and there are rules to live in harmony within those relationships, however, nothing can be
controlled completely (Rawson, 2019.p.82). The Eastern perspective expresses that they are
highly influenced by the past and accept that history ought to and affects all that they do. Eastern
culture is profoundly affected by family and the honor-shame values. These values express that
this culture is spurred to increase or secure the respect of the group/self in order to avoid shame.
The motivating force that drives Eastern culture is honor and a second motivator is fear of being
powerless for these individuals. they want power to obtain success or good luck, but the feel
weak or they fear government authorities, spirits or ancestors (Rawson, 2019).
In order to share the gospel in this scenario, I would begin by building a relationship with
the individual and ask about their culture and who they are as a person. I would endeavor to gain
a connection with them and discover a way that I could build the message to catch their eye or so
that they could relate in any way with the gospel. I would let the individual talk about themselves
and their beliefs respectfully, and in turn I would share my story as well. As Rawson states, it is
critical to show them how our faith has affected the way we approach life struggles, and that they
will be respond to our story even before they are interested in the full Gospel (Rawson,
2019.p.140). Since the value system of for eastern culture is an Honor-Shame society, this
means that most of eastern religions are works based. I find that the hardest thing for me when
witnessing to an eastern individual is that a lot of the time it is hard for them to grasp the concept
that God loves us no matter what. Whether we live the life he wants for us or not, his love is
never ending, and he shows us grace and gives us redemption. Gods love is not something we
can gain; we already have it because he loves all his children. John 3:16. “For God so loved the
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world that He have his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” Another point I would make would be that God willingly chose to send His son to
die in our place, because he is merciful and gave us a chance to redeem ourselves. I would share
that God wants to have a personal relationship with them. Lastly, I would share Romans road
with them and see if they were ready or interested in a harvest. However, I would make sure that
I wasn’t pressuring the individual but instead just giving them the option that I would be there
for any questions or curiosities they had about the Gospel. I would want them to know that if
they wanted to move forward in their walk with Jesus that I would do everything in my power to
support them.
In conclusion, we explored both the Postmodern and Eastern individual's worldviews,
their perceptions and features, the impact of values and beliefs on them, and ways of
communicating the Gospel with these individuals. There are several methods available and a
person may even have to adjust their method on how to approach these individuals so that they
meet the needs of the person with whom they are sharing. However, one thing is certain,
although you can change the way you share the Gospel but the Gospel itself never changes. The
message of the Gospel remains the same and will continue to. All people are different in this
world and we need to adjust how we witness according to each individual so that we can draw
them into God the best possible way we know how. Above all we must always remember that
we must pray for these individuals because we know God answers prayers and he is eager to
bring his children home.
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References
Rawson, Katie J. Crossing Cultures with Jesus: Sharing Good News with Sensitivity and Grace. Downers
Grove, IL: IVP Books, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019.
The Holy Bible ESV: English Standard Version: Containing the Old and New Testaments. Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles, 2007.
