Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Suggestions on How to Share the Gospel Properly

I have been asked more than once for suggestions on how to share the Gospel.  Here are some suggestions:

1) Distinguish between the Church and the Gospel. Share each of them for what they are without conflating them.

2) Distinguish between preaching the Gospel, sharing the Gospel and inviting people to worship or fellowship with you at church. These things can be done simultaneously, but they also can be done separately - and most of the issues I've seen in my life occur when one would be appreciated but a different one (or more than one) is attempted.

3) Share the Gospel with all, in word and deed; share the Church by introduction, invitation and sometimes inspiration, seeing with whom it sticks and with whom it doesn't.

4) Realize that some people desperately need the Gospel RIGHT NOW; some people really need the Church RIGHT NOW; some people really need both RIGHT NOW; some people really don't need or can't recognize the need for one or both RIGHT NOW - and that, if our theology is correct, they will have a chance to understand the Gospel and accept it at some point.

5) Realize, therefore, that our focus shouldn't be on converting / preaching to / sharing with everyone right now. Rather, it should be on helping everyone we can in whatever way we can - and that, for some people, sharing the Gospel and the Church really will be a great blessing. Seek and pray to find those people. 

5) Realize that some people have real needs that simply can't be met right now - and that all you can do is what you can do. Sometimes that is simply giving unconditional love, even in times when unconditional acceptance is not possible.

6) Pray / ask / yearn for inspiration to know / feel / intuit what individuals need.

7) Be confident enough to ask others to back off and let you be the one who lets them know when direct missionary discussions and conversations are appropriate. Seek that understanding actively. 

8 ) Finally, let go of the fear of not doing something perfectly and realize that doing your own personal best is enough - no matter what that personal best is.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

1) Distinguish between the Church and the Gospel. Share each of them for what they are without conflating them.

Yes, distinguish between the two when appropriate or helpful for the discussion at hand. But a Latter-day Saint would err to forcefully insist on always maintaining this distinction, such as by saying the Gospel is right but the Church is wrong. There is a VERY strong connection between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

ji said...

Oops -- 1 was from me...

Papa D said...

I agree, ji, that there is a strong connection - but, sometimes (even often, in my experience), someone is ready for the Gospel without being ready for the Church. Thus, my focus is on trying to be open to the Spirit in such a way that I can understand what is needed in each individual case and provide it - whatever it might be.

ji said...

Here's a thought -- using set theory -- the larger circle is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the smaller circle wholly within the larger circle is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Or maybe the smaller circle overlaps outside the larger circle just a little to account for society creeping into the church a little.

Yes, a person can be ready for the Gospel before he or she is ready for the Church.

Papa D said...

"Or maybe the smaller circle overlaps outside the larger circle just a little to account for society creeping into the church a little."

I like that, ji. I like how it fits into the pruning of the tree allegory - and I often use sets and sub-sets to describe things.