good news for a change: how to talk to anyone about Jesus

I’ve heard it said that the 2 things people fear most are public speaking and dying—in that order. I wonder where sharing your faith or talking to people about Jesus might fall on that continuum.  It may not be number 1, but probably has a good chance of knocking dying down to number 3. Lately I’ve come to believe that a major fault of the Christian church is that not enough people have confidence to talk about their religious beliefs. We’ve all heard the excuses: it’s personal, I don’t want to offend anyone, people will think I’m weird (in my case they probably already do!), there are evangelists out there that do that sort of thing, and, as a pastor, my (least) favorite: you’re the professional, that’s what we pay you to do.

But along with that sense that we’re somehow not living up to the standard that has been set for us, is also the conviction, that we’re called to so much more than an hour on Sunday morning. Think Great Commission. We might not all go to the ends of the earth, but we should at least be able to go to the end of the block. Mikalatos references Acts 17:26-27, a couple of times.  We haven’t done a great job of going, so God is bringing people to us.

 Believers are expected to share the good news. But where do I begin? I have conversations with church people about the need to engage in spiritual conversations—especially with people who aren’t in church on Sunday, but there is often resistance.   So, I am constantly on the look-out for resources to help me learn to initiate those discussions, but also to help enable and encourage others to do the same.

And then I see an announcement for a book by Matt Mikalatos.  In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve read several of Matt’s other books, and am amazed at how he seems to so easily cross genre lines and excel at all of them.  His latest book, Good News for a Change: How to Talk to Anyone about Jesus (NavPress, 2018) is full of experiences, examples, and common-sense approaches, that even timid people can use to start a discussion.  And I especially like the fact that he often includes a few things that might work, but usually aren’t the best way to start.

At the end of each chapter he includes reflection questions. I found them helpful because they asked me to think about how I would respond to some of the techniques and or comments, and then put myself in the shoes of a non-believer with whom I was trying to discuss the most exciting person who has ever lived.

Mikalatos uses pop-culture, other religions, and scripture as openers to these very important conversations, and there is always the reminder, that if we truly want to engage someone, we might need to learn their language. Not Chinese or Spanish, but perhaps something like My Little Pony.   In other words, not everyone will hear your message the way, and it’s going to be up to us to be flexible.

One example from a young lady that the author talked with, is similar to one that I’ve used before: most people if they read a book, see a movie, or find a restaurant that they like, will tell all their friends. Jesus is the most incredible thing that could ever happen to us, and we tend to keep quiet about Him.  No wonder people like Matt’s friend Chelsea want to know why Christians think Jesus is boring.

I’m excited to read and re-read this book, more excited to share it with some members of the congregation where I serve, and still more excited to be able ‘to talk to anyone about Jesus.’

Most retailers allow customers to review a book on a scale of 1-5. I’ll give this book a 5/5, only because I can’t give it anything higher. A++++++