07/25/2026
As Christians, our greatest responsibility is to share Jesus. When you ask people what it really means to share Jesus, they often say it is about “sharing your story.” For some, their story is about finding God’s forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life through repentance and putting their complete trust in Jesus Christ- rather than their own good works- to save them. But for many believers, their testimony is primarily about their life “before and after Jesus.” In other words, their story focuses on “life improvement” or finding a “more fulfilling life” here and now. Even though this approach to evangelism has become very popular, it has some weaknesses and shortcomings that we need to consider.
For one thing, if our story is mostly about life improvement, people often can and do experience a more fulfilling life for any number of reasons. This is why many of them will tell you that their “life has changed” through: Buddhism, Eastern meditation, a motivational speaker, self-help books, a life coach, a brilliant atheist author or blogger, etc. So, if Christians are simply offering life improvement like everyone else, does the person you are talking to have any reason to become a Christian? Not really. It simply becomes a matter of personal preference. Just pick one- any of them will do.
Secondly, if sharing Jesus is all about telling someone that their life will be “better” as a Christian, what happens if their life gets even worse? In fact, this type of message is precisely what has led to so many false “converts” to Christianity. And this is why you will often hear people say, “Yeah, I already tried that (asking Jesus into my life) and it didn’t work.” Furthermore, what does this message (a “better life”) say about our brothers and sisters in Christ living in China and in Muslim countries, where their loved ones are being executed for the Gospel?
Thirdly, when our story is primarily about finding a more fulfilling life in Christ, we take comfort in the fact that no one can argue with that story because, after all, it’s our story- it’s very personal. But think about that. The reason no one tries to dispute it or argue with it is because there is no need to do so. For example, suppose that I am telling someone about my favorite ice cream flavor. They don’t really have any reason to argue with that because it’s just a personal preference claim. So, if our story is about finding a more fulfilling life, and since there are many options people can choose from to experience life improvement, people will see our story as nothing more than a personal preference claim, so there’s no need for them to challenge it. But by contrast, when we share the Gospel, you can see why people are much more likely to challenge us because we are now making a TRUTH claim. We are saying to the world that it really is true that God exists, He is holy, we are all guilty, and Jesus is the only way that we can experience God’s forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
In addition to presenting Christianity as a personal preference claim, all too often we present Jesus as if He is simply one of life’s options for people to look into, if they’re interested. We offer Jesus like we’re recommending a movie that we enjoyed or a product or service that “worked” for us; “Give Jesus a try for 30 days and if He doesn’t work for you, you can always return Him.” When we take that approach to evangelism, we treat Jesus like He’s an option. But Jesus is NOT an option, He is a requirement; “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 NASB
Something else we need to consider is that in today’s world dominated by skeptics and atheists, sharing our personal story is not nearly enough. If you are talking to someone who is genuinely convinced that God is “make-believe,” then everything you say is going to be filtered through their skeptical worldview. No matter how sincere your testimony, it can often come across to the skeptic as if you had said, “My life was a mess. But then I found an imaginary friend, and he has changed my life.” Even if your story is one that is very dramatic, even miraculous, you may still run into this same problem when sharing your story with a skeptic. To illustrate, I recently had a young man share his powerful testimony with me. It involved drug-running, a police pursuit, a horrible car accident, nearly losing his life, God sparing his life, and him eventually coming to Christ as a result. If ever there was a dramatic story that should convince an unbeliever, this is it! Out of curiosity, I asked him, “So, what do people say when you tell them your story?” He replied, “Well, when I tell it at church, everyone says, ‘Wow! That is a miracle! That is a God-thing, for sure!’” I then said to him, “No. What I mean is, when you tell your story to your atheist friends, what do they say?” He smiled, shrugged and said, “Yeah, they just laugh and say, ‘Whatever, man. That was just a coincidence.’” Like I said, in today’s skeptical world, sharing your story is not nearly enough. This is precisely why it is so important for all Christians to receive some training in apologetics.
One final thought. Every once in a while, I run into someone who would say that sharing Jesus is all about changing the world through acts of kindness and community service. There is no question that such things are important. However, when such actions become divorced from the Gospel, there is no difference between that and the atheist who is also doing acts of kindness and community service. Furthermore, performing an act of kindness for someone might make this world a better place for them, but that alone cannot and does not tell that person how to get to Heaven.
To summarize, sharing Jesus may include some of the above. But ultimately, it is about sharing the Gospel. That is, sharing the “bad news” (why all of us NEED a Savior), as well as sharing the “good news” (why Jesus IS the only Savior). And given the climate of skepticism and atheism in our culture, sharing Jesus also means that we must be prepared to give answers (or at least provide a resource with answers) to questions and objections that we will encounter in the process of evangelism.
