How You Can SHARE Through Your S.H.A.P.E - Part 5 of 6

P – PERSONALITY - How can I SHARE through my personality type?

You’ve seen him before. Out on the street corner with the sandwich board sign that says: “Turn to Jesus or Spend Eternity in Hell! Repent!” Becky Pippert calls this “drive by evangelism” -where there is plenty of truth, but not a lot of relationship. Ironically, as brash and insensitive as this can be to the average non believer, there are some people who might ONLY come to Christ by a very very forward approach.

Some people are wired for this. I am not and my guess is, most of you aren’t either. I am not a “door knocker” either – I am sorry. It just isn’t me. But playing sports together and building Christ into our conversations – that is me!

It takes different kinds of personality types to reach different types of people. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, an academic or a person of practicality, a promoter or a melancholic, a “gatherer” or a “one on one” type of person… you probably have a preferred evangelistic style.

One of the best resources that articulates the various styles of evangelism is Becoming a Contagious Christian by Mark Mittelberg, Lee Strobel& Bill Hybels. In this book, the authors identify six different styles of evangelism based on examples out of the bible. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list but illustrates a very important point – God doesn’t expect you to share your faith in a way that isn’t you.

Here is a summary of the styles mentioned:
Read the biblical examples and then determine which ones you tend to relate to more than the others. These may be how you are wired to share.

1. Confrontational Style – example: Peter in Acts 2
2. Interpersonal Style – example: Matthew in Luke 5.29
3. Intellectual Style – example: Paul in Acts 17.16-34
4. Serving Style – example: Tabitha in Acts 9.36
5. Testimonial Style – example: Blind Man in John 9
6. Invitational Style – example: Woman at the well in John 4

REFLECT

Circle your top two – for some of you, you may use all of them depending on who you are with and trying to reach. Now ask a fellow believer or your small group - do they agree with the top two styles you chose? Your next step is to develop those styles – notice how much more exciting evangelism becomes as a result.