Question:
I am a businessman and this responsibility consumes much of my time. At the same time, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I want to know how I can be efficient in evangelism, using my time and resources to contribute to the salvation of lost souls. What advice do you have to offer on this subject?
I am so glad that you asked this question because it shows that even though you are a businessman, you are thinking about heavenly things. I pray that this will be your daily motivation so that the Lord may bless you and allow you to produce much fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Here are my advices to you.
1. Plan to evangelize
The same way that you plan everything out well when doing business, you need to apply this method to evangelism. The wise man King Solomon wrote,
The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)
Set aside time at the beginning of every week to plan out how you can evangelize the people in your life with whom you will do business. Write these plans out in your planner. Please be very specific in whom you will evangelize and how you will do it. Think about who they are and what their needs are, so that you can share Christ with them in the best way possible. As you meet and talk about business, think about ways that you can direct the conversation to spiritual things. Look for their needs and problems and seek to show them heavenly solutions to those problems. Set time aside at the end of each day to evaluate what you were able to accomplish in your evangelism plan. Make the necessary changes for the next day’s plan. I want to take a moment to motivate you to attend the Inductive Bible study Institute of Eurasia where you will be taught a session called, “Time Management and Planning”. You will learn how to plan and manage your time from an eternal perspective.
2. Always have evangelistic material with you
When planning to evangelize, think about the materials you will need in order to share with a person, such things as brochures, books, CDs, DVDs, flyers etc. As you are sharing the Gospel with people, these resources will be handy tools to leave with them so that they can continue learning about Christ even after you are not there to share. Choose materials that will be appropriate for their needs at the moment. Have these materials handy at all times so that you can share with those whom you evangelize.
3. Invite people to church
Whenever you meet with people who live in your city, be ready to invite them to your church. So, along with all of the evangelism material, also have a personal invitation to your church, a card or flyer that gives the days and times of services as well as the church address. Please don’t overlook the fact that if a person is truly going to become a disciple of Christ, he or she must join a Bible believing church and be part of the local body of Christ. Don’t be deceived thinking that a person can manipulate God by saying a simple prayer and becoming a saved believer without joining a local church. Please don’t deceive people, giving them a false understanding of the Gospel. If they want to be followers of Christ, they must join a local body of believers.
4. Do a Bible study with your employees
Evangelism must begin with those whom you see daily before it extends to others. Set aside an hour a day, each day of the working week where you sit down with your employees and study God’s Word. In order to do this efficiently, I would recommend using a study from the 40-Minute Series that Precept Ministries International offers. The best way to be efficient in leading this study is to be trained at the Institute as well as attending a seminar to learn how to study these courses and teach them to others. This is the best thing that you could do for your business as a leader and boss. This will bless you, your business, and your workers in ways that you cannot imagine.
5. Get subscription to a Christian magazine
I am sure that you have many different business partners and associates with whom you interact frequently. I would recommend that you get them a subscription to a Christian magazine or newspaper. For example, here in Moldova, we have a Christian newspaper called “Christian Moldova”. I always advise people to buy extra copies of the newspaper and be ready to give them to others.
6. Invite people to Christian events
Any time that your local church organizes an event, invite all of your employees, colleagues, partners, and associates to the event. Know your church’s upcoming events so that you know what to invite people to when you share the Gospel with them. For example, a Christian event in Moldova is coming up. We are having a Festival put on by Precept Ministries Eurasia. My mentors are coming and will teach us 5 lessons from the Bible study “Marriage without Regrets”. After that event, our church is putting on a youth camp. I invite everyone I share the Gospel with to come to one of those events.
7. Meet the needs of your employees by investing the Gospel in their lives
For example, Christmas is an annual holiday that we all celebrate. Even people who are not very religious tend to celebrate Christmas. Invite your employees and their families to a Christmas event at your church. Have a gift for them when they come. Use the Christmas holiday as an occasion to share your faith in Christ with all your employees. In Moldova, most of the employees of a business need a basic knowledge of the English language. If you are a businessman with employees like this, invite them to come to “English For a New Life” classes where they will learn basic English as they study the Gospel of John. If your employees need to improve their computer skills, invite them to the computer school “ScripTehInfo” where they will learn basic computer skills and advanced computer skills, all based on Biblical texts.
8. Help efficient Christian ministries
As a businessman, I am sure that you are solicited daily by organizations to help in a financial way. Give priority to the projects that are efficient in spreading the Gospel and making disciples.
9. Always introduce yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ
As a businessman, I am sure that you are invited quite often to speak in public. When you speak, you have to introduce yourself to your audience. Please do not be afraid to share your Christian identity. Tell everyone that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. I really appreciated when the US President, George Bush was asked during the campaign what person has had the greatest impact on his life. His response was, “Jesus Christ”.
10. Use social networks for the Gospel
Business people understand the importance of advertising through social networks and use them to increase profits. If you have such a page, do not be ashamed of Christ. Use social networking to share evangelistic messages. It is sad to see how large companies in the world use their social pages and their products to promote evil, such as the homosexual agenda, while companies that are run by Christians share nothing about Christ. I suppose the reason is that they are afraid that their business may be affected financially. We should all remember the words of the Apostle Paul who said: “woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel.”
May the Lord help you be a witness everywhere you go and in all you do, especially in your business practices and deals so that the people whom you encounter will be encouraged to accept Christ and become His disciples.
Translation: Erik Brewer
Read this article in Romanian and Russian