To many believers, the prospect of sharing the Gospel with someone can be a bit daunting. Dr. Jerry Root says talking about faith in Christ doesn’t have to be hard: God is already doing the work in that person’s life.

“I believe that people are always hungry for what Christ has to bring them. Because God made us for Himself, I think the key is finding out where God is working. I think we can do that by asking public questions. What’s your name? Are you from here? If not, where are you from? Just listen to the answers.”

“They will often give you, in their answers, permission to go deeper. You should keep asking questions and show interest and love of that person; they will often take you to the place where Christ is already itching.”

Asking a person questions about their life, and truly listening to their answers, can reveal many opportunities to help connect this person with the God who loves them. Dr. Root recently started a conversation with a man on a plane next to him. Following the same line of questions Dr. Root was able to have an honest conversation with the man. Eventually he asked what Dr. Root got out of his relationship with God. Dr. Root shares the conversation that followed,

“The biggest thing for me is that the Scriptures say that God loves me with intensity, unconditionally. Not only that, I’m so messed up and He has forgiven me of all my sins. I don’t know anybody who’s done any honest thinking about life who isn’t moved by the fact that they could be loved by God and be forgiven.”

“He shouted out, “That’s the most comforting thing I’ve ever heard in my life!” Right there on the plane, he gave his heart to Christ.

Not every conversation we have about Jesus results in a dramatic conversion. Dr. Root says that shouldn’t keep us from playing our part in God’s plan.

“If you’re afraid of striking out, don’t play baseball. But if you never play baseball, you’ll never know the joy of hitting a home run.  You don’t know where you are in the process of God wooing a person to Himself. And if we’re His servants doing His will –we may be Number 12 out of 18 people who’re going who are going to talk to this person– we just follow God’s order and His promptings. We engage in the work and oftentimes we see somebody come to faith.”


Dr. Jerry Root is a professor at Wheaton College and serves as the Director of the Evangelism Initiative at the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.

Evangelism doesn't have to be hard, with Dr. Jerry Root