to help the baptized and unbaptized, young and old, hear the good news of God’s love and enter into a relationship with Jesus.
This book is the third book in a series: Discover Christ, Follow Christ, and now Share Christ. These books are based on ChristLife’s evangelization process used by parishes, small groups, and ministries to begin making missionary disciples.1 If you haven’t read the other two books yet, you may find it helpful to read them before you begin this one, though each of the books stands on its own.
What? You Want Me to Share Christ with Others?
For most Catholics, “evangelization” — the word we use for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others — is utterly new. The concept may be frightening and foreign to you. The truth is, few of us have received any practical training on actually doing it.
Share Jesus Christ with others? You’re kidding, right? How would I start? What would I say? People might think I’m stupid or reject me. I don’t have a theology degree. What if someone asks me questions about the Church that I can’t answer? No one has ever taught me how to share Christ. Do Catholics really evangelize? This is just a sampling of the thoughts that are probably swirling around your head right now.
Of course, Catholics evangelize. In fact, Catholics were the first evangelizers. Our history of evangelizing goes back to our Lord Jesus, the master evangelizer. His command to the Church is clear: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). In fact, the Church teaches that evangelization is “the essential mission of the Church, the reason she exists.”2 At the heart of evangelization is the “clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus.”3
Bottom line, evangelizing is simply sharing the good news that you have personally experienced. As Pope Benedict XVI said, “The first apostles, like today’s, were not heralds of an idea but rather witnesses of a person, Christ. Evangelization is no more than a proclamation of what has been experienced and an invitation to enter into the mystery of communion with Christ.”4
When I was a twenty-year-old, nominal, agnostic Catholic, I had a radical conversion. I share my full testimony in Discover Christ, but basically, once I personally encountered the love of God the Father, the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I was changed from the inside out. My life was turned upside down and right side up. I felt like I was living the scene in The Wizard of Oz where the movie goes from black and white to color. Everything changed. I thought, “Why isn’t everyone a Christian?” Immediately I began to tell others about the God who loves us and wants us to know him, to know his mercy and forgiveness, and his power to completely change us. I didn’t know much, but I was sure there is a God who loves me and wanted everyone to know this good news!
Be available
Let me encourage you with a conversation I had with a faithful, lifelong, church-attending Catholic named Fred. Fred was in his sixties, and the idea of personally sharing Jesus Christ with anyone had never been part of his understanding of the Faith. It never even crossed his mind. However, things dramatically changed for him after he participated in the ChristLife process at his parish. He not only came into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, but learned to share his faith in Jesus with others.
A few months later, shortly before Christmas, Fred’s wife “invited” him to go to the mall with her. He later admitted that going to the mall is on his short list of things to avoid, but he reluctantly accepted the “invitation.” While at the mall, much to his surprise, he ended up having conversations with two individuals. The first was a Catholic who no longer attended Mass, but seemed to miss being a part of the Church. The second was a single mother whose two sons had both endured major tragedies over the past three months.
In each encounter, he listened attentively, empathized with them, and shared that after Christmas his parish was hosting a seven-week series called Discovering Christ (the first of three courses in the ChristLife series). Each session begins with a free dinner, has teachings on the meaning of life, and presents an opportunity to share in a small group. He told them how the experience of Discovering Christ had changed his life. He then invited each of them to come. To his delight, both were very eager to join him. In both instances, Fred recognized the action of the Holy Spirit in arranging these encounters. They were “divine appointments.”
Fred shared, “Imagine my joy at Christmas thinking that I may have brought two people into contact with the Lord Jesus! What a wonderful feeling! And it never would have happened without the training and experience I received in Sharing Christ.” Through his experience of sharing Christ with others, he realized he could play a role in helping revitalize his parish. He understood that as a parish they could reach out to others with the joyful news of God’s love.
If the idea of sharing Jesus Christ is new to you, it may be helpful to know that it does not depend on your own strength, giftedness, or personality. It is something that Jesus our Lord does in and with us. He uses every personality, with all of our different gifts and quirks, right where we are now. The Lord has strategically positioned you to witness to his good news!
But I’m too busy!
After going through Sharing Christ, another friend, Julie, shared that she had never considered telling others about the Lord Jesus. She went through life thinking that sharing Christ meant adding one more thing to an already busy schedule. However, the course was an epiphany for her because she came to see that evangelizing is meant to be a part of who she is, not something she does occasionally. It has now become something she is aware of all the time, like a radar screen in front of her. She has a whole new way of approaching evangelization. It is now a normal part of her Catholic identity. It’s a lifestyle of living for Christ and cooperating with the Holy Spirit — a 24/7 reality. She doesn’t feel uptight or pressured in any way, she simply responds to opportunities to share God’s love in words and deeds as they present themselves throughout daily life.
That’s our hope for you.
Fr. Erik Arnold, Dianne Davis, and I, the authors of this book, are sharing with you from our own experience of sharing Christ with others. We offer you encouragement, examples, and principles more than methods. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes us witnesses of the Lord Jesus, and he will help you to enter into the great adventure of following Jesus as members of his Church and making him known to others.
How to Get the Most Out of This Book
We hope this book is more than something you read and put back on your shelf when you’re finished. We hope it will inspire you to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. Here are a few suggestions for getting the most out of this book.
Pray
Prayer is essential to all evangelizing. Ask the Lord Jesus to use your time reading this book to make you his witness. Pray at the beginning of each chapter for the Holy Spirit to inspire your reading and to speak to you through it. Simply tell him you want to be open to all he has for you and all he desires you to do.
Complete the Step into Mission activities
Read each chapter slowly and prayerfully. Take time to do the Step into Mission activities suggested at the end of each chapter. Implement them in your daily life. Make notes or keep a journal as you reflect on each topic and on the suggested actions.
Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit reveals to you. You may recognize his encouragement to change the way you think about something you read. If you notice any resistance or fear about a topic in yourself, stop and pray about that particular area. Ask the Lord for his assistance to see things as he does. If you feel encouragement and resonate with something you have already experienced, ask the Lord to increase grace and awareness in that area.
Thank God for what he is accomplishing in you as you respond to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The Lord wants you to enter into the joy of sharing his love with others. He is faithful. He wants us to share his love with others more than we do, and he will do it through us if we say yes.
Fr.