The Practice of Evangelism
Evangelism Is Something We Learn to Practice
Following Jesus eventually turns our attention outward. We learn to love our neighbor, notice the people God has placed around us, and become available to participate in what He may already be doing in their lives.
Yet many Christians feel uncertain about evangelism. Some are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Some have experienced approaches that felt forced or impersonal. Others genuinely love people but rarely know how to move a conversation toward spiritual things.
TELL was created to help bridge that gap.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mark 12:31Evangelism begins there. People are not projects. They are neighbors to love. Genuine love does not depend upon whether someone eventually responds to Jesus. We continue to value, care for, and remain present with people because they matter to God, not because they have become an evangelistic opportunity.
At the same time, authentic relationship does not require us to hide our faith. Jesus is genuinely part of who we are. TELL helps us learn to love people sincerely while also becoming willing to speak naturally and honestly about Jesus when the opportunity is right.
A Different Posture
Neither Pressure Nor Silence
Christians can easily fall into one of two extremes.
Pressure
Evangelism becomes a presentation to deliver, an argument to win, or a decision we feel responsible to produce.
Silence
We become so concerned about being pushy that we never talk about Jesus or invite someone to take another step.
TELL offers another way: authentic evangelism. We genuinely love people, live openly as followers of Jesus, understand the world they actually inhabit, listen to their story, remain attentive to the Holy Spirit, speak honestly about Jesus, and recognize the next appropriate invitation while trusting God with the outcome.
We genuinely love people. We genuinely follow Jesus. Both are true at the same time.
The TELL Framework
Trust. Engage. Listen. Lead.
TELL provides a simple framework for practicing authentic evangelism in a way that is relational, prayerful, courageous, and responsive to what God may already be doing.
Trust
Love people genuinely.
Trust begins when people know that our interest in them is real. Evangelism is not treating someone as a project or building a relationship simply so we can deliver a message.
We learn to be present, dependable, curious, respectful, and willing to remain in relationship whether someone agrees with us or not. Our friendship and care do not depend upon whether someone eventually becomes interested in Christianity or responds to Jesus.
Explore Trust →Engage
Enter meaningful conversation.
Genuine relationships sometimes require courage. Engage means learning how to ask thoughtful questions, notice spiritual curiosity, share something of our own story, and move beyond surface conversation when the opportunity is present.
We do not force spiritual conversations, but neither do we spend our lives waiting for someone else to begin them. Authenticity means we do not manufacture conversations about Jesus, but we also do not hide the fact that He is genuinely part of our lives.
Explore Engage →Listen
Listen to the person. Listen to the Spirit.
Listening is at the heart of authentic evangelism. We listen because the person and their story genuinely matter, not simply because we are waiting for an opportunity to speak. We pay attention to their questions, experiences, doubts, hopes, wounds, and current openness.
At the same time, we learn to listen prayerfully for what the Holy Spirit may be doing. God may bring a question, Scripture, impression, encouragement, prayer, word of wisdom, or another prompting to mind.
We hold those impressions humbly. Spiritual gifts are gifts, not techniques, and they should never be used to manipulate another person.
Explore Listen →Lead
Offer the next appropriate step.
Leading does not mean controlling the outcome. Authentic invitation respects another person’s freedom while remaining willing to speak clearly and courageously when an opportunity is present. We recognize when someone may be willing to move and offer an appropriate next step toward Jesus.
That step might be another conversation, sharing part of the biblical story, reading a Gospel together, praying, exploring a difficult question, visiting a church, using a resource such as SEEK, or—when someone is ready—inviting them to trust and follow Jesus.
Explore Lead →The Heart of TELL
Practice Double Listening
Listen to the Person
Pay attention before preparing your response. Ask another question. Hear the story beneath the question. Notice what matters to them and resist assuming you already know where they are.
Listen to the Spirit
Quietly ask, “Father, what are You doing in this person’s life, and how can I participate?” Remain attentive to the Spirit without needing to manufacture something spiritual.
“Father, what are You doing in this person’s life, and how can I participate?”
Sometimes the faithful response will be to speak. Sometimes it will be to ask another question. Sometimes it will be to pray, share Scripture, offer a personal story, or simply remain present. TELL helps us become more attentive rather than more controlling.
A Biblical Story to Carry
Life From the Tree
Authentic evangelism is not only about learning how to have a conversation. It also helps to know the biblical story well enough that we can talk about it naturally when the opportunity is right.
A Simple Way to Understand and Share the Biblical Story of Life
Life From the Tree is a simple way of understanding the larger biblical story from Genesis to Revelation. It helps us remember that life was always meant to be received from God rather than achieved or created for ourselves.
The story begins with humanity living with God and receiving life from Him. Humanity chooses our own way. Access to the Tree of Life is lost. Jesus enters the story and gives His life upon the cross, which the New Testament repeatedly describes as a tree. Then, on the final pages of Scripture, the Tree of Life appears again.
Life From the Tree includes a simple drawing that can help us learn and sometimes share this story. But the drawing is not the point. Once the story becomes familiar, we can carry it into ordinary conversations even when there is no paper or pen.
The drawing is a way of learning the story.
The biblical story is what we carry with us.
THE STORY IN FOUR SENTENCES
God created us to receive life from Him.
We chose to seek life on our own.
Jesus gave His life to bring us back to God.
Through Jesus, we can receive life with God again.
FROM STORY TO CONVERSATION
Know the Story Well Enough to Listen
Knowing the story gives us a framework, not a script. As we listen, we may begin to recognize where another person’s questions, experiences, doubts, and hopes connect with the biblical story.
A conversation about purpose may connect with where life comes from. A conversation about independence or control may connect with our desire to determine life for ourselves. A question about Jesus may open an opportunity to explain why the cross stands at the center of the story.
We do not have to force the entire story into every conversation. We listen for what may actually serve the person in front of us.
“Where do you think you are in this story?”
Then stop and listen.
Wherever Conversation Happens
Evangelism Happens In Person and Online
Relationships no longer exist only across a table. A spiritual conversation may begin over coffee and continue by text. Someone may ask a question on Zoom, respond to a social media post, send an email late at night, or explore faith privately after receiving a link from a friend.
TELL is designed for the world we actually live in. The medium may change, but the posture remains the same.
Friends, neighbors, coworkers, family, church outreach, everyday encounters, and conversations over time.
Text messages, email, social media, online communities, and private conversations that unfold gradually.
Meaningful conversations can happen across distance while remaining personal, relational, prayerful, and attentive.
Wherever the conversation takes place, authentic evangelism maintains the same posture: genuinely love, honestly engage, attentively listen, and faithfully lead.
One Faithful Step
We Do Not Have to Take Someone Through Every Step at Once
People come to spiritual conversations from very different places. One person may rarely think about spiritual things. Another may be wondering whether there is more to life than what they can see. Someone else may be considering whether God exists, exploring faith, becoming curious about Christianity, asking questions about Jesus, or already considering what it would mean to trust Him.
Faithful evangelism pays attention to the person in front of us rather than assuming everyone needs the same conversation.
The goal is not to move someone as far as possible in a single conversation.
The goal is to faithfully help someone take the next step God may
already be inviting them to take.
Knowing the Life From the Tree story can help us recognize where someone’s questions may connect with the larger biblical story. But it does not tell us exactly where someone is spiritually or what we should say next. That requires listening.
TELL also uses a simple framework called the SEEK Scale, loosely based on the Engel Scale, to help us think about this journey. The scale recognizes that someone may move from having little interest in spiritual things, to asking questions about life and meaning, to becoming open to God, exploring faith and Christianity, becoming interested in Jesus, considering trust, and eventually choosing to follow Him.
The scale is not intended to label people or tell us exactly what is happening in someone’s heart. People do not move through spiritual questions in a perfectly predictable order. It simply reminds us to listen carefully and consider what kind of next step may actually be helpful. The SEEK Scale is an internal framework for reflection and content development, not an assessment that visitors take on SEEK.
A conversation does not have to end in a conversion decision to have been meaningful. Movement from indifference to curiosity matters. Becoming willing to consider God matters. Asking an honest question about Jesus matters. Asking for prayer matters. Choosing to trust Jesus matters.
We keep Jesus clearly in view while remembering that a faithful next step may look different for every person. We offer what seems appropriate and trust God with what happens next.
A Resource When It Is Helpful
SEEK Can Help Someone Explore Further
Not every spiritual conversation needs a website or another resource. Often the best next step is simply another conversation, a thoughtful question, prayer, sharing part of the biblical story, or continuing to walk with someone over time.
At other times, someone may want space to explore privately, think through a question at their own pace, or learn more about something that has surfaced in the conversation.
SEEK is now available at WhatIsLifeAbout.org. Its library of 27 questions offers a quiet place to explore life, meaning, God, faith, Christianity, and Jesus at a person’s own pace. Visitors choose the questions that matter to them; there is no test or required sequence.
When a particular question comes up naturally, it may be more helpful to share the specific SEEK article than to send someone to the homepage. For example, someone wondering about science and belief in God might appreciate Can Science and Faith Fit Together?. Ask permission before sharing, and leave the choice to explore with them.
TELL forms the witness.
Life From the Tree gives us a biblical story to carry.
SEEK can help someone continue exploring when a resource would be useful.
We do not use SEEK to escape a conversation or hand a relationship over to a website. The Christian continues to love, listen, pray, converse, and remain present. SEEK serves the person and the relationship when it is helpful; it does not replace either one. If they explore an article, remain available to hear what they thought or what questions followed.
Your TELL Discovery
Where Might Your Practice Begin?
TELL Discovery is designed to help you reflect honestly on how you currently approach evangelism, recognize strengths that are already present, and identify a helpful starting place for continued growth and practice.
Trust
Do you build genuine relationships with people who believe differently, loving them as people rather than treating them as evangelistic projects?
Explore Trust →Engage
Are you willing to move beyond surface conversation, ask meaningful questions, and speak naturally about faith and Jesus when an opportunity is present?
Explore Engage →Listen
Do you listen carefully to someone’s story, questions, and experiences while also remaining prayerfully attentive to what the Holy Spirit may be doing?
Explore Listen →Lead
Can you recognize that different people may need different next steps and offer an appropriate invitation without pressure, manipulation, or feeling responsible for the outcome?
Explore Lead →Your discovery is not about producing an evangelism score. It is about recognizing where growth may be especially helpful and identifying a practical place to begin.
Use the Discovery Wisely
TELL Is Not a Measure of Your Spiritual Worth
The assessment is not designed to determine whether you are a “good Christian” or a “good evangelist.” It cannot measure your love for God, determine what the Holy Spirit will do through you, or reduce evangelism to a score.
Instead, it is a reflection tool. It can help identify strengths, assumptions, fears, habits, and areas where greater formation may help you become more available to God and more attentive to people.
Your results should never replace Scripture, prayer, Christian community, pastoral wisdom, or dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
Before You Begin
Approach the Discovery with Honesty and Prayer
Choose the response that best reflects what you normally do, rather than what you believe a mature Christian ought to do.
Picture actual conversations with friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors, or people you interact with online.
Fear, uncertainty, limited experience, or past mistakes are not reasons for shame. They simply help identify where growth may begin.
Your discovery may affirm strengths you already recognize and reveal habits or assumptions you have never considered.
Ask God to show you how He wants to form you into someone who loves people well and faithfully bears witness to Jesus.
Take a Moment
Begin with Prayer
Father, thank You for the people You have placed in my life. Teach me to see them as You see them and to love them without treating them as projects. Help me care for them genuinely, without making our relationship dependent upon how they respond to You. Give me courage when it is time to speak and humility when it is time to listen.
Help me know the story of Your life and grace well enough to share it naturally when the opportunity is right. Help me hear both the person in front of me and the quiet leading of Your Spirit. Show me what You may already be doing and how I can faithfully participate. Make me more attentive, loving, courageous, and dependent upon You as I bear witness to Jesus. Help me offer what is mine to offer and trust You with the outcome. Amen.
Your Next Step
Begin Your TELL Discovery
The assessment will help you recognize strengths already present in your practice, identify areas where growth may be helpful, and discover a suggested starting place for becoming more authentic, attentive, courageous, and faithful in helping others take their next step toward Jesus.
Your TELL Discovery will help you explore:
- Trust — how naturally you build genuine relationships with people who believe differently
- Engage — your willingness to enter meaningful spiritual conversations
- Listen — how well you listen to the person while remaining attentive to the Holy Spirit
- Lead — your ability to recognize and offer an appropriate next step toward Jesus
- A suggested starting place and recommended order for continued formation and practice
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