I Witness With My Lifestyle and Actions...

The Bible makes it clear that Christians are to share the gospel with non-believers.

But how?

Some people say, "I witness to others with my lifestyle and my actions."

Is this an obedient form of evangelism?

I think the answer depends on if you're trying to make disciples of Christ, or disciples of yourself.

Our heart should be to share the Gospel so others can know Jesus, not to convince them to live their lives just like we do. You might hope that people will think “Wow, there’s something really different about you” and come ask about it… but that’s never happened to me, and chances are it will never happen to you.

More importantly, evangelism based strictly on lifestyle and actions is not Biblical.

Jesus said “Go… Make… Baptize… Teach” responding to each requires action on our part to engage with others.

Of course, you should also live a life that demonstrates your faith. Your life should glorify God, but don’t let your obedience stop there. It didn't for the best examples of evangelists we have in the Bible: Jesus, Peter, and Paul.

John 4 is probably one of the best known examples on one-on-one evangelism.

It describes Christ having a conversation with a woman at a public gathering place. What did he do? Did He walk by, and let her marvel at Him? No. He engaged in a seemingly normal conversation. Then He turned the conversation to spiritual topics. He shared the truth of her fallen state with her, then revealed how to be saved. The result? She was saved, and immediately evangelized by going home and telling everyone she could! She didn’t attend Sunday school, or seminary, or worry about how people would react to her words. She was simply obedient.

In Acts 17, we read about Paul engaging people in dialog in the synagogues and the marketplace. Paul did not simply walk around so people could see the scars from the lashings he endured, or hope that people could see that he was prosperous. Paul wasn't prosperous in the earthly sense! He could have walked around all day, every day, and never been noticed. Paul shared the gospel verbally.

When you read Acts 2, verses 43-47, you see clear examples of how the early Christians practiced evangelism: everywhere they went they verbally shared the gospel. The result? The number of Christians grew daily.

Additionally, the Gospels of John and Luke describe literary evangelism (John 20:31), which today we can perform using e-mail, online postings, tracts, letters, and more.

One more thing... Even if you insist on living your faith rather than sharing it, what are you going to say when someone notices that you're different, and asks you “What’s different about you and why?” If you’re not prepared to go out and witness, you’re not prepared answer that question.

You must “be ready”, and as long as you’re ready, you should “Go and tell!” Right? That’s right.