Improving Your Approach

The way that you approach a person can often make or break the conversation and its ultimate outcome. A good first impression can easily take you further than an awkward beginning. Here are a few suggestions for improving your soul-winning approach.

1. Many soul winners, including myself, have used the “If you died today, do you know for sure you would go to Heaven?” approach. It is a good approach, which I have used often, but in some areas of the country, nine out of ten people will say “yes.” Then what do you do?

2. My favorite approach is “Has anyone talked to you about Heaven lately?” In all areas of the country, the answer will be “no” about ninety-nine times out of 100. Then you can say, “Can we talk about it for a couple of minutes?” Immediately proceed to the Roman’s Road (3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9, 10, 13) or John 3:16.

3. When handing a gospel tract to someone, you can easily say, “Here’s some good news from the Bible,” or “Would you like to get some good news today?” Your follow-up question can be, “Everybody can use some good news, don’t you think?”

4. In some circumstances, you may find it helpful to ask, “Do you have a church background?” That may help you know exactly what you are facing when trying to reach the person.

5. Having something (a gospel tract, a Sword pamphlet, the Sword newspaper, a church flyer, etc.) to hand to people always makes it easier to approach the soul-winning conversation. For example, when I am handing out copies of the Sword newspaper, I start with, “I would like to give you a copy of the world’s greatest newspaper.” I’m always smiling when I say that and hand it to them.

6. And speaking of smiling, always keep a warm, pleasant, upbeat attitude when you approach people. Even if some are unpleasant or act ugly to you, do not ever let them draw you into that kind of behavior. Whatever they dish out, you take it. In other words, in all circumstances, at all times, every time, be nice!

7. Witnessing and soul winning can be done in lots of places at all hours, but when you are knocking on doors, it is best to go in pairs. Ladies, I recommend you go in groups of three. One person can take the lead, and the others smile and remain silent. As you go from one door to the next, you can alternate who takes the lead.

Perfecting your approach will likely help you to be more fruitful in your sincere efforts to help other people to come to the Saviour.

In my next soul-winning column, I will show some of the Sword-produced materials and how I recommend using them. In the meantime, let’s stay at it! Amen!