Personal outreach takes time. Someone who is investigating a relationship with Christ often needs to develop trust, hear the truth in a variety of ways and see what belief entails in the lives of different Christians. This means we need to be patient as ambassadors of Jesus. In this article, we’ll address the importance of active patience as we create opportunities for the Holy Spirit to convict people of their need for Christ.

I will often have a spiritually-oriented conversation with someone and be disappointed that it didn’t go further. In those cases it’s easy to think “We’ll, that wasn’t very fruitful. I guess that person isn’t open to the gospel.”  But patience in matters of the heart means waiting for God to work, in his timing — and not giving up in the process. It also means looking for ways to build a bridge to the next opportunity with that same person. When we come to the end of a conversation with someone, we should be thinking about the bridge to the next opportunity.

That opportunity can come in many different forms. Maybe you’ve perceived that your friend is in need of special advice. Who can give that advice even better than you? Or your friend may have a hobby or interest that someone else you know has. Do what you can to gently bring those people together. Or maybe it’s a book, a website or an event that would help your friend understand the gospel better.

This also applies to how ministry leaders should think about outreach events. Right from the beginning of the planning process, think about the bridges that need to be built after it’s over. How will you follow up those who are interested? Who is gifted at long-term follow-up? Can you set aside a follow-up team who won’t be involved in the large event itself so they will have the energy to meet with seekers after the event is over?

Building bridges takes into consideration the fact that God works in people’s hearts in his own timing. Sometimes it may mean leaving the conversation about the gospel alone for months and praying for your friend. Come back to it later.

One of the most common obstacles to sharing our faith is the fear that we may offend. Most of us who have that fear won’t truly be offensive, but occasionally it’s a real concern. What can we do about it?

One of the best things we can do is be honest and genuine. If you worry about being offensive, say so to the person you’re sharing with. You might say something like, “You know, we talk about a lot of things, but hardly ever about spirituality or the Bible. It’s really important to me, but I don’t bring it up because I don’t want to offend you. Do you think about this stuff much?”

Or maybe you find yourself in a spiritual conversation and your friend seems to grow uncomfortable. That’s the time to stop and say, “You seem to get frustrated or uncomfortable when we talk about God. I don’t want to make you angry. Can you tell me why this is a difficult topic?”

The theology behind speaking openly and honestly about the gospel lies in the incarnation. Christ became a man so that he could share in humanity with us and through his death and resurrection save us. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).

When we share our faith, we need to remain human — to sympathize with our conversation partner, to understand his feelings and talk about them. So often we try to become a perfect evangelism machine when we share the gospel. And that will likely make us offensive.

So when you’re afraid you might offend your friend by talking about the gospel, say so. Keep the ground of your conversation human and discuss not only the content of the gospel but how you both feel when you talk about it.