Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, evangelism is one type of witnessing. I regard evangelism as the presentation of the details of the Gospel to others through words (whether in spoken or printed form), with the specific goal of bringing them to a recognition of their need for the salvation that God offers in Christ.

Witnessing (to me) is a broader category that includes not only evangelism, but also the way in which Christians conduct themselves in their daily lives and in their interactions with others, even when they are not specifically intending to evangelize someone else.

The attitudes and actions of Christians should be such that, even if they are not directly spreading the Gospel, others who observe them should be moved to notice that they are markedly different (in a positive way) from "the world" -- not because they are calling attention to themselves and saying "Look how good I am," but just because of the ways in which they conduct themselves and treat others in their everyday lives. Those others would then be prompted to want to obtain for themselves the same sort of peace and joy that they see Christians exhibiting. This should, in turn, lead them to approach the Christian (rather than the other way around), which then provides an opportunity for the Christian to evangelize that person.

November 06 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report