How Can I Share the Gospel with My Neighbor?

As I travel around churches in the UK, I have found that Christians are discovering that far more people are spiritually hungry at the moment than have been in previous years. In some ways people are more open, having realized that life is far more fragile than they thought it was.

Amid worldwide conflicts, health concerns, a rising cost of living, and moral chaos, it’s no wonder that there is such spiritual hunger. People know that the storm has hit and that they’ve built their house on sand. They are looking for a rock. They are spiritually hungry and longing for transcendence.

As we come alongside others to share our faith, we can have confidence because:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:24–27)

God is the Creator; He made the world and everything in it. He is the Sustainer; He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. He is the Ruler; He decides our appointed times in history and the boundaries of our land. In other words, God decides where we live and how long we live.

What is God’s aim for the world? He did this “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). God makes us, sustains us, and rules us in order that His elect would know Him.

I’ve often found that Christians recognize that God has sovereignly placed them where they live, but they don’t necessarily realize that God has sovereignly placed unbelievers in their lives. He has placed work colleague on the same team as you. He has put you beside other parents at youth sports events on a Saturday morning. Every person and every family are where they are because God the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler has ordained it, even though they suppress all knowledge of Him.

It’s no accident that God has brought these people across your path. To see this is life-transforming. It means that every encounter is a divine appointment that God has already written into our schedule and theirs. As I teach this truth and train individuals and churches for evangelism, I see people’s confidence being transformed by this truth. They’ve never seen their lives, neighbors, and loved ones through these biblical lenses.

As we consider the unbelievers that God has placed around us, the following five steps can help guide our thinking, prayer, and interaction as we engage with people.

1. Value your neighbors.

The people around us are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in God’s image (Ps. 139:14; Gen. 1:27). People are the pinnacle of creation, and God has sent us to meet them. We can get to know them by asking friendly questions. What we’re seeking to do here is to simply find out about their lives. We’re not asking spiritual questions at this point. Rather, we are authentically getting to know them better. These are “level one” questions: Where are they from? What are their hobbies? What are their passions? What is their family like? What is their work like?

God gave them their skills, temperament, intellect, and experience. He uniquely wired them. He sent Christ to die for sinners like us and like them, and He’s put us in their lives. May they see the excitement in our eyes as we realize the big story we’re in together.

2. Serve your neighbors.

Second, we don’t just value meeting people, we also want to serve them. We serve them not only because they’re made in God’s image, but also because Jesus came to serve and we want to follow in His footsteps: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Everyone we meet is of great value to God because He created them in His image and sent His Son into the world to die so that whoever believes may have eternal life.

In an age where life is about me, my needs, my feelings, and my fulfillment, where we are absorbed by our phones and personal algorithms, our kindness toward and care for others makes us stand out as we shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15).

3. Cross the pain-line.

Third, cross the pain-line by asking a spiritual question. There is discomfort in doing so because the other person may find it offensive. So, as we ask this question, we must remember our identity in Christ. Whether we are accepted or rejected does not make us more or less valuable. What makes us valuable is that we are made in God’s image.

By asking a “level two” question, we see if there is any spiritual hunger in the person God has placed before us. We might want to preface the question with something like, “This friendship is really important to me, so I’m a bit nervous to say this because it can offend some people, but can I ask, ‘Do you celebrate Easter?’ or ‘Do you ever think about spiritual things?’ or ‘Where do you find hope amid conflict and change?’”

In the Gospels, Jesus asks over two hundred questions. What spiritual question would you like to ask that neighbor whom God has placed in your life?

4. Exit when appropriate.

In Matthew 10:14, Jesus says, “If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” This means that if the other person stops engaging, we should stop engaging. But if they start discussing the spiritual issue we’ve raised, we should keep asking questions.

It might be that they don’t want to talk about that area at all, in which case we should go back to celebrating and serving them. It might be that God is creating a spiritual hunger in them, and that He has led them to this conversation with you so that you may offer them the only thing that will satisfy them: the Lord Jesus.

5. Continue to pray.

Don’t assume that you know who is spiritually hungry, who is ready to trust in Jesus, and who isn’t. Get to know people, serve them, ask spiritual questions, and perhaps God will show you who He is calling to Himself through your witness. This is the journey, or gospel pathway, that I long to go on with the neighbors that God has placed in my life. Our confidence comes from the fact that the sovereign Lord has placed us where we are and has also placed our neighbors where they are.
With confidence in God’s plan for us, our neighbors, and His world, we can pray that He would help us to increasingly know our neighbors, serve them, and tell them about Jesus.