Her is the second half of Carson’s tips for heralding the gospel in a pluralistic culture.
7. Many companies allow their employees, during lunch breaks, to form
themselves into various groups or clubs or societies for diverse purposes. It is quite possible to start evangelistic studies in such settings, provided there is just one employee in the company with a little courage.
8. Very frequently I begin an evangelistic series to complete outsiders (university students, perhaps) with something like this: “If you think I have come to defend Christianity, guess again! For some of us, Christianity is so little known and understood that defending it would be like defending the general theory of relativity to a first year arts major. What I shall be doing, rather, is outling, explaining, and showing the relevance of some of the fundamentals of any kind of Christinaity that tries to be faithful to its founding documents, gathered together in a book that we call the Bible. If there is defense, it will be largely implicit. But I hope you will listen carefully as you enter into a world of thought and experience that you may never before have encountered.” I find that some such introduction as that changes the focus of expectations. At the end of each talk, people come out talking about the gospel, not about apologetics.
9. Be bold. That is not an invitation to discourtesy. But boldness, coupled with an unassuing humility that conveys the impression that Christians are only poor beggars telling others where there is bread, will always elicit better attention thank half-embarrassed, semi-apologetic bearing of the person who is more frightened of people than of the living God.
10. In my view, it is usually best (though there are exceptional circumstances that overturn this preference) that these evangelistic sermons be expository messages, not topical ones. Of course unbelievers will not bring Bibles, so it is necessary to instruct people to a certain page number in the book in front of them.
11. Remember that men and women are not converted, finally, by your sagacity, oratory, theological brilliance or homiletical skill. God in his mercy may use all these and many more gifts. But only God is able to bring people to himself. That is ample incentive to prayer.
12. Finally, speaking of prayer, it is vitally important, once again, that we recall how our secular, postmodern society affects those of us who are believers. We may think we are being faithful, when somehow we no longer believe in God of the Bible – the God who is sovereign, the God who hears and answers prayers, the God who alone can save. . . . In other words, it is of paramount importance that those of us who are believers live and breathe in the atmosphere of God-centeredness, of gospel-centeredness. This will drive us to our knees in intercession, and incite us again and again to reform our lives, our churches, and, so far as we are able, our world, in line with the Word of God.