Gossiping the Gospel

https://nobtsgatekeeper.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/kelley-calls-southern-baptists-to-intentional-evangelism-and-disciplemaking/
The link above is to remarks made by President Kelley at the opening chapel service at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary this term.  When he said something about "gospel conversations" it triggered a thought in me.
For as long as I can remember we Baptists have been badgered, harangued and guilt-ed to become "soul winners".  In order to do that you had to "witness" to as many people as possible.  Both, the term "soul winner" and "witness" seem to strike fear in the minds of many people.  Besides that, you had to "go" somewhere in order to do it.  Perhaps there is a better way of couching the terms so that people embrace them instead of avoiding the practice altogether.
I remember hearing that the literal translation of the first word of the "Great Commission" is "as you are going" make disciples...  That says to me that as I go about my regular traffic pattern of life, I can be in the process of making disciples.  Also, it is very natural for me to talk about things that are of interest and important to me.  What Dr. Kelley called "gospel conversations" I call "gossiping the gospel".  When I do that it becomes normal and natural instead of strained and canned.  Then, whatever the topic, I can introduce faith into the picture.  Because the church is important to me I can easily talk about what is going on in my church and then segue into the good news of Jesus Christ.
The reality is that today people are more "spiritual" and less Christian.  I think we should re-visit Paul's experience at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22ff)  He just used their interest to segue into the gospel. He did not have an acrostic or an outline to follow, he just connected their spiritual interest with his personal experience and it sparked a great deal of interest.
Next time you are out and about your normal traffic pattern, try dropping little tid-bits of your own spiritual story and see if it doesn't open doors to share the gospel.

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