What are the thoughts that come to mind when you see a light come on your dashboard of your car? Oh no! What does that mean? How much is that going to cost? Who can I take my car to find out what the problem is? I am sure there might be other questions that come to mind. When you take your car to the mechanic, he has a diagnostic tool that helps him to determine what the problem is. He plugs that machine into your car, and it reads all the codes that have come up. The mechanic then delivers the good or bad news to you. The mechanic is doing you a favor. He is helping you know the state of your car.

Regarding evangelism, it would be nice if we could just come to an evangelism specialist and have him “diagnose” us to see how we are doing in this critical area. I have compiled a list of questions to help you assess your evangelism. Let me encourage you to honestly answer these questions. In the past month with unbelievers....

• Did you ask for the Lord’s help regarding your personal evangelism?
• Did you pray for them by name?
• How many conversations with them did you have?
• Did you cultivate a friendship over a meal or through an activity?
• Did you bring up a Biblical concept?
• Did you ask for their spiritual beliefs?
• Did you offer them a pamphlet, book, or DVD to discuss with you?

Honestly, this assessment is painful for me. How was it for you? I do not want to leave you in pain, so over the next number of months I will be discussing how we can grow in our personal evangelism. My heart resonates with the Apostle Paul’s desire is in 2 Thessalonians 3:1, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you.” I trust because of thinking and practicing these best practices of evangelism that we can see the gospel spread for the glory of God.