People often write and ask for information on how to evangelize their friends, neighbors or co-workers. “How do I answer their questions?”
The assumption is often a request for the “silver bullet” that wins every argument. Sorry, but their ain’t no “silver bullet”.
Here was my response to an honest truck driver who meets people and gets in conversations about the Lord and his Church.
Dear Friend:
God bless you for your efforts and desire to serve the Kingdom and bring people to Our Lord and his Church. You are correct, there is no silver bullet, nor one answer that fits all situations.
I jokingly but honestly say God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. We should spend more time listening to the other person than talking in most cases. The key is love. If the person knows we really love them and care for them, enough to listen and invest in their lives, they will be open to our opinions and arguments. It seems to me you have already mastered this with your friend.
This is what we did with those 200 people. Many came over ready to fight and argue. We let them vent and talk. It not only gave them a sense of being heard, but also gave us time to analyze them and discover their real issues so we could address them — many times issues that the person didn’t even realize.
It is important to find out what issue is their main concern, theologically speaking. It is important to stick with one topic and not let them say, “Yeah, but what about Purgatory?” You say, “Let’s stick with the topic at hand until we get to the end of that discussion.”
Yes, and homework is the only route that makes you an apologist or evangelist. Practice and don’t worry about answering wrongly or not knowing what to say. No shame in saying, “That is a good question! Let me look into that and get back to you.” People respect that.
There is an embarrassment of riches for us today. When I converted 30 years ago resources like books, audio, podcasts, etc. were not readily available. God bless your efforts.
By the way, my talks are probably a good source. Not trying to sell stuff but since you drive a truck you have time to listen. I now have 33 of my most popular talks on a flash drive with USB and USB C which plugs into anything.
It includes my talk Evangelism 101 and Apologetics 101.
