Write the first name or initial of one person at the top of a blank page. Choose someone you love who does not share your faith, or who once did and has drifted. Under the name, list everything that person probably already knows about Christianity. Be generous: the Bible stories, the songs, the vocabulary, maybe the whole plan of salvation. Then look at the length of that list.
For many readers the list is long, and that tells you something. Lisa Fields, who grew up a pastor's kid, says some of the hardest people to reach are church kids, because you are not introducing them to the gospel at all. In her words, "there's a whole population of people that can lead you down the Romans road themselves if they wanted to." If the person at the top of your page already has the information, another clear presentation is not what is missing. Something else has to change, and much of it has to change in the person doing the sharing.
The conversations behind these sessions point to one finding: what usually needs fixing is the order, not the message. Listening comes before answering. Understanding the person comes before addressing the objection. A visible life comes before most arguments get a hearing. Across four sessions you will practice one skill at a time: seeing your own habits, asking honest questions, hearing the question underneath, and staying faithful through a long season. Each session ends with something to try during the week, and each one starts by looking at what happened when you tried it.
