While businesses, spammers, and pornographers are taking the fullest possible advantage of the world wide web to "sell their wares" the average church web site is designed to communicate to it's members and fellow Christians in christianeze—language that is mostly understood only by Christians—as are 90% plus of the books in the average Christian bookstore.

2. Opening Closed Minds

Churches, organizations, and individual Christians are in a prime position to evangelize the world as never before. But to effectively communicate the gospel (or any other message), it is imperative that we understand the fundamental principles of effective communication.

Scratch 'em where they itch: To put it in a word, to effectively communicate to people we need to "scratch 'em where they itch." That is, we need to reach people at their point of felt need in language they understand. People today are continually bombarded with endless messages via radio, TV, bill boards, news papers, E-mails, the Internet, and so on. However, the only messages they attend to are those that speak directly to their felt or perceived needs and interests. All other messages are filtered out.

Even a casual reading of the gospels reveals that this is the way Jesus communicated his messages. He always addressed people at their point of need: "Do you want to be made well?" he asked the sick. "Come down out of your tree," he said to Zacchaeus, the social outcast, "I'm coming home to dinner with you." "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked others.

Meeting people at their point of felt need is the most powerful and effective means of communication. In fact, it is the key to opening closed minds. In all communication it is imperative to meet people where they are, not where we are or where we expect or presume them to be. And then, of course, it is also crucial that we minister to the real needs of readers and not "Christianize complexes" by giving over-simplistic solutions to many of life's complex problems. To be effective communicators of the gospel we not only need to understand sound Biblical theology, but like Jesus, we also need to understand people and their total needs—physical, emotional, and social as well as spiritual. Remember, too, that felt needs ultimately lead to real needs.

Avoid christianese: As Nicodemus was confused when Jesus told him that he needed to be born again, if we use such terms, it is important that we explain what they mean. For example, what does the question, "Are you saved?" mean to the non-christian? Think too of terms such as sanctification, the Holy Ghost, redemption, regeneration, and even repentance—terms that are not only totally misunderstood by non-Christians but can be a real turn-off. Always strive to communicate in non-churchy language.

3. Process Evangelism

Realize, too, that evangelism is a process, not an event. Most people who become Christians rarely make that decision the first time they hear about Jesus and what he has done for them. Physical birth is a nine-month gestation process. Spiritual birth may happen quickly but more often than not it is a much longer period of gestation—even years for some people. This is why it is imperative that we "keep on sowing our seed."² Or as the Apostle Paul said, "It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others], and so we never give up."³

Arriving at Christian faith is a process that takes time—a process that is activated by a combination of many events such as the influence of Christian parents, a friend, teacher, youth leader, a sermon, a book, a piece of literature, an e-mail, blog message,or Internet message, and so on.

Communication specialist, Dr. Jim Engel, has illustrated this spiritual decision process illustrated in the graph above. At -8 a person has a believe in a "Supreme Being" but has no effective understanding of the gospel. At zero he/she makes his or her commitment to Christ. The plus side of the scale represents Christian growth and service.

In evangelism, as in all major life changes, people change slowly. As a general rule (to which there are always exceptions) to move a person from -8 to -7 and so on takes many events, each of which is a vital part of the evangelism process as moving a person from 1 to zero his/her point of conversion.

People are not ready for the "John 3:16" message until they are where Nicodemus was, at -3. It can take months or years of continual sowing to bring a person to this place. To "Push" people too quickly into making a decision can have a boomerang effect and drive them farther from the cause of Christ. It can cause spiritual still birth.⁴

Furthermore, for a continual harvest, continual sowing is essential. In selling it takes an average of seven calls to make a sale. How much more is required to change the total direction of a person's life? This is why effective evangelism needs to be treated as a process, not just a single event.

5. To Communicate to Unchurched Friends and Contacts

To communicate to unchurched friends and contacts it is absolutely essential to send them articles that speak to their felt needs and interests. This is the way that Jesus always gained a hearing from others; that is, he was constantly reaching out to meet the felt needs of his hearers. He fed the hungry and to the sick he said, "Do you want to be made well?"

ACTS articles in addressing people's felt needs also include the following:

Effective Pre-evangelism:To help readers (who have little, if any, effective understanding of the gospel) progress on the Spiritual Decision Scale from -8 to -3 to where they are ready for a direct gospel message, it helps to read articles that speak to their every day issues. That is, they need to read articles that address the needs they feel—articles that have a Christian application that is based on sound biblical principles. ACTS articles do this.