Evangelizing Without Words

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Melodeonist

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I have heard that you can evangelize without words. I personally like how this sounds because I do not want to talk about faith to people who most likely couldn’t care less. I also don’t want to talk about God and faith to people because I know that if I were in their shoes, I would quite frankly be driven further away from finding God and feel slightly annoyed by proselytizing.

How does one go about evangelizing without words? Do you just act good like, for example, sharing your stapler if nobody else has one?
 
Melodeonist said:
I have heard that you can evangelize without words. I personally like how this sounds because I do not want to talk about faith to people who most likely couldn’t care less. I also don’t want to talk about God and faith to people because I know that if I were in their shoes, I would quite frankly be driven further away from finding God and feel slightly annoyed by proselytizing.

How does one go about evangelizing without words? Do you just act good like, for example, sharing your stapler if nobody else has one?
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You can talk about your Faith without it being proselytizing. Proselytizing is forcing someone to convert or saying things like you will go to hell if you don’t believe in Jesus.

Jesus was all about preaching and teaching with words…‘my sheep hear my voice’…‘whoever listens to you listens to me’… ‘teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you’. The apostles were not sent out to mingle.

It’s understandable some may not be comfortable evangelizing and that is fine. Catholicism is both/and. You can evangelize without words…things like making the sign of the Cross in public, praying in front of abortion mills, volunteering and everyday acts of kindness, etc. but here’s the thing. If you are truly evangelizing without words then people will notice and ask about it. Are you going to stay silent or talk about Jesus and Church?
 
The Church’s mission is to go out and preach the Gospel, so we can’t be concerned with whether people get uncomfortable when we share our faith.

I agree with all the tips giving by Melodeonist. That’s called being a light in the midst of the darkness or being the salt of the earth.

One other suggestion. If you are on social media, one way to share your faith is to post memes with positive Saint quotes. Non-Catholics usually don’t react badly to it, but at the same time they see the quotes came from a Saint. This might make them curious so that they Google the Saint. This has worked for me.

Here is an example of a quote I posted the other day.

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew,” St Francis de Sales.
 
You live a just, peaceful, compassionate, joyful, merciful life.
You receive the Sacraments, keep the Commandments, you pray daily, you read Scriptures and other solid reading materials, you worship with your parish community, you make personal sacrifices and you volunteer.
 
pianistclare said:
You live a just, peaceful, compassionate, joyful, merciful life.
You receive the Sacraments, keep the Commandments, you pray daily, you read Scriptures and other solid reading materials, you worship with your parish community, you make personal sacrifices and you volunteer.
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Wise advice! I remember one time we helped a lady in distress. She asked, Why are you doing this? Are you Christians? And we were able to say yes. Our actions said what we were.

We also wear our Taus (we’re secular Franciscans) & people ask what they are. A small crucifix would do the same - especially if it’s an interestingly styled one. I emphasized “small” because we recently met a young man who was wearing a crucifix more suitable to a wall than being worn around the neck - it was at least 9 or 10 inches long! I avoided him. :o
 
How does one go about evangelizing without words?
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You can evangelize without words by being kind, loving and merciful to your neighbor. Live a Christian life in front of your friends, family and co-workers so they can see the change God has made in your life.

I have a friend who is Catholic but has fallen away from the Church. Since I returned to the Church a few years ago, it has changed my life. I evangelized to him not with words, but in my actions. As time went on, we have had a few discussions about God, Heaven/Hell, abortion, the Eucharist, confession, ect. I did not initiate these discussion, he did. It took some time but now I find it much easier to bring up “Church stuff” (for a lack of better words) to him and I find he is more receptive to what I have to say.
 
Thanks for the replies! So all I really need to do is live out my faith? 🙂
 
brad90956 said:
You can evangelize without words by being kind, loving and merciful to your neighbor. Live a Christian life in front of your friends, family and co-workers so they can see the change God has made in your life.
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The problem I see with this is that atheists can be kind, loving, and merciful. They can appear to lead a ‘good’ life by doing lots of things Christians do. Heck, even atheists can have pro-life bumper stickers on their cars.

Read Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi - Evangelization in the Modern World. It’s very clear.

#21 taks about witness and the importance of that. However, #22 goes on to say that witness always remains insufficient. “There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, are not proclaimed.”

There’s more, of course. It’s a great read!
 
Melodeonist said:
Thanks for the replies! So all I really need to do is live out my faith? 🙂
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This is what I try and do, plus also live by example too, which I guess you can also say is the same thing.

For example, I try to be kind to others, be a charitable person, be a good Catholic, be the best person that I can try to be, with God’s help.
 
lovemyjob said:
Read Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi - Evangelization in the Modern World. It’s very clear.

#21 taks about witness and the importance of that. However, #22 goes on to say that witness always remains insufficient. “There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, are not proclaimed.”

There’s more, of course. It’s a great read!
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It is a great read - I’ll have to read it again. There’s nothing wrong with talking about one’s faith - it’s when it morphs into preaching that it gets problematical. When I go to mass I expect preaching. My non-Catholic & non-Christian friends have not asked me to preach.

Yesterday I went to the library & saw a couple of men set up on the street corner with a display of pamphlets & a sign saying one could get a free Bible study. I’m guessing they were 7th Day Adventists. I gave them a wide berth - so did everyone else I saw. I don’t think that’s the right way to evangelize! 🙂

In my earlier post I mentioned the young man at the retreat who wore a huge crucifix that was more suitable to a wall. I avoided him, too.

If people are coming to you and asking serious questions about the faith - you’re doing it right. If they are avoiding you as if you have a major body odor problem - you’re doing it wrong.
 
Bonnie said:
Yesterday I went to the library & saw a couple of men set up on the street corner with a display of pamphlets & a sign saying one could get a free Bible study. I’m guessing they were 7th Day Adventists. I gave them a wide berth - so did everyone else I saw. I don’t think that’s the right way to evangelize! 🙂
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There is a Catholic group called St. Paul Street Evangelization that does just that! They set up on street corners and speak to passers-by. Some engage, some do not. They host excellent workshops on how to evangelize. I attended one; it was very worthwhile.

Not everyone feels called to be on the street corner, but it’s where people are. So if they feel called, God bless them!

But, I think the point is, that just being a ‘good person’ and ‘living a good life’ is not enough. It might be at first, while you build trust with someone, but at some point we have to speak the name of Jesus.
 
Yes, live your faith.
BUT…STUDY you faith. That way, when people eventually ask you or want to discuss faith you can give them the CORRECT answers.
There’s nothing worse than encountering Catholics who say “well, I’m Catholic, but I really don’t know the answer to that question”.
You don’t have to know everything, but it’s helpful if you know a bit, and then can point them to proper reading materials.
 
pianistclare said:
Yes, live your faith.
BUT…STUDY you faith. That way, when people eventually ask you or want to discuss faith you can give them the CORRECT answers.
There’s nothing worse than encountering Catholics who say “well, I’m Catholic, but I really don’t know the answer to that question”.
You don’t have to know everything, but it’s helpful if you know a bit, and then can point them to proper reading materials.
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I agree with your post.

Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear when I answered in my other post, but I was trying to explain–and sometimes I don’t always explain myself that well when I answer, and for that I apologize–that I also meant that I try and “live the Gospels” by how I live, too.

I don’t see this in myself, but I have had others tell me that I have encountered that they “see a light shine forth from me.”

My husband has also told me that the way that I try to live my life from a religious stand point has “rubbed off on him,” as he tells me.

These are things that people have relayed to me, over time. I don’t try to preach to anybody. I will share my faith, if asked by others.

I also try and know enough about the Catholic faith so that I can answer others.
 
oldgraymare2 said:
I agree with your post.

Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear when I answered in my other post, but I was trying to explain–and sometimes I don’t always explain myself that well when I answer, and for that I apologize–that I also meant that I try and “live the Gospels” by how I live, too.

I don’t see this in myself, but I have had others tell me that I have encountered that they “see a light shine forth from me.”

My husband has also told me that the way that I try to live my life from a religious stand point has “rubbed off on him,” as he tells me.

These are things that people have relayed to me, over time. I don’t try to preach to anybody. I will share my faith, if asked by others.

I also try and know enough about the Catholic faith so that I can answer others.
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OH I understood you dear one.
I was talking to the OP
Love you!
C
 
“Preach the Gospel at all times, use words when necessary”, is St. Francis’ answer
 
PraiseChrist said:
“Preach the Gospel at all times, use words when necessary”, is St. Francis’ answer
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Attributed to him, but unlikely he said it. However, there is one story that implies that. Wish I could remember the details, but St. Francis & some of his brothers went to a town to preach. They walked through the town, praying, and walked out the other side. The brothers asked when they would be preaching. St. Francis is supposed to have said something like: “We did by our walking.”
 
pianistclare said:
Yes, live your faith.
BUT…STUDY you faith. That way, when people eventually ask you or want to discuss faith you can give them the CORRECT answers.
There’s nothing worse than encountering Catholics who say “well, I’m Catholic, but I really don’t know the answer to that question”.
You don’t have to know everything, but it’s helpful if you know a bit, and then can point them to proper reading materials.
Click to expand...
We should know our faith, but catechesis and evangelization are not the same thing. Evangelization involves the initial conversion of heart – Do we believe the basic gospel message? Have we turned our lives over to Christ?

We can attempt to catechize before that initial conversion, but it often doesn’t mean much. There are many who believe that part of the challenge today is that so many Catholics are ‘sacramentalized’ but not ‘evangelized’. They ‘got’ their sacraments on some sort of predetermined time table but it did not involve any interior conversion.

Grace is a wonderful thing, but it’s not magic. We have to cooperate with it. Baptism gives us the capacity for Faith, but it does not guarantee it.
 
Never start with controversial issues. If someone asks how you feel about something then stage your opinion. Preach the gospel at all times use words if necessary
 
I will just share with you some of the most powerful evangelizing I have experienced.

My grandmother with cancer. My friend who lost a son in an accident. Another friend - a young mother of 4 - with cancer.

The example each of these women set when faced with enormous trials was very powerful. They did not preach “to” me about God, but they also were not afraid to share their own faith. They talked about how they cried out to God; how tightly they clung to Him and trusted Him; how much other people praying for them comforted them.

The examples they set with their faith made me want faith “like that!” It stirred me to seek a relationship like they had.

Another dear friend would often simply say things like, “God has blessed me so much!” “Look at that beautiful sunset - God is a wonderful artist!”

It made me a tiny bit uncomfortable at first because my family never said things like that and I wasn’t sure how to respond. But I quickly learned no response was expected - it was simply her own expression of gratitude and gradually I began doing the same. Now people know that’s “just how I am” and hopefully it will be a positive touch for them, as it was for me. 🙂
 
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