Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 18:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Boldness In Personal Evangelism
Author: Preston L. Nix

JBTM 18:1 (Spring 2021) p. 105

Boldness In Personal Evangelism

Preston L. Nix

Toward the end of the personal evangelism class that I teach each semester at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, I ask my students to share with me the “biggest takeaway” they have gleaned from the course including all lecture material, textbook readings, writing assignments, and class discussions, as well as the personal witnessing they have been required to do with their evangelism teams. Every semester without fail the largest percentage of my students indicate to me that the “biggest takeaway” they receive from my class is the practical definition of boldness in personal evangelism that I share with them in my initial lecture for the semester. In that particular lecture on the subject of Intentional Evangelism that sets the tone for the class for the semester, I encourage my students to be bold witnesses for Christ and share with them my practical definition of boldness in personal evangelism. Repeatedly, students have told me that remembering this definition of boldness has helped to counteract the fear they have had to overcome in sharing their faith with others. Further, they have shared with me that recalling this definition of boldness has assisted them in their actual witnessing encounters to communicate confidently the content of the Gospel and to call for a personal response from those with whom they have shared their faith. Certainly seeing my definition of boldness in witnessing impact my students as they have indicated has been extremely rewarding for me as an evangelism professor in my attempts to instill in my students a passion for personal evangelism as well as to equip them to be more effective in sharing their faith with those around them who need Christ.

The fact that my practical definition of boldness in personal evangelism has encouraged and assisted my students in sharing their faith with others has provided the primary motivation for me to write this article to define what boldness in evangelism actually is and how any believer can be a bold witness for Christ. My hope is that the content of this article not only will inform believers outside of the seminary classroom as to my definition of boldness in personal evangelism but also will inspire as well as equip them to be bold witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ to those who desperately

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need to hear the saving message of the Gospel in today’s world.

Several other important reasons can be enumerated for the need of a serious treatment of the subject of boldness in personal evangelism. First and foremost, the Bible calls for boldness in evangelism, illustrates boldness in evangelism, and describes the effectual results of boldness in evangelism. Altho...