THE MASTER SOUL WINNER;
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).
The Lord Jesus was a master soul winner. His examples of soul-winning in the Scriptures are very inspiring. In John 4:6-42, He encountered a certain woman at the well of Samaria, and engaged her in a conversation. The woman came to draw water from the well, and Jesus had a word of knowledge about her.
However, to get her attention, Jesus started out a conversation with her by talking about something that was of interest to her—the water. Upon getting her full attention, the Master said, “…Give me a drink of water” (John 4:7GNB). From then on, the Master witnessed to the woman, who believed and went about telling others about Jesus.
Matthew chapter 4 tells us another beautiful story of how Jesus walked along the shores of Lake Galilee, and saw two brothers who were fishermen: Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. Then the Master said to them, “…Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). The Master always knew how to engage others in a conversation on a subject that was of interest to them, in a bid to witness to them.
If you’ve often wondered how to engage people in a conversation in order to preach the Gospel to them, emulate the strategy of the Master. Observe what such folks might be interested in, and initiate a conversation along that line.
For example, he may be reading a newspaper or magazine, try to observe what he’s interested in, and ask a question or make a positive comment to get his attention. Perhaps, you want him to explain something to you, listen with rapt attention. If you do, he’s likely to also give you his attention when you start speaking to him.
Further Study:
1 Corinthians 9:16;
Act 17:22-34