I have wrestled with the balance between evangelism and social justice for a while, and I’d like to offer a way to think about the relationship because this is becoming a frequent topic of discussion.

The task of evangelism often includes telling our individual story along with the larger gospel story. Weaving the two together makes for a powerful articulation of God’s gracious work through all times and his specific salvific work in an individual heart – namely, yours.

We should “wire” our Christian experience so that evangelism is woven into daily life. Here are three ways to do that.

It’s that time of year to remember why you bought that exercise bicycle, what those charts of nutritional information are doing on the backs of food packages, and where you last saw your “Read Through the Bible in a Year” chart.

It might also be a good time to rededicate your efforts to reach out to non-believers God has placed in your life. For most Christians, steadfastness in evangelism does not come easily. And guilt works as a motivator for only so long (and does so rather poorly).

Here are some of my suggestions to bring outreach to the front burner for the next year.

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Many Christian students I know would love to tell their non-Christian professors about their faith. Motivations range from exasperation (because the teacher takes pot-shots at the Christian faith) to genuine compassion (because the education process tends to unite teacher and student).

Our modern world and education system can produce people who are brilliant in a particular field and completely ignorant of spiritual matters. In fact, some secularists disdain faith of any kind, seeing it as an inferior worldview that harms societies.

But what’s an 18-22 year old undergraduate to do when intimidated by someone older, seemingly wiser, and more educated?

Here are three suggestions about how to witness to a professor:

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Many of us will be gathering with family during the next few weeks and some of us feel pressure to “make the most” of these times. Specifically, some feel the need to “make sure to get the gospel in” to our conversations. It’s worth pausing and thinking through some possible strategies for these crucial reunions.

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The church needs to do a lot of brainstorming about ways to alter our pronouncement of the good news to an audience involved in, pressured by, and damaged by sex outside of God’s parameters.