In our last topic, we talked about the four barriers we cross as we share the Gospel. Those were: the barrier of fear; the barrier of making contacts; the barrier of understanding another culture, religion, or ethnic group; and the barrier of language. Today, we will focus on crossing the barrier of fear.
To understand the barrier of fear, we have to go back to the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:7-13, we see that original sin made some dramatic changes in Adam, and every person since Adam. When Adam sinned, it changed his relationship with God, with himself, and with others. The results of those changes were:
From the time of Adam, these five things - separation, fear, guilt, shame, and blame, have been what has motivated every person on this earth, from the most powerful leader in the world to the least important person. That should help us understand why some of our leaders do what they do. However, once we become Christians, we have the opportunity to begin to learn to reverse the effects of original sin. Instead of separation from God, salvation brought us back into relationship with God. As we learn to yield to God, we learn to experience fellowship with God (and others). At each moment we are in fellowship with God, fear is replaced by love (1 John 4:18); guilt is replaced by forgiveness, cleansing, and forgiving others (1 John 1:9; Ephesians 4:32); shame is replaced by understanding that we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); and blame is replaced by accepting personal responsibility for our choices (James 1:13-15).
This means that there are two basic factors involved in learning to witness without fear. First, we need to be shown how to share the Gospel clearly. If you do not know how to share the Gospel clearly, find someone who does and go along with them until you learn how to share the Gospel clearly. (Acts 20:20-21) Second, each time, before we try to share the Gospel, we need to yield ourselves to God so that we witness in the power of the Holy Spirit, instead of our own strength (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8, 4:23-31), and allow the love of Christ to motivate us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) and flow through our lives.
In their first recorded witness about Christ, the disciples crossed the barrier of fear by sharing the Gospel with four different groups of people who are often easiest to talk with about the Gospel. Andrew first introduced Christ to a relative (John 1:40-42); Philip introduced Christ to a friend (John 1:43-46); Matthew introduced Christ to co-workers (Luke 5:27-29); and Peter introduced Christ to neighbors and other acquaintances (Mark 1:29-33).
A very helpful idea, that I use in helping new Christians learn to share Christ, is to suggest that they make four lists: relatives, friends, co-workers, and other acquaintances. To the right of the names, there are two columns: the first titled when I started praying and the second, when God answered this prayer. (see the diagram, “Driven by Fear or Led by Love”) New Christians will often get excited when they are able to record the first answer to this prayer. Then, I encourage them to pray for the salvation of each person on their list every day. I also offer to go with them to share the Gospel with each person on their list. That way, they introduce me to others, and I show them how to share the Gospel. In addition, this often speeds up the process of getting into new homes, to share the Gospel, by about two or three years, because the new Christian comes as a relative or friend, while I would come as a stranger. May the Lord richly bless you this week as you witness in the power of the Spirit and you begin to show others how to share the Gospel without fear.
Diagram "Driven by Fear or Led by Love"
Growing Christian Leaders Series – Developing Effective Evangelism 3. “Learning to Cross the Barrier of Fear in Evangelism" Updated January 2026 Copyright © 1999, Duane L. Anderson, American Indian Bible Institute; 2022, DLA, Serve and Equip Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. This resource is available from and distributed free of charge by Serve and Equip https://sveq.org ANY REPRODUCTION OF MATERIAL FOR RESALE OR PROFIT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED
