The Gospel Conversationalist

I was born into a fishery family where the motto was “not all fried fish eaters are Greers, but all Greers are fried fish eaters.” When pulling up a chair to the table at any Greer family get-together, there was no doubt that fresh fried fish was on the menu. What’s more, fresh fried fish was a Greer table staple at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, holidays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays! My grandfather, Pawpaw, and his brothers were the patriarchs who not only ate fish but also fished for fish, raised fish, cleaned fish, fried fish, and even served fish at their fish house. The Greers are a family who know how to speak Nemo and Dory’s language.

Uncle Anthony tells a story of growing up in such a fish-friendly environment. Being younger and smaller than my dad, Uncle Anthony always looked for an advantage whenever a brotherly fight broke out. Just to the side of their house was a line of cedar trees where Pawpaw used to hang and skin catfish. In that time, if you wanted to learn how to skin a catfish you didn’t visit YouTube, you visited PawpawTube on Cedar Tree Lane in Crystal Springs, MS.

On one particular day, when my uncle and dad were engaged in a sibling scuffle, every cedar limb on cedar lane was decorated with a bled-out, ready-to-be-skinned catfish. Quickly getting the upperhand, Uncle Anthony grabbed the tail of one of those catfish with both hands and slugged my dad upside the head. Only in the Greer family would the weapon-of-choice in a sibling rivalry be a catfish!

For me, growing up in the Greer family left little room for not enjoying eating fish. The only thing worse than growing up in the Greer family and not enjoying eating fish was growing up in the Greer family and being allergic to fish and unable to eat it. Yes, I was allergic to fish. Yes, I am still allergic to fish and unable to eat it.

Although allergic to fish, fishing with fishermen for fish was still a significant part of my childhood. We spent our summer mornings and nights jug fishing, crappy fishing, and bass fishing. Whether we were fishing from the bank or from a boat, we were fishing for the purpose of catching fish. Although still allergic to fish, to this day, fishing is my favorite outdoor activity; more specifically, bass fishing is my favorite outdoor activity.

Fishing with Jesus’ fishermen for men is a significant part of my life today. Although Jesus has called His followers to be “fishers of men,” too many believers behave as if they are allergic to “fishing for men” (personal evangelism).

Have you ever frozen in fear when you have thought about talking to someone about the good news of Jesus? Have you ever dodged sharing your faith in Christ as if it was a deadly substance to which your spiritual immune system is allergic? Have you ever avoided, like the plague, an opportunity to tell somebody about Jesus? Are you terrified to talk to another person about the gospel? Are you allergic to opening your mouth and telling people the good news? Do you feel ill equipped to share your faith in Christ? Could it be that you feel as if your spiritual IQ is insufficient to share the gospel? Is it possible that you believe you need to learn more before you share anymore? If so, you are not alone!

According to Christianity Today’s Chris Lutes, ‘I’m not smart enough’ is the top reason of seven reasons given for not sharing Christ. He wrote, “Jesus’ disciples weren’t known for their brains or their theology degrees. They were pretty ordinary guys, really.” Lutes points to the Apostle Luke’s writing in Acts 4:13 as an example:

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and
perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they
were astonished. And they recognized that they had been
with Jesus.”

Knowing more about Jesus is no match for knowing Jesus more. Lutes concluded with some encouraging words for believers, “You are smart enough to tell others about Jesus because you have a friendship with Him. And the closer you get to Him, and the better you know Him, the more you’ll have to say about Him.”

The purpose of this book is to encourage and equip every follower of Christ to be a gospel conversationalist. Do you consider yourself a conversationalist? Does engaging in conversation come easy for you? Or, do you often feel “not smart enough” to engage in a conversation about Jesus? Whether being conversational comes easy for your or not, any and every follower of Jesus can become a gospel conversationalist. Being a gospel conversationalist is more about who you know than it is about what you know or how much you know.