Christianity - The Elevator Pitch

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

As Christians, we should to spread the Gospel, the good news, right? This is something that also makes me happy, to talk about how the Gospel has transformed my mind and life, and restored peace and meaning to it.

With people getting busier and busier, I believe it is good to have an “elevator pitch” ready for this. This is a marketing term for giving a one minute enthusiastic presentation which explains the essence of an idea, in this case Christianity.

To share ideas and encourage inspiration, I want to ask you if you want to give me your “elevator pitches” for Christianity. How would you explain, in less than 200 words, what Christianity offers to us all? What would be your “elevator pitch” to do this? Please let me know. Thank you!

 

[1Tonne]

That is a hard one to do.
I share the Gospel in the parks regularly, but this normally takes 4 and a half minutes.
1 and a half minutes is doing a chocolate challenge. This creates the opportunity to talk further once the challenge is finished.
Then I spend about 2 minutes showing people how they fall short of God's standards.
Then lastly, I spend about 1 minute on the good news of what Jesus did on the cross.

The Great Chocolate Evangelizing trick - This works.

I have been trying to find easy ways to approach non-believers and then tell them the Gospel. I personally find going up to a stranger and saying the full Gospel very scary. I read on this forum about a challenge where the stranger must name all the 10 Commandments in 60 seconds. If they get...

www.christianforums.com

 

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

That is a hard one to do.
I share the Gospel in the parks regularly, but this normally takes 4 and a half minutes.
1 and a half minutes is doing a chocolate challenge. This creates the opportunity to talk further once the challenge is finished.
Then I spend about 2 minutes showing people how they fall short of God's standards.
Then lastly, I spend about 1 minute on the good news of what Jesus did on the cross.

The Great Chocolate Evangelizing trick - This works.

I have been trying to find easy ways to approach non-believers and then tell them the Gospel. I personally find going up to a stranger and saying the full Gospel very scary. I read on this forum about a challenge where the stranger must name all the 10 Commandments in 60 seconds. If they get...

www.christianforums.com

Thanks for sharing, @1Tonne , an interesting and effective idea! I have gone out on the streets, and often start with the question, “Do you believe in miracles?” And then I proceed based on what people say. This takes more than a minute, though.

What I mean with the “elevator pitch”, this is more for when you are already talking with someone, for example at a social gathering, and someone asks you what it is like to be a Christian, or why people should become Christians. How would you (or the other people on this forum) respond to that in one minute?

 

[1Tonne]

Not sure how I would respond. I think if all I had was 1 minute, I would try to start a conversation that they may want to carry on once out of the elevator. Not sure how to do that though.

 

[PloverWing]

I don't have an "elevator pitch", a quick sales pitch to persuade people to convert. I'll have to leave that to people who enjoy sales and marketing. But I have, on a couple of occasions, been in conversations with atheist friends who've asked what being a Christian is like, or who have asked what Christians believe, and I've been able to give short-ish answers.

Describing the Christian life: The Christian life is a combination of several things. 1) Communing with God through public worship and through private prayer and meditation. 2) Studying, to understand theological concepts more deeply. 3) Acting as an agent of God's love in the world by caring for the needs of the people around me and by caring for people in the larger world community.

Describing the atonement: Christians believe that God, who created all things, became part of the creation in the person of Jesus, experiencing a human life and a human death. In doing so, God began a process of fixing all the stuff that's broken in human existence -- all the bad stuff we do and all the bad stuff that is done to us. Through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, God began to heal us and transform us into the beautiful, wonderful beings that God had always intended us to be.

 

[1Tonne]

Communing with God through public worship and through private prayer and meditation.

Public worship in church is good. But most unbelievers think that worship is just singing songs. You may be able to add something like worshipping Christ daily by obeying him in how you live. That is part of the reason I like to share the Gospel with the lost regularly. I look at it as worshipping Christ by obeying Him.

 

[PloverWing]

Public worship in church is good. But most unbelievers think that worship is just singing songs. You may be able to add something like worshipping Christ daily by obeying him in how you live. That is part of the reason I like to share the Gospel with the lost regularly. I look at it as worshipping Christ by obeying Him.

That's a good point. The particular atheist I was talking to that day has been with me to my Episcopal church, so she knows that when I say "public worship", I mean liturgical worship with Holy Communion as an essential component. If I were talking to someone from a different background, it would be good to clarify what worship looks like for me.

I also agree that serving other people in our daily lives is an act of worship -- as is study also, when done with the right focus. All of it is an offering to God.

 

[One God and Father of All]

I would suggest that they NOT join any denomination that requires adherence to any creeds.

 

[QvQ]

The first thing is to insert question #1 into the midst of a routine conversation:

1) What do you think about God?

Smile when you say it and keep the conversation light and joyful as God, talking about God should put a smile on everyone's face.

Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Ask the question #1 and Listen carefully, Keep the conversation going without preaching or teaching.
Just talk about God.
Anyone who talks to me is talking about God whether they realize it or not. And it works as people like to talk about their thoughts, feelings, ideas without any teaching or preaching but just maybe, perhaps a little steering to keep it on track
Gentle persuasion.

 

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

Not sure how I would respond. I think if all I had was 1 minute, I would try to start a conversation that they may want to carry on once out of the elevator. Not sure how to do that though.

Well, you could try something like, “Isn’t it amazing, that there is a God, and that He never stopped loving us, even though we went astray, turning our back to Him? Isn’t it wonderful that He is still reaching out to us, through our Saviour Jesus? And that we can walk by His Grace?” And then see if this leads to a further conversation.

 

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

I don't have an "elevator pitch", a quick sales pitch to persuade people to convert. I'll have to leave that to people who enjoy sales and marketing. But I have, on a couple of occasions, been in conversations with atheist friends who've asked what being a Christian is like, or who have asked what Christians believe, and I've been able to give short-ish answers.

Describing the Christian life: The Christian life is a combination of several things. 1) Communing with God through public worship and through private prayer and meditation. 2) Studying, to understand theological concepts more deeply. 3) Acting as an agent of God's love in the world by caring for the needs of the people around me and by caring for people in the larger world community.

Describing the atonement: Christians believe that God, who created all things, became part of the creation in the person of Jesus, experiencing a human life and a human death. In doing so, God began a process of fixing all the stuff that's broken in human existence -- all the bad stuff we do and all the bad stuff that is done to us. Through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, God began to heal us and transform us into the beautiful, wonderful beings that God had always intended us to be.

It is beautiful that you say that God does all the healing. I believe that to be true, it is only Grace.

The “elevator pitch” is not meant as a quick conversion for busy people, a trick of some sorts. I do believe we have to be flexible about how we communicate with people, and sometimes we have to use what little time they give us, and make the most of it.

I think that bringing God’s Love into this world is our primary task. Great that you mention this. Thanks!

 

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

I would suggest that they NOT join any denomination that requires adherence to any creeds.

Alright, I can see that this can be something that you should only do after some soul searching and prayer, yes.

Besides what they shouldn’t do, how would you warm them up to becoming Christians, @One God and Father of All ?

 

[Thijs Hottenhuis]

The first thing is to insert question #1 into the midst of a routine conversation:

1) What do you think about God?

Smile when you say it and keep the conversation light and joyful as God, talking about God should put a smile on everyone's face.

Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Ask the question #1 and Listen carefully, Keep the conversation going without preaching or teaching.
Just talk about God.
Anyone who talks to me is talking about God whether they realize it or not. And it works as people like to talk about their thoughts, feelings, ideas without any teaching or preaching but just maybe, perhaps a little steering to keep it on track
Gentle persuasion.

Beautiful, that is an open invitation. I think asking questions is a good way to start, and avoiding any heaviness too. After all, the Gospel is the good news, right? Thank you for sharing.

 

[1Tonne]

Maybe you say something that will make them think for the rest of the day. Something like,
"Did you know that everything you see is evidence of God? So, a building needs a builder to be made, and a painting needs a painter, and it is impossible for these to make themselves. There is order and design in them. So, intelligence was needed for them to be made. Likewise, we order and design in the creation. The sun, moon, stars, clouds, cats, birds, dogs, trees, flowers and all the living creatures. If the builder built the building, and the painter painted the painting, then the creator must have made creation.