I don’t drive stick. I did—once, in 1991. I learned what “can’t find it, grind it” means. I also learned about stalls. A one-mile drive took more time than walking the same distance. That was enough. I like my automatic transmission just fine, thankyouverymuch.

If only personal evangelism came with an automatic transmission… too often sharing the Gospel is more like my ordeal driving stick: lots of stalls, abrupt stops and starts, and sounds that make you cringe. Oh, and you often don’t get very far, either.

Joe Thorn considers this helpful question: “How can I take a natural conversation about common things and connect it to the gospel without it coming off like an abrupt topic change?” His answer begins like this…

To state it simply, the better you understand the gospel the easier the transitions become. If you are trying to share the gospel you will still sometimes make huge leaps that do not work. Sometimes the conversation will only connect to the Christian faith in part, without getting directly to the gospel. Sometimes it will all come together the way you imagine. The more you know the gospel (its essence and effects) and the more you practice this discipline the easier making comfortable transitions to the gospel will become. I have been asked a few times what this would look like practically, so here are 8 examples of topics that make for shorter leaps to the gospel or Christian faith.

This makes great sense. If you understood the transmission better, you’d have more success with shifting gears. The better you understand the Gospel, the more naturally you will see how everyday conversation intersects with the Good News.

Here are Joe’s eight topics that offer smooth transitions to the Gospel:

1. Corruption, evil, and sin
2. Community
3. Politics
4. Environment
5. War
6. Family
7. Church
8. Art/pop-culture

How do you see that knowing the Gospel better might help your ability to steer people Christward in your everyday conversations?