Equipping Teenagers to Share the Gospel

One of my favorite parts about being a student pastor is when a teenager tells me about their friends who do not know Jesus. They talk about praying for those friends and being a good example for them. But eventually, they ask me, “How do I share the gospel with them?”

I love that question! The encouraging thing is that those students often already know the answer – they’re just making it too complicated. So, if you’re a student pastor hoping to help your teens share the gospel with their friends, here are a few tips that might help.

Make the Gospel Clear

If you’re going to equip your students to share the gospel, you must make the gospel clear. There should be no question among your students, as far as you can help it, about the ultimate problem of sin, God’s provision of salvation through Christ’s atonement and resurrection, and our response of repentance and faith.

Clarity requires avoiding euphemisms and shorthand, which students can easily misunderstand. I remember at one camp when the speaker’s gospel plea was for students to “Go all in for Jesus.” I think I know what he meant. It’s a great call to action, so long as it is understood. But that night, it wasn’t.

Multiple students, both believing and unbelieving, responded at the end of the service. When they came to me during the invitation, no one could explain why. They knew Jesus wanted them to do something. But they weren’t sure what. They could not articulate what Christ had done for them. They responded, but not to a clear presentation of the gospel. Leave your students no doubt about what it means to be born again through repentance and faith in Christ.

Preach Evangelistically

Equipping students to share the gospel must include preaching evangelistically. I don’t mean that every sermon’s primary aim must be the conversion of unbelievers. However, in every sermon, you should take the opportunity to connect the good news of the gospel from the text to unbelievers.

Each week in our student ministry, the teacher will take time to speak directly to unbelieving students. He will say something like, “If you’re here and you aren’t a follower of Jesus, let me ask you a question…” That question will respectfully probe the unbelieving heart, and the teacher always points to the gospel as the answer.

In those moments, we model evangelism. Using real questions and conversational tones, we invite further conversation – something we hope all students do with their friends. We also show that the gospel is not merely a disjointed appeal at the end of a lesson. Doing this makes your ministry a place where students know they can bring their friends to hear the gospel.

Demystify Evangelism

Some students really don’t know what you mean when you tell them to “share the gospel”. They may believe evangelism requires having all the answers, like the street apologists they see on Instagram. They may be afraid of knocking on a stranger’s door and reciting a script. Others may fear that if they say the wrong thing, they will be responsible for their friends rejecting Christ.

Student pastors can easily remove these unnecessary barriers and demystify evangelism.

Remind your students that God calls Christians to be witnesses, to tell the good news of what Christ has done for sinners. Teach them that evangelism is less like a sales pitch and more like an invitation to something meaningful and personal.

Students already invite their friends into what they love: favorite songs, meals, jokes, or movies. Evangelism is like that, but better. It’s an invitation to experience the love, forgiveness, hope, and joy found only in Jesus. When students understand this, evangelism will feel more natural to them.

Connect Hospitality with Evangelism

At my church, we define gospel hospitality as “opening your life to others so that you can help them follow Jesus.” This definition places evangelism where it most naturally fits for teenagers – within the relationships they already have at school, work, and in extracurricular activities. The call to hospitality reminds students that their relationships are a stewardship from God to be used for the good of others and for God’s glory.

Connecting hospitality with evangelism enables students to evangelize not only in a single conversation but also intentionally over time. It turns evangelism from a presentation to a relationship. Hospitality reframes evangelism from a call to reach sinners in general to a call to reach my friends, my classmates, and my neighbors to Christ. Hospitality also reflects the gracious character of God, who sits and eats with sinners, who loves the outcast, and invites the likes of us to draw near to him.

Tell the Gospel Story

There are many helpful evangelism resources available to students, and there’s nothing wrong with using them. But I encourage the students to memorize the story of the gospel. People remember stories, and students are often surprised to learn that the Bible itself is one large story.

Greg Gilbert summarizes that story in four helpful words: God, Man, Christ, Response. In just a minute or two, students can explain that God created everything good and for his glory, that humanity rebelled against God and brought sin into the world, Christ came to save sinners through his life, death, and resurrection, and that he now calls sinners to respond in repentance and faith.

When students know this story, they become equipped to share it naturally with their lost friends.

If a friend living in a sinful lifestyle asks why Christians have so many rules, students can explain how morality is rooted in God as our creator. If a friend is suffering, students can lament with them and explain, “This is not how it’s supposed to be,” showing how the Fall ruined everything.

If a friend is struggling with guilt, students can explain that Christ fully paid for our sin on the cross. If a friend feels hopelessness, students can point to the promise of eternal life with God for those who repent and believe.

No matter where the conversation begins, every part of the story leads to Jesus.

Connect Their Story with the Gospel

Finally, encourage students to write their own story of how they came to follow Jesus using the same framework. It doesn’t need to be long – a few paragraphs will do. Writing it down helps students communicate their story clearly. Make sure they avoid Christian shorthand and euphemisms. Remind them to keep it simple and use their own words. You may even invite them to share their story at a student ministry gathering.

As students share how they realized they were sinners and how they turned to Christ for salvation, they will become genuine witnesses of the gospel. And by God’s grace, their friends will hear the gospel and believe.