Evangelization is Purest Love in Action.

National Communication Commission / February 19. 2026

We are all familiar with the stereotype of the street preacher who shouts at passersby about the wrath of God and the salvation of the cross. There is often a good deal of bravery in this sort of preaching. It takes guts to go out in public loudly proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior, and it must be admitted that such preaching has led some people to Jesus. But even if such preaching sometimes proves effective, it also alienates most of the people who hear it. What about the people who rush by trying to avoid any contact with the speaker? Is there some way we could reach them with the gospel?

What if we could see them in a coffee shop later and ask them, “Would you mind telling me why you just rushed past without listening to that message?” 

What might they say? After all, the message is an important one—it involves their eternal destiny—so why not stop to consider it? 

You would probably get a great variety of answers. Some would tell you they don’t believe in God; others that the speaker made them nervous. Some would say they reject that kind of judgmental religion; others might reply they already know Jesus and already go to church. 

It is this great variety of answers that most makes clear the disadvantage of the shouting-at-strangers method. The person who uses it never knows anything about the people he is preaching to. He is just announcing a general message into the air and hoping it will find a receptive ear.

But what if there were some magical means by which the street preacher could come to know what was in the minds and on the hearts of each person walking past? Wouldn’t that knowledge change him? Wouldn’t knowing what they desired, what they were worried about, what they hoped for, and what they feared, soften his heart toward them as fellow human beings and shape his message so that it responded to their needs?

Wouldn’t it be a great advantage to him as a preacher to be able to choose his presentation of the Faith based on the circumstance and experiences of each soul that passed by?

Well, of course, there is a way to know what is in another person’s mind and heart, and it isn’t magic. We can know when they tell us. All we must do is listen. When we allow other people to tell us their stories, to raise their objections, to ask for what they need, then we have a window into the mind and heart that we cannot get in any other way.

Won’t this knowledge soften our hearts to them as fellow human beings causing us to shape our message so that it responds to their needs? 

And what if we did more than just listen?

What if we responded with compassion, found common ground, and did all the things that help build bonds of friendship between ourselves and the other person? What if we did this even when the other person says things we don’t agree with or acts in ways that we don’t approve of?

If we have listened to another person, and if we have tried to befriend that person, won’t we be in a better position to proclaim the gospel? And—equally importantly—won’t the other person be, at least a little, more disposed to receive our message respectfully?

After all, we don’t just want to talk at people about Jesus. We want to have conversations with them that allow them to truly receive the gospel. What gives us the greatest chance to have such a conversation? What gives us the greatest chance of helping another person come closer to God?

Indeed, how can each of us be a channel of grace so that the Holy Spirit might bring about the conversion of heart and mind that will allow another person to know the love of God given in Jesus?

These are the questions we hope to provide some answers to because instead of a one-size-fits-all message, Jesus, himself, has a personal message for each soul. Do we imagine his words would be the same to the person who been hurt by Christians and the person who just wants to avoid moral living? Would he have the same message for the person who finds Christianity at odds with science and the person who has just been too busy to return to church, despite wanting to? 

Does he have the same message for everyone he meets in the Gospels?

He does not.

He meets people where they are, and we are meant to imitate him in that. This is the path to truly effective evangelization, leading to meaningful conversions and deeper encounters with God’s love