Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame once made a boy cry.

When he was in seventh grade, he was on fire for God and ready to share the Gospel. On the school bus one day, he sat next to a boy named Brian. Bible in hand, he began to ask Brian about his faith.

But Brian couldn’t answer the questions, and Robertson says he “pounced” on him. The boy broke down in tears.

“My heart was in the right place,” Robertson writes in his new book Gospeler: Turning Darkness into Light One Conversation at a Time, “but my approach was very unrefined and misguided.”

Robertson got better at sharing his faith. Though he never forgot Brian or his reaction, he didn’t let one experience stop him from doing what he felt God wanted him to do. 

Decades have passed since then, and Robertson continues to share the Gospel with people he meets. It’s in his blood.

“It’s one of the things I saw with my father,” he tells The Stream. “He was really passionate about it once he came out of the world. He started really being active with sharing his faith with other adults. I watched that happen. Then he would talk about it a lot. It would be conversation at the dinner table. Then I would hear him discussing it with other older members of the church. I just saw that modeled to me so much that it became important to me.”

Gospeler

A Gospeler “zealously teaches or professes faith in the Gospel,” Robertson writes. “I am a Gospeler, and I want you to be one too.”

The book tells the story of the Robertson family’s faith journey from Willie Robertson’s perspective. At 201 pages, it provides a peek into the Robertsons’ past, encourages readers to share the Gospel, and shows through real-life examples how you can witness to anyone, anywhere — even if you don’t believe you have the gift of evangelism.

“We’re supposed to be ambassadors for Him and representatives of Him,” Robertson says. “His Spirit lives within us. Even if you don’t think you can, well, I know the Spirit Who lives in you can.”

The Benefits of Sharing Your Faith

Sharing the faith impacts the sharer, too. It puts the focus on others and keeps you in the Word of God, because you must study and memorize Scripture to be able to share the Good News, Robertson says.

In Gospeler, Robertson lays out his method for sharing the Gospel. He stresses listening to and memorizing Scripture. But it doesn’t have to be done that way.

“The message stays the same. It’s about Jesus. The methods can be different.”

Plus, no two people are the same.

“If I tell two different people the same Gospel story, one may say ‘I’m ready. I’m all in.’ The other may say ‘No, I’m not.’”

Like Paul, Robertson says people must pray that they can communicate the mystery of the Gospel clearly.

“Why is he still praying that?” he asks. “Because I think sharing your faith and telling people about it is more of an art and it’s less of a science. It’s according to who you’re talking to, where they’re at.”

Yes, You Are Called

Robertson wants people to know that every born-again believer is called to share the Gospel.

“In the Great Commission, [Jesus] says, ‘Go make disciples, baptize people, and teach people.’ Those are the three things Jesus told His followers to do. If you’re living your life and you’re not anywhere near those three, I would question your mission because that’s what Jesus said was important. And you’re not going to do any of those things unless you’re having a conversation. You’re going to have to open your mouth or at least communicate in some way to make a disciple. You’re not going to baptize somebody, you’re not going to teach anyone if you’re not communicating with other people.”

These days in particular, people are seeking the truth and want to know there’s hope.

“I think people would be surprised how many people would be open to discussing their life with other people,” he says. “People are lonely, people are damaged, they’re hurt, they’re searching, they’re looking for that. And so the more we can reach out, that’s a lot of people.”

While sharing the Gospel is our job, the Holy Spirit is the One who softens people’s hearts and convicts them to make a choice. “At the end of the day, we’re just planting seeds,” says Robertson. “We’re not the ones who make it grow. We just plant the seed and give people an opportunity.”

Nancy Flory, Ph.D., is a senior editor at The Stream. You can follow her @NancyFlory3, and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.