The practice of evangelism
Something I noticed, as I tried to explain to a non-Christian friend from school why our church believes women shouldn't preach and lead congregations, was just how unprepared I was. It wasn't that I didn't know the Bible passages to talk about or that I hadn't heard others explain it well. Rather, it was for simple lack of practice that I found myself fumbling, for a concise explanation that would, God-willing, help him want to hear more about Jesus.
And as I've noticed some of the recent talk amongst Christians about how we might use recent films, such as Brokeback Mountain, or Chronicles of Narnia, or, the upcoming movie of The Da Vinci Code, as opportunities to explain the gospel, one thought keeps recurring: “Help!” (Although this will help for The Da Vinci Code).
So perhaps it's time we practice a bit more.
All it would take is contact with a couple of Christian friends and an email to them, first thing in the morning: “Hi guys, most of the headlines at the moment seem to be about those Danish cartoons, maybe we could talk about how a Christian response in similar circumstance would differ from the violent response of these Muslims? Any other ideas...” And, via email, you take a couple of minutes to discuss problems, other opportunities, etc. and voila: you're practicing evangelism, which will hopefully help you to get out and practise evangelism.