As Brian said, the “One Good Reason” method is a tool for sharing the faith — a quick and easy phrase that we can use to help us move the conversation forward when evangelizing.
The core of it is basically just, “Can I tell you one good reason why I believe in God?” or “choose to be Catholic?” or “go to Mass every Sunday?” … or whatever it might be.
This tool is useful for at least three reasons:
First: It combines personal testimony with compelling reasoning for our beliefs. When used well, One Good Reason provides an opening to sharing part of yourself with someone, while at the same time, giving them the best argument that you can muster. You give them a good reason why you choose to believe and act the way you do. They can take it or leave it — they can respond, ask you follow-up questions, or thank you and walk away. But whatever happens, you’ve moved the conversation on to the important topics, in a way that’s conducive to person-to-person encounter. This is especially the case when you give a “good reason” as part of your larger story of faith — your personal testimony.
The second reason is that it is adaptable. You can bring to the conversation whatever reasons or personal stories you want. And making use of the One Good Reason method can inspire you to research and think about the reasons that are most compelling to you.
The third reason the conversational tool is useful is that it gives us something to fall back on when we’re not sure how to move forward in a conversation. We don’t have a script memorized when we evangelize — the point is to have an authentic encounter with another human person. While we rely on prayer and the Holy Spirit, sometimes we’re at a loss for words. Sometimes we don’t know how to begin to speak to them about Jesus or the Catholic faith. When that happens, we can often transition into this method easily.
Through listening and befriending, we already know where they’re at in the matter of faith and religion; now we just need a way to move the conversation forward to proclaim the truth.
For example, someone tells you they find it hard to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and was anything more than a human being, and you say, “You know, I understand. I used to feel the same way. But eventually, I came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he rose from the dead. …” But they don’t really ask about that; they just say, “Well that never happened to me. I just can’t see it.”
So, to pave the way for you to actually share the truth of Jesus’ divinity and resurrection, you say, “Well, would you like to hear one good reason why I came to believe it?” Nine times out of ten the person will agree to hear your reason.
So, how do we incorporate the One Good Reason into our evangelization efforts? Let’s bring Brian back to help me explain.
Brian:
Thanks, Mark.
Let’s start with what not to do. “One Good Reason” is not a tool for making a religious sales-pitch. It’s not meant to be used as a way of subtly manipulating someone into a conversation where they don’t want to be.
The “One Good Reason” method should only be a small part of your larger effort to love people into the eternal Kingdom of God … To bear witness to Jesus in word and deed … To share the truth that Jesus reveals … To proclaim the Good News of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.
In other words, the “One Good Reason” is intended to go together with authentic conversational evangelization. It’s meant to be seamlessly integrated into our four-step method: Listen, Befriend, Proclaim, and Invite. And though the “One Good Reason” tool is easy, good conversational evangelization usually takes a lot of practice.
By the way, if you want an introduction to conversational evangelization, check out Basic Evangelization Strategies, lesson 4 of the Introduction to Evangelization course.
Mark:
Another important point about using the “One Good Reason” tool is that to use it, you don’t even have to use it.
What do I mean by that enigmatic statement?
I mean this: That once you have the method in your mind, and you’ve been using it, and you have your good reasons and your personal stories prepared, then you might just find yourself ready, from time to time, to incorporate your reasons and stories into the conversation without actually using the phrase, “Can I give you one good reason …”. Remember, it’s just a tool for moving the conversation along. If you can do the same thing in another way, perhaps a slightly more natural or appropriate way, then by all means, go for it. The “One Good Reason” method can be like a set of training wheels on a bike. For someone who’s dedicated to growing in their conversational evangelization skills, “One Good Reason” can become a catalyst for building your experience, your knowledge base, and your confidence. And when we’re experienced, knowledgeable, and confident, we’re bound to have many fruitful conversations. And if we’re having lots of fruitful conversations, then we’re achieving the whole purpose of the “One Good Reason” conversational tool, and we probably don’t need it anymore.