| Sharing the Gospel:
Taking Action Your purpose is not to criticize someone's religions, but to talk about Jesus. Growth in the following four areas will help you to share the salvation message across cultures:
Avoid Misunderstandings 1. Avoid Misunderstandings. Becoming sensitive to areas that the other person may misunderstand. Example: A missionary told a group of Hindus he was going to explain how to be born again. Their response was "that's the very thing we're trying to avoid; we want to escape from the cycle of being born again". Our goal is to determine if the listener might misunderstand the point about Jesus and salvation that we are making, and seek for ways to explain it more clearly. 2. Avoid Cut-offs. Becoming sensitive to areas that may shut off conversation prematurely. For example, a Muslim is offended if you begin by stressing that Jesus is God, because he assumes you are denying that there is only one God. The word "prematurely" is used to indicate the problem of the listener taking offense and stopping the conversation before you have had a chance to share the gospel. After the Gospel is shared, the person may take offense at the cross. This is a sign that the person has understood you. Although the person may reject the gospel, nevertheless the person has heard the gospel and cannot forget it. The conversation may end at that point, but it is not a "premature" end. Before you have had a chance to share the gospel, you will want to minimize unnecessary conflict and bring any topic back to the topic of man's need and God's answer. The task breach assignment is to determine which areas may cut off the conversation, and then devise a strategy for how you would eventually get to that topic in a more tactful way. In the example of the Muslims offense at regarding Jesus as divine, the approach suggested in many books is to begin with the earthly ministry of Jesus, and let the person see how Jesus gradually reveals his nature through his actions. more on cut-offs 3. Identify bridges. These are aspects of our common humanity. Since we are both human, we can expect that they will have needs that are similar to our needs. The task is to identify the need and show how Christ is the answer to this need. 4. Identify Handles. These are aspects of other religions which can be used to bring up the subject of Christ. They could be similarities or opposites:
a. Similarities. For example, Muslims worship one God
as creator. Whether or
not that God is the same God that Christians worship, it is still a
useful handle
for
conversation.
b.
Opposites. While Buddhists look to
Boddhisatvas for encouragement as they work out their own salvation,
Jesus actually brings about salvation.
The ceremonies of other religions often show us the "felt need" that the worshipper is looking to fill. The following charts can help you apply the principles above: Basics of
personal witnessing Insights from students' interviews:
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