| How to Begin a Witnessing Conversation
Here are three easy ways:
1. When the person asks you about your faith.
The challenge here is to take the question as an opening to share the four
parts of the salvation message, as opposed to arguing about the particular
aspect of faith that the person brings up. Example:
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Listener: You Christians just need a crutch.
WRONG: You: Why are you so prejudiced against Christians?
BETTER: You: You know, sometimes I do feel like my faith is a crutch
for me. That's because I have a strong sense of my human
limitations. May I tell you why I feel that way?
(If the listener agrees, you then begin to talk about part one of
the salvation message: separation from God due to sin.) |
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2. When a topic arises that reminds you of one part of the
salvation message.
The challenge here is to move to the message, and not talk merely about
the topic. The topic may often be a "felt need;" your
opportunity is to move from felt need to humankind's "root
problem." Example:
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Listener: My greatest need right now is peace.
WRONG: You: Don't worry, time heals all wounds.
BETTER: Peace is important to me, too. I look to God as my source of
peace. But there is a catch to it -- can I tell you about it?
Listener: OK.
You: My problem is that I don't deserve to get peace or anything
else from God. I have come to realize that ... (you then
begin to talk about part one of the salvation message: separation
from God due to sin.) |
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You have now entered the salvation message based on the person's need,
and not by manipulating the conversation. As you continue, you
talk about yourself, not the person, and so you avoid making the person
feel coerced. In order to make this kind of transition, you will
need to be so familiar with the salvation message that you will notice when a person brings up a compatible topic.
3. By sharing a faith-story -- that is, a short testimony of some
way that you have seen God at work in your life. The challenge then
is to move from the story into the salvation message. Example:
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You: Last night I got the message that a relative had died. I
was stricken with grief, but turned to the book of Psalms, and God gave me
comfort.
Listener: God never does things like that for me.
WRONG: You: That's because you don't have a strong spiritual life.
BETTER: You: It's not that I am any better than any one
else. I don't really deserve any of the blessings that God
gives me. May I tell you why I think that?
Listener: go ahead.
You: ((you then
begin to talk about part one of the salvation message: separation
from God due to sin.) |
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There are more than these three ways, but
these are meant to get you started.
In all these cases, we can learn to converse about
salvation without being pushy.
How to avoid being pushy:
Be a good listener.
Relate to the person's needs.
Make use of permission questions.
Link to Witnessing
among those we naturally spend time with
Here are additional ways that are more
direct:
Ask if the person has prayer requests, and be ready to talk about why you
believe that God answers prayer, even though we do not deserve the answer.
Make a direct inquiry, such as:
What is your impression of the essentials of Christianity? (Your hope is
that you will then be able to add your descriptions of those essentials).
Return to How To overview
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