I once
had an encounter with a Jehovah's Witness on a city street in New
Orleans. She approached me with marked up New World Translation of
the Bible. I saw this as a rare opportunity to present her with the
gospel and win her over to Christ.
I had
tremendous confidence in my ability to do this. I had just finished
my Evangelism class at New Orleans with an A. I was polished and
ready.
I began
to counter the teachings of her faith with what the Bible taught but
she countered every argument I made. It seems she was as well-trained
as I, so I decided to pull out my fool-proof, guaranteed-to-work
tactic. I shared my testimony.
One's
personal testimony is a powerful soul-winning tool. It communicates
on a very human level. It is hard to argue against because it is
personal. It gets the point across by explaining how you discovered
your need for Christ and how your life is better now.
It
didn't work. She walked away from the gospel and I did not become a
Jehovah's Witness.
I did
however have an opportunity to exercise three of the six evangelism
styles that Bill Hybels identified in his book, Becoming
a Contagious Christian.
I demonstrated the confrontational style by engaging her in dialog
and openly declaring my faith. Although the confrontational approach
brings mind knocking on doors and asking, “Are you ready to die?”
it does not have to be obnoxious.
I moved
from the confrontational approach to the intellectual approach when I
engaged in a theological debate. This style requires knowledge of
the Bible and doctrinal strength.
When I
realized I was not making progress, I moved to the testimonial style.
I gave my salvation testimony but you can also give a testimony about
how God helped you through a specific problem. This is particularly
effective if the other person can directly relate to your story.
The
Apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all people so that
by all possible means I might save some.” (1
Corinthians 9:22)
Although
each of have a preferred style it is possible and necessary to adjust
our approach to the situation in which we find ourselves.
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