What would people think?

[C.A.B.L]

Greetings Friends,

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything here in a while, I have just been very busy with work that the Lord is giving me to do, but you all have been in my thoughts. Recently, while talking to a friend about witnessing techniques, and how to do it effectively, he told me that the reason why he doesn't witness as much as he ought, is because he's afraid of offending someone. Instead of bringing them closer to Christ, he would wind up driving him away. I started to think about it and I did a little digging around in scripture and I found this out.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

In this passage Jesus shocks most people. Jesus had a way of telling people the truth no matter how bad it offended them. The truth is above humiliation and pride. I have heard alot of talk about getting to be friends with someone first, and then witnessing to them. Well, that's all well and good, but most people may not have that much time. We are not guaranteed a tommorrow. There are many examples of Jesus getting straight to the point when witnessing, and in some peoples eyes, offensive.

Joh 4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Joh 4:6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Joh 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Joh 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Joh 4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

I know this is alot of text, but please bear with me. In this passage Jesus tell her to go and get her husband. She then says, "I have no husband" Jesus then says, "You are right, you in fact, have had 5 husbands, and the one you live with now, is not your husband" now from a womans perspective, I'm sure they would have been offended, like "That's none of your business!" but it was essential to show her how much she needed Christ.

This was just an insight I thought would share. I hope you all get something out of it.

In Christ,
Matt

 

[jangnim]

Gee Matt I think you have made some very valid points here. If we do a cursory investigation of scripture, we will realize that the early evangelists didn't hang around for very long at all, but simply spoke their witness, and if they didn't get arrested moved on.

I further note that in Acts, on Pentecost, the men that heard the word were foreigners. They didn't know the apostles.


I think that we need to stand for Christ in the open, and with out pretense. I say I think it, but it is not so easy to practice it. We walk a fine line in a world where everyone has heard OF Christ, but so few have heard Him speak to them in their hearts.

The technique definately worked for Jesus, but I am not certain I can pull it off. I especially don't know how many spouses a person has had, or really much other information about their personal lives. That kind of puts me at a serious disadvantage. I think the answer is to listen for, hear, and respond to the Holy Spirit. Again not always easy to do, at least for me.

 

[caitlincares]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[SnowDove]

I think that you make a good point, but we also have to realize that we are in a time where Christianity is known to all...and sometimes not in favorable way. Christ was kind of new back then, and the woman at the well was more surprised that He knew all about her than offended by it. In fact, she believed Him right away and went telling people that this may be the One they were looking for!

We do need to be careful that we give the message without pushing them away with being judgemental. The fact is, Jesus was God and knew every heart and condition...we don't. It would be foolish to just walk up to someone we hardly know and start calling them out on sins we know little about. If someone came up to me and started calling me out and I didn't know them, I'd tell them to back off and would probably avoid them later on.

I think my point is that the message of Christ is offensive no matter what...but that doesn't give us right to be offensive in the way we give it. Take an interest in that person and they'll listen to you...out of respect. If you don't have time to make those relationships, be super careful. Invite them to church and such, but don't start preaching at them. You have to care about the person more than your need to convert them...make time if you need to to get to know them...and then help them.

 

[brinny]

Good thread. I do have a comment. When Jesus won hearts He was responding to their needs, deep inside. There are soooo many hurting, needy people out here that respond to kindness in ACTIONS. That wins hearts, not words. It depends on what the goal is, doesn't it? If we do not have love in our hearts it would be better to leave it be.

Find ways to minister to hurting people. As you do so God will grant you wisdom through the Holy Spirit. Here's one of my favorite Bible verses:

Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

58:7
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

58:8
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

58:9
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

58:10
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

58:11
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

58:12
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

58:13
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

58:14
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May you remember that when we reach the hearts of others through kindness and compassion, and speak words in season, there will be no shortage of others 'flocking' to us and thus throwing open their hearts to our Abba.

Godspeed!

 

[nhzname]

Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season

Wonderful thoughts going on here, folks. I am in agreement with the fact that we need to be careful that we are not overbearing, rude, and obnoxious in speaking to others of the Lord, but I fully believe that if we have a desire to speak to them, God has put that desire there.

In Luke 21:12-17, Christ Himself said, "... they will ... persecute you ... This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.

This verse sooo speaks to me about the power of God at work through us. It is not us who speaks to others about Christ, it is Christ Himself speaking though us. We are not the ones in control here, and we don't need to be. We need to be willing to give the control up to God and trust that His Almighty power is at work accomplishing His will. We may even need to step back and ask ourselves truthfully why we are afraid to say something. Are we concerned more about how others will see us? Do we fear they will reject us, no matter that they may reject Christ? Proverbs 29:25 says, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe." With this thought in mind, what does it matter if they are hostile toward your message. We can generally expect that, right?

Our job is to get the message out, because even in this day and age, not everyone has heard. Example: I've just spent the last 3 years witnessing to my audit manager. The man is a very intelligent 36 year old Chartered Accountant. His family is Asian, and not church goers, so he not only had never heard the gospel, but had no idea how to be saved! I just about fell over in hearing that. :o I was walking out of his office (in our last year of conversations) after another hour long discussion, heartbroken for him and said, "Well you know what you have to do to be saved." And he stopped me in my tracks when he said, "No, I don't." In the 3 years we had been talking, we never gotten down to the gist of 'believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you will be saved.' I was floored, to say the least, but stood right there and told him what he needed to do.

Although this man has moved to Ottawa this year to another job, I still thank the Lord for hearing the many 'instant' prayers I tossed at Him whenever Ken came unexpectedly to me, or literally called me into his office because he 'had a question.' God truly did all the talking on most of these occasions. Praise His name.

Anyway, you hear what I'm saying. Matthew 10:19-20 and Mark 13:11 only further enforce this with their own versions of Jesus speaking to them. Matthew 10:19-20 ~ do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Mark 13:11 ~ do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

I trust that as we build our trust on the Rock of our salvation, and the truth of His Word, He will teach us more and more that even 'the gates of hell will not prevail against it'.

Go forth ... n hz name!

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Yes-Jesus's way was very different from the political correctness movement. And iit's true. I was thinking a lot lately about how it's so easy to listen to the voice of the culture with which we are innundated, and miss just saying the pure truth, in all its simplicity.

A very good point. Thanks for blessing us.

 

[C.A.B.L]

I thank you all for your responses to this thread, it's greatly appreciated. I agree with all the thoughts, especially that we should watch how we "present" the Gospel, so as not to be offensive. I think my real point was not to worry about offending someone "with" the Gospel. Since the Gospel is spiritual in nature, it will naturally offend a sinful heart. So in a way, no matter what, your presentation of the Gospel will feel offensive to the heart of a sinner, but once you convict their hearts of the "nature" of their sin, then they can appreciate the cure, our Savior Jesus Christ. Some good scriptures that go along with this topic are (1 Pet 3:15 "But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this, with gentleness and respect.) also (2 Tim 4:2 "Preach the word, be prepared in season, and out of season. Correct, rebuke and encourage. with GREAT PATIENCE and CAREFUL INSTRUCTION)

Again, thanks for the wonderful comments.
God's blessing on you all.
Matt

 

[Evie]

Good thread. I do have a comment. When Jesus won hearts He was responding to their needs, deep inside. There are soooo many hurting, needy people out here that respond to kindness in ACTIONS. That wins hearts, not words. It depends on what the goal is, doesn't it? If we do not have love in our hearts it would be better to leave it be.

Find ways to minister to hurting people. As you do so God will grant you wisdom through the Holy Spirit. Here's one of my favorite Bible verses:

Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

58:7
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

58:8
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

58:9
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

58:10
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

58:11
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

58:12
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

58:13
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

58:14
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May you remember that when we reach the hearts of others through kindness and compassion, and speak words in season, there will be no shortage of others 'flocking' to us and thus throwing open their hearts to our Abba.

Godspeed!

yes I agree,most people are hurting,we don't need to be too forward but still use your wisdom when it comes to witnessing.