Ready to Give an Answer - Part II
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012The audio portion of this broadcast is no longer available on-line.
|
Printer-friendly version
Send to friendChristianity is a minority group. This shouldn't surprise us, because Jesus told us we'd always be a minority. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said:
Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Now, considering that we're in the minority, how are we going to win our worlds for Jesus? Let me assure you, it will never be through confrontation. There are Christians in America today who think that we need to form an Anti-Christian Defamation Society to stand up against the anti-Christian movement that we see and hear about almost daily.
May I suggest to you that the answer is not to retreat into our protected environments, demand our rights and angrily denounce our antagonists. Angry confrontations will not win individuals to Jesus Christ. All that will do is create more hostility and a greater gap between true Christianity and those who don't know Christ.
Please don't misunderstand: There are times we must take a public stand for right against wrong. But we are not going to win the world that way. We will fulfill the great commission of spreading the gospel by one-on-one encounters with individuals, one-by-one. We will reach those who are hungry to know the truth in personal relationships, where we live the life before them and share Christ with them in a myriad of different ways, day in and day out. We will win by infiltrating, not by confrontation.
Somewhere in our worlds there are individuals who have a deep hunger to know the truth. You can't always see it on their faces or hear it in their voices, but they're there. Many times you never know who they are, but they're there, listening and watching.
Peter wrote:
But in your hearts set apart 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. (1 Peter 3:15)
Notice that Peter said we have to be prepared to give answers. And this is where many of us miss the boat. You know, it's possible to generate questions and then not be either willing or ready to give an answer for the hope that you have. Are you prepared to give answers for the hope that is in you? I want to try to give you some thoughts on how to prepare so you're ready to give an answer.
Christians today are not usually well educated in stating succinctly in non-evangelical terms what they believe or why they believe it. We must educate ourselves to be prepared to give an answer.
You know, when I was in sales training for IBM, they put me through all kinds of rigorous training to prepare me to answer questions from prospects. They didn't want me to blow a sales opportunity just because I couldn't think on my feet or didn't know enough about my product to handle objections and convince the prospect to buy.
It wasn't enough to say, "I believe in this product." Those prospects wanted to know how it worked, what the warranty was, how much it cost, etc., etc. I had to be thoroughly trained to give answers. I did that by studying a great deal, and then by practicing—role playing, we call it.
What have you ever done to educate yourself to give an answer? Can you articulate what it means to be a Christian? Can you do it without using terminology and phrases that are archaic or stylized? Do you know some of the most common questions and objections that people bring up when you start to talk about Christianity?
That sales training I went through focused strongly on preparing me to handle objections. I was prepared ahead of time so that when those objections came my way, I didn't go into panic mode or close my sales kit and walk out. I had an answer for those objections.
But few Christians are prepared to handle any objections. At one point I did some reading on the topic of creation versus evolution. Now, I've always strongly believed that the world was created by God, just as Genesis tells us. But I was not very well equipped to go into any in-depth discussion of that subject.
However, a good friend gave me a book and some tapes at the time, which I found fascinating. I read that book twice. It wasn’t bedtime reading. It takes concentration, because it has to be somewhat technical in order to be informative. But by hanging in there and reading it carefully, I caught on. And not only did it prepare me to deal far more adequately with questions on how the world and life began, I gained some new truths about the incredible miracle that life is. It was exciting to see in much greater depth the truth of creation, so my faith was strengthened and I was better prepared.
Now, I'm certainly not an expert on that subject and never will be. But I am better prepared by putting some time and effort into the subject. As I read it, I wondered how many Christians would be willing to wade through the technical reading in order to educate and prepare themselves.
How about you? Are you enlarging your understanding of God's Word so you're prepared to answer questions? If not, it can't be for lack of information or help. We've got so many good books and CDs and DVDs and Bible studies available to us here in America, that no one can claim they don't know how to prepare. Just go into any good Christian bookstore and spend a few minutes looking. You'll find helpful material.
Tell me the truth, could you right this minute give adequate answers to these questions:
- You always say something nice about the boss, even when she's terrible to us. Why do you do that?
- I heard you say you don't believe in abortion. How can you decide for some other woman what she should do with her own body?
- You know, if I had been you, I would have let that customer have it. How can you let them treat you like that?
- You know, if there is a God like you say there is, how can he allow innocent children to be abused?
- Do you go to church every Sunday?
- Well, I believe as long as you're a good person and do the best you can, you'll go to heaven, don't you?
- How can you be so sure there is a God?
All kinds of questions will come our way. We need to be prepared. Maybe you need to read some books on doctrine and theology so you're better equipped, or take some courses online. Maybe you need to practice some answers, so the words don't get all jumbled. A good idea would be to start a small group study and discuss specific answers to questions like these. Do some role-playing. Be prepared to answer.
Peter said we are to give our answers with gentleness and respect. Here are some basics you need to keep in mind in this regard:
- Don't appear as though you know it all. That will turn people off so fast they'll never listen to your answer. You don't know it all; remember that. And remember that you can talk about what has happened to you; that's a testimony and no one can refute a personal testimony.
- Don't have a holier-than-thou response. One of the great hindrances to effective witnessing is the tendency to make ourselves look righteous. Remember, you're just a sinner saved by grace.
- Don't overwhelm them with everything you know at once. Just say what you can at the time. Many of us blow our witnessing opportunities by never knowing when to stop.
- Have wisdom in knowing what words to use. Choose your words carefully. Don't offend where you don't have to. Sometimes people are offended by the truth, and we need to be aware of that. But many times our choice of words offends people.
- Avoid talking about any particular religion if possible. If you get into specific religions or denominations, you're headed down the wrong path. Keep getting back to Jesus. Talk about your relationship with a person, Jesus Christ.
Remember that giving an answer may span a lot of time—weeks, months, years even. You give little bits where you can, and add to them when possible. You're sowing seeds; that's your job. The soil determines whether the seeds will take root and when. You may never see the results until you get to heaven; don't worry about the harvest. Just answer those questions without hesitation, and leave the results to the Lord.
So, effective witnessing in our everyday worlds is best done by being question-answerers. That means that the integrity of our lives generates questions. Then we have to be prepared to answer those questions when they come our way.
A dear friend of mine came to know Jesus and her life was totally transformed because a co-worker was ready to give an answer. She watched how he worked and how peaceful he was in a chaotic work environment, and one day she just asked, “How can you stay so calm in this place?” And her co-worker was ready to give an answer. He briefly explained his faith in Jesus, which she found weird, but when he challenged her to read the Bible, beginning in John, she took the challenge. Three months later, after reading and re-reading John and after many conversations with her co-worker, she simply saw the truth and made Jesus Lord of her life. Her husband followed shortly thereafter, and for the last 25 or so years, they have been ambassadors for Christ in their workplaces. And the interesting thing is, that co-worker said he thought she would be the last person on that job to be interested in knowing about Jesus. You just never know who has a heart longing for truth.
I hope you'll start to look for those questions and recognize them when you hear them. And I pray your life will generate the questions, and you'll have the courage and the preparation to answer appropriately. That's how you and I will infiltrate our worlds for Jesus. What an exciting thought to realize that God can and will use us as effective witnesses of his glory and his salvation, if we're willing to be question-answerers.
