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How to be an effective Christian witness to Jehovah's witnesses!
We have probably all experienced it! Two smartly dressed strangers appear at your doorstep enquiring about your opinion concerning the state of the world and you are not sure whether to run or hide! Are you going to ignore them, pretend to be half interested or take a leaf out of Peter's letter and always be ready to give a reason for the hope within you?
Although Jehovah's witness are comissioned with guidelines for time spent witnessing and are thoroughly briefed as to how to respond to difficult questions from born again believers, people have and do come out from the watchtower society as many are seeking for the truth and have been helped by bible believing Christians.
The witnesses beliefs contradict the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a number of respects. I shall look at the two most critical errors as well as a few further points. The first is that even though they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, they believe that He is a created being and certainly not equal with the Father. The second is the idea that the Holy Spirit is not a person, just a force.
The second question is a little more straight forward. If your guests don't think that the Holy Spirit is a person ask them these questions. How is it that you can quench the Holy Spirit, grieve the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit both speaks and testifies? The Holy Spirit is obviously a Person not just a force! Remember the aim is not to win arguments but to come to know the truth and know Jesus as their personal Saviour! If they can't provide an answer don't force one - it doesn't hurt to be kind or gracious!
In 1 Thessalonians 4:16 we read that 'The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,' Jehovah's witness understand this to mean that Jesus and the archangel Michael are the same! A lesson can be learnt here. This is the danger of taking one verse out of context and not within the context of other verses on the same subject or the rest of Holy Scripture! Consider that in Matthew 4:10 when Jesus was tempted by the devil He said 'Away with you Satan' whereas in Jude v9 when Michael was contesting the body of Moses he dared not to bring a reviling accusation but said 'the Lord rebuke you!' Jesus and Michael are not one and the same!
How would you respond concerning Jesus equality with His Father? I would argue from John 5:18 whereby the Jews sought to kill Jesus 'claiming that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.' To which they may respond that Jesus only claimed to be equal in purpose with His Father but not in power or deity. They may even quote John 14:28 'My Father is greater than I'. However Philippians 2 explains clearly that Jesus voluntarily humbled Himself and God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name above every other name. The classic texts for proving the equality of Jesus with His Father are Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1. In the New World Translation (Jehovah's witness version) a few critical verses have been amended. In John 1:1 instead of 'the Word was God' it reads 'the Word was a god' thereby denying Jesus equality with His Father.
Remember though when Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:5 saying 'And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.' Also in John 8:58 Jesus said to the Jews 'before Abraham was I AM' When Yahweh revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush He told Moses to say that I AM had sent Him!
It is worth mentioning that Jehovah's witnesses are often well versed in Scripture. They may have been given prepared set answers so even if they appear to be confident they may be struggling to believe what they have been instructed to say. As well as not compromising and presenting the truth it is vital that you show your concern for them as people and that you can demonstrate that your belief arose out of a personal conviction and that now you have come to know Jesus.
Either this topic or related issues can be explained in greater depth and clarity. I would recommend the website of either the 'Reachout Trust' or 'Let Us Reason'. Both can be accessed by google easily. Finally there is a mission field on your doorstep! Think about it! They will come to you, whether you like it or not and knock on your door and you will be granted a free opportunity, maybe an hour appointment with a non-believer to share your faith and give a reason for the hope within you. Be a faithful steward of your time-use it wisely! Amen! |
