Theology Thursday: How To Witness Without Arguing

Summer is here, and the crowds of NYC are coming back together again. You’re going to be in that situation where you want to start a meaningful conversation, but you don’t want to start an argument. The book Tactics that was handed out is an essential starting place for you to get the confidence you need. At our outreach tables in the park this summer, you’ll be chatting with people with worldviews that are all over the map! There are several tactics you can use, but let’s discuss two that are extremely simple and will be very useful to you this summer. The tactics are these two simple questions:

  1. What do you mean by that?

  2. How did you come to that conclusion?

We are interested in the truth, not one-upping anybody, so the first thing we need to listen carefully to what they are saying. If someone is throwing out words like “hate,” “fairy tales,” “bigot,” or “relative,” then simply ask them to define their terms. Don’t start arguing with an idea they never said in the first place. After you’ve listened carefully and fully understood their position, you can ask them to give some evidence for their position. You can kindly ask, “How did you come to that conclusion?” You can find out from this answer if the argument is coming from prejudice or anger or if the person has actually adopted a position through a spiritual and intellectual search. Then you are in a much better position to engage.

I once talked to a Mormon missionary who insisted that we believed the same things about Jesus when he knew it was a lie. I asked him why he would continue to work for an organization that asked him to lie. We are not selling propaganda or trying to hide the unpopular parts of the Bible. We believe in truth, in the world the way it really is, and so we don’t have to be afraid of hard questions. You don’t have to know everything. You can even take your time and promise to get back with someone after you’ve gotten more information.

No matter what your calling and spiritual gifts are, you are called to speak truth to your neighborhood. We have the life-giving truth that this city needs, and we have the Spirit enabling us to speak it. Let’s prepare ourselves with all diligence and then go out in boldness.

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