Q7: How do you witness?
How do you witness to someone who is strongly against Christianity? What if that person is a friend?
First let’s define our terms.
What does it mean to “witness” to someone?
There are several definitions of the word “witness” in the dictionary. Since we’re using it as a verb, I looked at those definitions and chose the one that most closely represents what I think we mean.
Witness: give or serve as evidence of; testify to; openly profess one’s religious faith in;
And from the Thesaurus, this use of the word is mirrored in these phrases.
Witness: attest to; testify to; confirm; verify; demonstrate; reveal
What we’re saying is this. To witness to someone about Christ, is to verbally express your faith in Christ and give evidence of the truth of Christianity, confirming that truth by demonstrating its effects in your life.
Late in his ministry, Paul recounts his salvation experience and uses the word witness in this way. He uses it as a noun, saying that he will be a person who does the action of witnessing in this way.
…for you [Paul] will be a witness for him [Jesus] to everyone of what you have seen and heard. – Acts 22:15
He means that he would testify to the truth of Christ as he had seen and heard it in his own life.
But our question really is, “How do you get through to someone who has heard the Gospel before and is openly opposed and resistant to it?”
I’m going to give you three very practical steps you can take in this situation.
Number one, pray for them. Seriously, this should be our first step in any situation in which we are seeking to share the gospel with anyone. Prayer should not be our last resort, but our first. For several reasons.
Only God can soften their heart.
In our natural state, we are all hard hearted and resistant to the things of God.
Speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem, people who had the Scripture and truth of God, Stephen said this.
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.” - Acts 7:51
We are all that way naturally.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. - Romans 8:7-8
You might say to me that this verse is dealing with the mind, not the heart. But the two are tied together according to Paul.
They [the Gentiles who do not know God] are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. - Ephesians 4:18
This natural hardness of heart that we have because of sin and idolatry, sets us at odds with God so that by nature we are opposed to the Gospel, even going so far as to suppress the truth in our own minds because of the hardness of our hearts.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (ESV)
This means that you can’t talk someone into being a Christian if their heart is still hard to the Gospel.
The natural man has his heart set against God by nature. Therefore our first resort should be to prayer, because only God can replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
Speaking to Israel, the prophet Ezekiel says that God will act, on behalf of his own glory, to give them new hearts. Hearts that are soft to the things of God.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27
This idea, that God is the one who must soften a person’s heart, is consistently upheld throughout Scripture. In Acts 16 Paul is in Philippi and sharing the gospel with people.
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized… - Acts 16:14-15
Here was a Jewish woman, (“who was a worshiper of God”) who heard the gospel and responded because “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention” to the gospel.
Paul faced great resistance from the Jewish people. They were strongly opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, having hardened their hearts in the idolatry of their own self-sufficiency in keeping the law. But he prayed for their salvation.
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. - Romans 10:1
So we should first pray to God that he would save them. Pray that he would soften their hearts, replacing their heart of stone with a soft heart for the Gospel.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul describes how a person can be an effective witness, this is a passage that we’ll come back to shortly, but Paul says the result may be that
God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. - 2 Timothy 2:25-26
So our first step in witnessing should be to pray that God would grant them repentance, that he would soften their heart to the Gospel, and rescue them from their captivity to sin and Satan.
I’m talking about a one time prayer offered in haste. I’m talking about passionate, sustained, faithfully repeated prayer. You have to really love this person and dedicate yourself to praying for them.
We should also pray for each other as we share the Gospel.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. - Colossians 4:2-4
When we know that someone else is going to be sharing the Gospel with someone, we should pray for the person they are witnessing too, that God would grant them repentance and soften their heart. We should also pray for the one witnessing, that they would speak clearly when declaring the Gospel.
For a more detailed study on that passage, read our study of Colossians on the website.
The first step then is prayer.
The second step is lifestyle. Witness with the way you live. Remember our definition of witness.
Witness: give or serve as evidence of; testify to; openly profess one’s religious faith in;
And from the Thesaurus, this use of the word is mirrored in these phrases.
Witness: attest to; testify to; confirm; verify; demonstrate; reveal
The way you live can put the lie to your words. If you are trying to tell someone about Jesus but they see you gossiping, lying, cheating on a test or on your taxes, getting angry all the time, cursing, saying mean things to people, making fun of people, not treating women with respect, etc.
Consider the words of Jesus.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)
Live you life so that others see your Christianity in action. Paul said that slaves were to honor their earthly masters
…so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. - 1 Timothy 6:1
Think about all the times Jesus scolded the religious people of his day for hypocrisy. No one will want to listen to your testimony about Jesus if they’ve seen you living the way the world lives.
In his first letter to Timothy, a young evangelist, Paul tells Timothy that he must watch not only his teaching, but also his life if he wants to see people saved as a result of his ministry.
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. - 1 Timothy 4:16
Step one: pray, for the lost and the witness.
Step two: don’t be a hypocrite! Walk the walk if you plan to talk the talk.
And step three is to actually share the Gospel verbally. In light of step two above, I have seen and heard people say that we should “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” This is a wrong headed way to think about witnessing. Living the Gospel is necessary, but you must speak it as well. It is a message that must be communicated, and it through the foolishness of preaching that God has chosen to spread his message of good news.
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (ESV)
Paul tells us that he lived the life and spoke the words in order to spread the Gospel.
18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)
We are told that faith is a result of hearing the Word preached.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (ESV)
So we are to preach the Gospel. We are to preach it with humility, not hypocrisy. We are to preach it with clarity, not confusion. And we are to preach it with gentleness.
…in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect… - 1 Peter 3:15-16
Earlier we looked at 2 Timothy 2:25when we said we should pray that God would grant those we witness to repentance. I said we would return to that passage and now is the time.
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)
We are to live what we preach, holy lives. And we are not to get entangled in “foolish, ignorant controversies.” If someone can be respectful and debate with logic and reason, then there is a place for engaging them in that way. But is someone is just going to argue and mock, then don’t get caught up in it. You won’t convince them, you’ll just end up making Christ look bad. That’s the truth. You’ll loose your patience, loose you cool, say something you shouldn’t, or just plain look foolish.
So then, witnessing involves three steps.
- Pray for them.
- Live a holy life.
- And when their heart is soft and they are ready to hear about Jesus, then share the Gospel of Christ crucified, with clarity.
