There are three fundamental things the Christian needs to be an outstanding witness for Christ. The first is knowledge, the second is wisdom, and the third is character. How one uses these three traits to show Christ to the world is crucial, as he or she may be the only example of a "living Bible" seen by non-believers.
"Knowledge" refers to an accurately informed mind. Colossians 2:8 warns the believer, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (NIV). In order to build up his or her spiritual defenses against the "human tradition and basic principles of this world", it is important for him or her to understand why he or she believes what he or she believes. God answers all of these questions in His Word; however, the mistake many believers make in educating themselves about Christian doctrines is reading a single verse addressed to someone else, and trying to twist its meaning to apply to his or her life. For example, a believer may incorrectly interpret the story of the salvation of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31 as a promise of salvation for every member of his or her family. Rather, it is much more important to read the entire paragraph, or better yet, the whole chapter, surrounding that one verse to establish a strong knowledge of Biblical context, such as authorial intent. Taking account of the background of a Biblical passage in order to discover its true meaning is known as a "literal, historical-grammatical" approach to reading the Bible. Next, after firmly rooting oneself in the knowledge of the Bible, the Christian witness must go out and verbally share the Gospel with others. However, it is important to remember to do so without sounding like some loquacious bag of emotions; rather, the faith must be defended with logical and well thought-out statements. Even Jesus and Paul, when they argued for the sake of Christianity, would do so logically. For example, many of Jesus' teachings were in the forms of parables, which nearly anybody could relate to and understand. Before witnessing, figures such as Jesus and Paul also knew what their listeners believed, and why. For example, in Acts 17:23, Paul made sure to understand the religious nature of the people of Athens before telling them the truth about their "unknown God". Finally, Christian witnesses must never ridicule any ignorance or disbelief held by their listeners, even if they are close friends. Part of using theological knowledge correctly is knowing how to explain it in a respectful manner.
Learning how to communicate God's truth in a respectful manner is a major component of both wisdom and character, the two other most important aspects of being a good witness for Christ. "Wisdom" is an artful method. This entails understanding how to use knowledge by maneuvering quickly in a conversation, asking important questions and adapting one's message to best fit the person being witnessed to or the circumstances under which the conversation is taking place. This shows the "witness-ee" that they are cared for and important. However, the most important aspect of wisdom is probably presenting the truth in a compelling way, without any specialized Christian diction. There are not many Christians who totally understand every word they hear coming from the pulpit. If they do not comprehend all of the various theological terms, there is no reason why an unbeliever would. For instance, most Christian witnesses will not approach an average heathen and ask, "Do you hold an allegorical or literal hermaneutic in regards to John's visions in Revelation? And while we are on the subject of Revelation, do you hold to a Premillennialist or Amillennialist view?" Thirdly, "Character" means an attractive manner. Christian witnesses typically fall into two extremes, neither of which is an "attractive manner" in sharing the Gospel. The first is being so polite that it breeds a fear of offending one's listeners. The other extreme occurs when one has no regard for what anybody else believe; therefore, this leads to all listeners being offended by the witness's dogmatism. Rather than falling into either of these extremes, the Bible tells Christ's witnesses to be gentle and reverent (1 Peter 3:15), and to be patient and not quarrelsome (2 Timothy 2:24-25). While God does want His followers to help bring more people into His Kingdom, He would like them to do so without being religious "bullies". Christian witnesses can avoid being such "bullies" by using specific, rather than trite, verbal methods of sharing God's Word. As well, it is important for witnesses to act approachable, friendly and caring human being, not some priest stepping down from a pedestal to mercifully proselytize someone. Rather, it is much more efficacious to speak respectfully to one's listeners about their own worldviews before introducing Christianity. This way, the listener will not feel like he or she is being bombarded by harsh dogmas and erect their inner defenses against the truth of God's Word. By instead actively conversing about others' worldviews, the Christian witness will be able to better grasp how to adapt the method of sharing the Gospel to each unbeliever's own ideas and flaws. This is known as "giving the bad news before the good news"; that is, heathens must understand why they need God's salvation after realizing their fallen and sinful position, not the other way around. In conclusion, it is important for a Christian witness to admit that an unbeliever may have a valid, logical point, or how to say "I could be wrong." By admitting one's own imperfections, the Christian witness will give his or her listener a sense of genuine intellect in the conversation, not just a mutually defensive, emotional debate. The most important point is this: at no time during the course of His Ministry did Jesus ever obnoxiously try to force the Word of God into His listeners' hearts; therefore, Christians have no right to do so either.
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