Can I Get a Witness?

It's a dark, gloomy night. Five young men stand, huddled around a fallen geriatric in an abandoned parking lot. The old man is bruised and bleeding, having been knocked down and kicked by the youth who surround him. Fragments of asphalt bite into his skin as he sluggishly attempts to stand, wheezing and gasping for air. Slowly, four of the men turn and walk away, disappearing into the blackness that surrounds the dimly lit parking lot. The last youth stands for another minute, watching the helpless senior citizen writhe on the ground. Before he too walks away, this young man crouches down, leaning forward until his mouth is right by the injured man's left ear and whispers, "Jesus loves you." 

Ok, a tad unrealistic? Sure. I'm sorry if this rejected movie scene gives you the impression that I hate old people, men, or parking lots. To be honest, I'm quite fond of all three of these things. However, this dramatic depiction does have a point, specifically to give commentary on poor witnessing techniques used by the common Christian. Clearly, if you were to ask the old man on the ground, this "hit and run" method was not as effective as his attackers might have believed it to be. Unsurprisingly, he was probably scared, injured, and confused...but not converted. 

Introducing a topic as weighty as religion can be a scary and daunting task for a Christian, and believers today often have to resort to more creative methods of witnessing in order to make an "impact" for Christ. And you know what, it's great to be different when spreading the Gospel. Have fun with it. But remember, when using unorthodox evangelizing techniques, let's not get too carried away. There's a fine line between overzealous and abrasive. Let's look at a few examples, shall we?

1. Scare Tactics (aka, "Turn or Burn")

Have you ever heard of the pick-up line, "did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" Yes? Well, did you know that there is a come-back for it? You can reply, "no, I crawled my way up from hell." Did that catch you by surprise? Well, when non-Christians are subject to scare tactics, imagine how they feel. This includes anything from "fake raptures" to putting unsuspecting individuals through creepy, mock-replicas of Hell. You laugh, but it happens. You can't be scared into your salvation. Christianity is about a relationship, not the crusades. If you allow fear to move you towards Christ, your fear can just as easily scare you away from Him later on in your life. You can't expect a true conversion based solely off of fear. 

2. Operation Ambush (aka, "We're Taking a Survey...")

I recently was able to experience this witnessing technique. A friend and I were approached by two females who were conducting a "survey" about religion on our college campus. BUT, not only did they fail to write down any of our information, they spent the majority of the survey talking to my agnostic friend about his beliefs. Not only was this a bit awkward for me, but I felt like these two women were lying to us. 

If you're actually going to conduct a survey...write stuff down. If I was my friend, I might have felt like my intelligence was being insulted. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was a recon-mission for Christ. Bottom line: if you're going to talk about another's beliefs, try not to hide behind a survey. Talk. See how the other person is doing, and if you can openly and respectfully learn about their beliefs and have an opportunity to share your own, then you are witnessing. 

3. Door-to-Door (aka, "Jehovah's Salesman")

In Matthew 7:7, when Jesus says, "...knock and the door will be opened to you," it was metaphorical. If you've been to America, ever, then you know that if there is an unscrupulous character one's doorstep, the door will often remain shut. Now, "unscrupulous" is a subjective term, but for the sake of being as inclusive as possible, this list describes: trick-or-treaters, salesmen, politicians, police officers, Jehovah's Witnesses, and tax auditors. Seriously, unless you are a 12-year old girl selling cookies to earn a badge, this verse doesn't apply to you. 

Strangers approaching your door to "tell you about Jesus" is a scary thing. Instead of driving to someone else's neighborhood,  why don't you focus on the spiritual health of your own? Talk to your neighbors, get to know them, care about them. Chances are, if you're on good terms with the people in your community, they'll be more likely to talk to you about their personal beliefs than some random pedestrians handing out tracts on a Tuesday afternoon. 

I know you've heard the phrase, "actions speak louder than words." Well, this saying has great applications to our faith as Christians. If you act differently than those around you (in a good way...), others may become curious. If others become curious, they may ask why. If they ask why, then BAM...you can tell those curious people about the one relationship in your life that inspires you to love others and the one person who won't ever let you down. Look, I know the Christian "walk" isn't easy, especially when it comes to sharing your faith. In fact, I often feel like my walk is stuck in a crawl, but if you witness out of love in non-abrasive ways, often the results that God inspires in these interactions will be beautiful and certainly not in the least overrated.