How to Talk to Jehovah's Witnesses at the Door
On Christmas Eve (just 3 weeks ago) a pleasant-looking man in a suit with a cute little girl in a pretty dress came up to the door. They were Jehovah's Witnesses. My heart raced. I was a little nervous. I was on an important phone call. I had all kinds of preparations for the big dinner than night. I had a lot of reasons to avoid talking with them, but I got off the phone and gave them my attention. Here's what I did:
I treated them nicely. They are used to having the door slammed in their faces. Rarely does anyone treat a Jehovah's Witness (JW) with respect. Being kind and respectful will go a long way with them.
I asked how long he had been a JW. He said he was brought up in a JW family. That tells me he is really devoutly seeking to please God, but perhaps has never heard the real Gospel and only believes what the organization has always taught him. What an opportunity! It is possible he has never rejected the truth of the Gospel, because he never knew it.
I politely let him talk and listened intently. I know that JW's are all about "works" in order to please God. They have no assurance that they are right with God through Christ alone, because that is NOT what they are taught. There is a lingering doubt in their mind about whether they have measured up and done enough tasks.
When a good moment came, and the topic of pleasing Jehovah came up, I told them that I too wanted to please Jehovah and I too strive to put Him firstthat I too tell others the Gospel: The Good News of Jesus Christ. That following Christ's teaching was very important to me.
I let him talk about their requirements. He asked if he could read a Bible verse. I went and got my own Bible. (Their Bible-the New World Translation– is not true to the original Greek and Hebrew. They have changed a number of key verses to suit their beliefs, so it is important to read the same passage in your Bible.)
I asked if he was confident he was 100% pleasing to God. He hesitated and of course said no.
I said that I wasn't perfect either but that I wasn't worried about that. I asked him to read John 3:14-17 aloud. I asked "What is required to get eternal life?" (Answer: Just belief.) Then I asked him to look up and read Ephesians 2:8-9 and asked the same question: What is required for salvation? (Again the answer should be faith not works.)
We discussed that these passages say that faith is enough. Works are important, they are a clue that we have faith, but we cannot do enough good things to become right with God. This is why Christians have assurance of God's favor even though we have weaknesses.
They asked if we could talk again. I said yes. We parted with mutual respect and good will. My goal was simply to have him read these passages (maybe for the first time in his life). It will take time for the Holy Spirit to move in his life. My job was to bring the passages to his attention, but it is the Lord's job to open his heart to the Good News that he can have assurance of salvation.
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