The Witness Conversation
Donald Butler
Everyone witnesses in their own way. There is no single ‘conversation’ that will work on everyone. But when the door opens, you must be ready to step through. With a little practice you can witness to almost anyone, anywhere.
Every conversation begins with sincere interest in a person. Perhaps you can open the conversation with a compliment about their job, home, children, or dress. In this way you have established a common area of interest. Even humor is good. Humor will often cause them to relax and change their whole attitude toward you. A humorous observation or thought often puts people at ease.
You must not let your words become memorized as if recited from a book or a rigid repetition of phrases. Instead, once the conversation is flowing, you can easily direct the conversation toward current events and world conditions. Just about everyone can agree on this: times are tough, the morals of society are declining, and the world needs peace. Any discussion in these areas can be openings to express the Bible’s answer to the world’s condition: Jesus, salvation, the Holy Ghost, and the peace that comes through faith in God.
Questions are perhaps the best way to direct the conversation into spiritual things. After talking about the problems of current events or world conditions, a simple statement like, “This would really bother me if I did not have my faith in Jesus Christ.” Or even, “I would be really frightened about what is happening but I’m not – the Bible clearly tells us what will soon happen.” After this type of statement you should immediately follow up with a carefully chosen question: “Are you a Christian?” Or “Do you attend church anywhere?” Or “Do you read your Bible much?” Or “Have you ever heard of the Holy Ghost?”
Perhaps the greatest barrier to being an effective witness is a lack of boldness. Ask God to help you overcome your fear of rejection. Stepping boldly into a conversation about God, you can quickly bring the conversation to asking key questions: “Have you every attended an Apostolic Pentecostal Church?” Here you will share what the Bible teaches about full Bible salvation. “Have you ever received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost?” From here you would share your own experience how you received the Spirit and how it has changed your life. “Have you ever wanted to know more about what the Bible says about the end times?” This question can easily lead to offering to teach them a Home Bible Study.
The best way to learn to witness is to witness. Just do it! In your morning devotions pray, “Dear Lord, today, with Your help, I will witness to someone. Show me who to speak to.” Then become a witness with five simple steps: Strike up a conversation. Move into current events. State your faith that God is the answer to current events. Ask key spiritual questions with boldness. Invite to church, offer a Bible study, and ask to pray with them right then and there. Today you can be a witness!
This article “The Witness Conversation” by Donald Butler was excerpted from: The IBC Perspectives Magazine. November 2010. It may be used for study & research purposes only.
