The 2nd conversation

[aspen]

Witnessing is a relay race - we should be preparing the soil, or the nonbeliever, for the next Christian to witness to them.

We do not need to worry about giving them all the information, we need to spark their interest, educate them on engaging in spiritual conversation, and provide them with love and acceptance so that the next Christian they meet with be received rather than rebuked.

God gives us all a life time to get to know him - this race is not a sprint - use the time God has granted us to witness to people for the long term.

People respond to love and acceptance - shape their ideas towards Christ, don't condemn their ideas - they will receive it as a personal affront. It is funny to me that Christians cannot seem to understand why nonbelievers confuse our hatred for their sin as hatred for them; yet, we think people are attacking us when they question our faith or doctrine! People do not separate themselves from their thoughts emotions or behavior - remember this and trend lightly.

Finally, always prepare a person to receive Christians and the Christian message with a positive attitude - love the person you are witnessing to - if you do not love them - witness to someone else because the person will see your real feelings and feel rejected by you. The next conversation with a Christian will end up being defensive, rather that life giving

 

[phil36]

How did Christ respond to un biblical ideas? use the example of the rich young man, the samaritan women when Jesus brought her sin infront of her?

I agree with you to a certain degree aspen, but apart from being loving and gentle towards people, they do have to be confronted about sin, but in a loving way.

I think we to often soften the word of God to please people. confronting sin with love to me is how i see Jesus doing it, and Paul

Kind regards

Phil

 

[karuna]

How did Christ respond to un biblical ideas? use the example of the rich young man, the samaritan women when Jesus brought her sin infront of her?

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but how many Christs had she met at that point? I'm sure she'd already been called a harlot or worse, so she knew the average person's opinions on her many partners. The same is true today - who doesn't know what Christians think of their sins?

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

The first thing he does is break a taboo! Earlier in John he'd been accused: "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" Radically, probably at his own risk, he demonstrates that he's willing to treat her as a person, not a label. How often does that happen, that before we get to the sin, the person is touched on a deep level?

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

He's already made her an offer of eternal life and he hasn't mentioned the husbands. Then:

He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

"I have no husband," she replied.

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

I've never met someone so slick in confronting another with their sins. Never. In the modern age, this woman would have been told that she's wrong, that she's an adulteress if not simply a whore. Sure, she was confronted with her sins, but she was also surprised and impressed by this man. It doesn't seem that that particular sin was the important part of the conversation, since we have no record of her repentance, and the "confrontation" didn't stop there:

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."

If we walk away from these scriptures thinking that telling her she had multiple sexual partners was the point, I think we've missed it. If her repentance was so important, why do we only have a record of her astonishment? I suppose what I'm trying to say is that love isn't enough if we want to follow Jesus here. I think we should be humble about our ability to emulate him. This is not an example of your average evangelist, no matter how loving, trying to confront someone with their sin. This is God incarnate using his omniscience to hit all the right buttons with this woman.

I think we to often soften the word of God to please people.

From an outsider's perspective, the harsh side is known. Backwards and forwards. It's honestly not as bad as it seems from the inside, I think. There are some out there who teach strange gospels, but wait a couple of minutes and someone will jump on the false teacher's back. Christians love rebuking their own and there will always be someone out there willing, maybe even giddy, to give reproof.

In any case, the sinner is familiar with the Christian's opinions on his sin, from the first, second, third, and thirtieth conversation. A reiteration of them doesn't seem to help, just from a practical stance, even if the Christian has the best intentions. Same's true of Paul - Paul demonstrated God's power.

 

[Wootie]

I find that there are so many people out there, that want to ask or talk about God. They just don't want to do it around those that they know, who don't love God and would look down on them or discourage them. It surprised me at the ones who started chattering away after I started a small conversation that led to something like-where you go to church-I stopped drinking and gave my life to God-I lost everything but God gave it back to me.......You know just talk stuff and that opened the soil for seeds to be planted. I like to say that I am planting beautiful White seeds (sillly yeah) but I like it.

 

[mpaper345]

hello,

The Bible says to save some with compassion and save some with fear which means show them prophesy that God's word is true and to show them the judgment of those who do not accept Christ.

Not everybody will accept that Jesus is the savior of the world so you have to witness to them accordingly.Some people you have to show your lifestyle without preaching the word to reach them.Some people tell them about Jesus and why He died on the cross to take away our sins.Some people you have to reach by showing them prophesy that will prove that God's word is true for only a God could tell us the future from the beginning.

Matt

 

[phil36]

Sorry if I came across wrong, Im wasnt labeling the samaritan women, just pointing out that reaching the concsience of a person is more effect than trying to debate the intellect. I was not saying that we shouldn't talk to people in a none loving manner either, but, most people nowadays don't even believe there is such a thing as sin. the point was not about how people know that other people are aware of their sins or that they themselves do, but to the point to which do they actually know that these sins will lead them? before I was saved I didnt, maybe because i didnt have a christian background, which is becoming more the norm now.

I know the taboo of the Jewish/Samaritan relations, (from the the the Assyrians resettled people in captured Isreal) especially the taboo of talking to a Samaritan women no matter what typer of person she was. I never once said that Jesus was slick in calling her a whore, wether or not she was. the fact is Jesus brought to the forefront sin in Love.. and not just the Samaritan women to which I also said.

I am not walking away from these scritpures as your are trying to say I am. Jesus confronted sin wherever he went in a loving and gentle way, but He always talked about the sin.

personally for myself i dont have a real view on anyones sin, thats really between them and the Lord. what I do know is that I am the dirtiest wrotten sinner that I know, saved by God's grace. people are nowadays frightened to talk about sin to others even to each other why is that? like i say most people don't even believe there is a sin problem! I think as Christians we have a duty to address the sin problem, paul had no problem talking about it and neither did Jesus, in Love.

as a side note the samaritan woman was the second example i used!

Kind regards

Phil

Soli Deo Gloria

 

[phil36]

lol I've just read my posts back to myself, I sound like an old time fire and brimstone preacher, that wasn't what I was trying to get across. compassion is great we should be compassionate without even having to think about it. but in general if you where to go out into the streets and evangelizing to people, how do you show them that they are not good people, as we all think we are good, I did before i was saved. what i mean is simply by showing people the righteous standards of God and how we can never measure up to this wil lead us into the Gospel of Christ. I have used this approach many times and people have come back asking questions, I have also used the side of just talking to people and getting to know them. each situation and person that you talk to will be different.

Kind regards

Phil

 

[karuna]

We're not on the same page at all.

I never once said that Jesus was slick in calling her a whore

I said people today would have called her names. I said: "In the modern age, this woman would have been told that she's wrong, that she's an adulteress if not simply a whore." I said Jesus was slick because he didn't do that.

I am not walking away from these scritpures as your are trying to say I am.

Not what I'm saying at all.

as a side note the samaritan woman was the second example i used!

And my point was that I think, if you think the meeting was about confronting her with sin, that you've misinterpreted it. I'm not sure you read what I wrote.

 

[phil36]

lol Planting little white seeds is not silly... planting all those seeds are great.

 

[phil36]

sorry Karuna i probably didnt read it all, I didnt say either that that was the main issue of the narrative! I would use the rich man more in that sense, my first example

 

[karuna]

sorry Karuna i probably didnt read it all

I don't know why I try. Every time I put effort into a post, this happens.

 

[phil36]

hello,

The Bible says to save some with compassion and save some with fear which means show them prophesy that God's word is true and to show them the judgment of those who do not accept Christ.

Not everybody will accept that Jesus is the savior of the world so you have to witness to them accordingly.Some people you have to show your lifestyle without preaching the word to reach them.Some people tell them about Jesus and why He died on the cross to take away our sins.Some people you have to reach by showing them prophesy that will prove that God's word is true for only a God could tell us the future from the beginning.

Matt

Excellent, now why couldn't I have put it like that, Maybe i should learn how to make myself more clear in future.

 

[mpaper345]

hello,

We have to be bold in preaching the word of God.
God said be bold in preaching the word.
Some officers went to take Jesus but went back to their post without Jesus.They asked the officers why they did not take Jesus,they said no man ever spoke like this man.Jesus was so bold in speaking to them that it put doubt in their mind that maybe Jesus was telling the truth.

Jesus spoke diffently to the common person and the Pharisees.The Pharisees were the religious leaders and should of known better so Jesus was more bolder towards them than the common man.

We always have to preach in liove but we must be bold when we preach.Some people we have to bolder when we preach the word never wavering for if you waver them you are ashamed of Christ.

Matt

 

[phil36]

I don't know why I try. Every time I put effort into a post, this happens.

I must apologise Karuna for not reading then re-reading it. it's just that I was not saying the narrative of the samaritan woman was all about her sin.

 

[aspen]

How did Christ respond to un biblical ideas? use the example of the rich young man, the samaritan women when Jesus brought her sin infront of her?

I agree with you to a certain degree aspen, but apart from being loving and gentle towards people, they do have to be confronted about sin, but in a loving way.

I think we to often soften the word of God to please people. confronting sin with love to me is how i see Jesus doing it, and Paul

Kind regards

Phil

You cannot promote a relationship with a spiritual tract - you have to form a relationship.

The problem with confronting sin is that they already know they are sinning - if they wanted to talk about it with you - let them bring it up - many actually do.

Also, as much as you think we soften our words for people - we have the reputation for being jerks and shoving the gospel down people's throats, being close-minded, and judgment. If we had the reputation for being soft and caring and loving and watered down - I would be talking about that.

Ironically, the message I am giving right now to a board full of well-meaning, and serious Christians is a hard sell - people read it with defenses up - and you guys know me better than nonbelievers know the stranger who is witnessing to them. I do not know about you, but I am not very receptive with strangers who think they know God and believe that I do not.

 

[aspen]

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but how many Christs had she met at that point? I'm sure she'd already been called a harlot or worse, so she knew the average person's opinions on her many partners. The same is true today - who doesn't know what Christians think of their sins?



The first thing he does is break a taboo! Earlier in John he'd been accused: "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" Radically, probably at his own risk, he demonstrates that he's willing to treat her as a person, not a label. How often does that happen, that before we get to the sin, the person is touched on a deep level?



He's already made her an offer of eternal life and he hasn't mentioned the husbands. Then:



I've never met someone so slick in confronting another with their sins. Never. In the modern age, this woman would have been told that she's wrong, that she's an adulteress if not simply a whore. Sure, she was confronted with her sins, but she was also surprised and impressed by this man. It doesn't seem that that particular sin was the important part of the conversation, since we have no record of her repentance, and the "confrontation" didn't stop there:



If we walk away from these scriptures thinking that telling her she had multiple sexual partners was the point, I think we've missed it. If her repentance was so important, why do we only have a record of her astonishment? I suppose what I'm trying to say is that love isn't enough if we want to follow Jesus here. I think we should be humble about our ability to emulate him. This is not an example of your average evangelist, no matter how loving, trying to confront someone with their sin. This is God incarnate using his omniscience to hit all the right buttons with this woman.



From an outsider's perspective, the harsh side is known. Backwards and forwards. It's honestly not as bad as it seems from the inside, I think. There are some out there who teach strange gospels, but wait a couple of minutes and someone will jump on the false teacher's back. Christians love rebuking their own and there will always be someone out there willing, maybe even giddy, to give reproof.

In any case, the sinner is familiar with the Christian's opinions on his sin, from the first, second, third, and thirtieth conversation. A reiteration of them doesn't seem to help, just from a practical stance, even if the Christian has the best intentions. Same's true of Paul - Paul demonstrated God's power.

Great Post!

 

[aspen]

lol I've just read my posts back to myself, I sound like an old time fire and brimstone preacher, that wasn't what I was trying to get across. compassion is great we should be compassionate without even having to think about it. but in general if you where to go out into the streets and evangelizing to people, how do you show them that they are not good people, as we all think we are good, I did before i was saved. what i mean is simply by showing people the righteous standards of God and how we can never measure up to this wil lead us into the Gospel of Christ. I have used this approach many times and people have come back asking questions, I have also used the side of just talking to people and getting to know them. each situation and person that you talk to will be different.

Kind regards

Phil

Ha! Thanks for this post - you really clarified your thoughts