How do we witness to the LGBT community?
- Thread starter JFSurvivor
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All true..the good news of the gospel is when you come to Christ..you are a new creation!!
...then we grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!...unfortunately many Christians change that to...grow in the knowledge of sin and how to tear each other apart....
But we are coming to where we see who we are in Christ...as we see Him..we become like Him..Because as He is..so are we in this world!
...then we grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!...unfortunately many Christians change that to...grow in the knowledge of sin and how to tear each other apart....
But we are coming to where we see who we are in Christ...as we see Him..we become like Him..Because as He is..so are we in this world!
C
Call me crazy, but have you ever thought about praying for them and showing them God's love and one way of doing that is by not passing judgement upon them? I mean if they come right out and ask you if you think it's wrong, then by all means share why you believe it's wrong. Remember not to judge another because God will be pass judgment upon you. In all honesty I try to do these things to all people I come into contact with on a daily basis. Some days I fail, but we are human.
Just remember that only God can save!
Just remember that only God can save!
L
Ok i'll chime in a bit here. I've been studying an evangelism class and I disagree with it and agree with it. I agree that when we witness to anyone we don't need to be telling them they are going to hell. Even though I don't agree we are bound by the Law anymore, I think we should allow them to admit they are sinning against the Lord. To do this we need to have a starting point and I think the Ten commandments is a great starting point.
I have been listening to Todd White a lot also and I believe his approach is good as well. He flowers the sinners with love and hope. Sometimes his first response is Jesus loves you and I love you. He has a desire to help people and he wants to show them love first and then he preaches the gospel.
I don't agree that this is how Jesus did it though. Jesus preached the good news and performed his healing, most the time, afterwards or during. The main thing we need to understand is we can't tell someone they are sinning if they don't know what sin is. Most people know that stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, cheating on your spouse is wrong etc... I think if we come at them with love and let them admit they are sinning then we have a way to share what they need to do to repent of those sins and find salvation through Christ.
As far as homosexuals are concerned. Are we the ones who change them or is it God? Lets say we witness to a homosexual and they sincerely accept Christ as their savior. Do they automatically get cured or stop their homosexual activity on the spot or thoughts of it? I would like to think the HS will change their spirit and during this process we can show them what the bible says about their lifestyle. Once they are saved the HS will work in their lives and start to change them. This might not be immediate because we have a nasty enemy and he knows each of our weaknesses and he will attack that person until either they give in or they tell the devil to bugger out.
I have been listening to Todd White a lot also and I believe his approach is good as well. He flowers the sinners with love and hope. Sometimes his first response is Jesus loves you and I love you. He has a desire to help people and he wants to show them love first and then he preaches the gospel.
I don't agree that this is how Jesus did it though. Jesus preached the good news and performed his healing, most the time, afterwards or during. The main thing we need to understand is we can't tell someone they are sinning if they don't know what sin is. Most people know that stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, cheating on your spouse is wrong etc... I think if we come at them with love and let them admit they are sinning then we have a way to share what they need to do to repent of those sins and find salvation through Christ.
As far as homosexuals are concerned. Are we the ones who change them or is it God? Lets say we witness to a homosexual and they sincerely accept Christ as their savior. Do they automatically get cured or stop their homosexual activity on the spot or thoughts of it? I would like to think the HS will change their spirit and during this process we can show them what the bible says about their lifestyle. Once they are saved the HS will work in their lives and start to change them. This might not be immediate because we have a nasty enemy and he knows each of our weaknesses and he will attack that person until either they give in or they tell the devil to bugger out.
Without Christ they are indeed going to hell - and need to hear there is such a penalty for sin. I do agree, however, that to tell someone they must stop sinning before they can be saved is unbiblical.
People who don't believe they are sick will never seek a doctor. The same way a person who believes they are "good" will never seek Christ. In my experience witnessing, most unsaved people already believe God loves them, and think that God is going to let them into heaven because they have done more good things than bad.
They must know that even a single sin will send them to the Lake of Fire.
By all means, tell them that Jesus loves them, but in the context of loving them enough to die for their sins, in order to save them from such a fate.
If someone's house was on fire, I wouldn't just lightly tap on their door and say that I love them enough to warn them that they must exit the building. I would pound on the door and yell, FIRE! FIRE! GET OUT! RUN! RUN!
Again, the time is too short to mess around. The person you are gently leading by the hand may not be here tomorrow to hear the end of the story.
People who don't believe they are sick will never seek a doctor. The same way a person who believes they are "good" will never seek Christ. In my experience witnessing, most unsaved people already believe God loves them, and think that God is going to let them into heaven because they have done more good things than bad.
They must know that even a single sin will send them to the Lake of Fire.
By all means, tell them that Jesus loves them, but in the context of loving them enough to die for their sins, in order to save them from such a fate.
If someone's house was on fire, I wouldn't just lightly tap on their door and say that I love them enough to warn them that they must exit the building. I would pound on the door and yell, FIRE! FIRE! GET OUT! RUN! RUN!
Again, the time is too short to mess around. The person you are gently leading by the hand may not be here tomorrow to hear the end of the story.
L
I think the building on fire is a poor example. Are you going to go up to a person and say "You are going to hell". If I was that person and not saved I would say "go take a flying leap." Wouldn't it be much better to start out with "Hey man, how's your day going?" Then get into a conversation with them and bring up that Jesus loves them. Show them the love of Christ and that you sincerely care for them. Yes during the conversation we will bring up the Gospel but don't you think you should know maybe a little bit about that person so it shows we aren't there just to barrage them damnation?
Romans 1:16 (NASB)
[SUP]16 [/SUP] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Old Covenant law = points people to their sin
New Covenant grace = points them to Jesus
Old covenant law = "stop sinning and you will not be condemned"
New Covenant grace = " I do not condemn you, now go and sin now more "
They need to hear that they are not condemned because of what Christ did for them and with this gift of no condemnation...it will empower them to go and sin no more.
We need to stop being sin-conscious and be Christ-conscious
God is not an evangelical in that He is obsessed with sin..His Son took care of that with His life and Blood.
He is obsessed with His Son and what He has done for humanity! Let's give them the good news!!!
[SUP]16 [/SUP] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Old Covenant law = points people to their sin
New Covenant grace = points them to Jesus
Old covenant law = "stop sinning and you will not be condemned"
New Covenant grace = " I do not condemn you, now go and sin now more "
They need to hear that they are not condemned because of what Christ did for them and with this gift of no condemnation...it will empower them to go and sin no more.
We need to stop being sin-conscious and be Christ-conscious
God is not an evangelical in that He is obsessed with sin..His Son took care of that with His life and Blood.
He is obsessed with His Son and what He has done for humanity! Let's give them the good news!!!
I believe you misunderstand my approach. In the course of a witnessing event - they should indeed hear that Christ loves and died for them, but you cannot leave out the "distressing" parts regarding the penalty for rejecting Christ.
Again, most unsaved people already believe God loves them, and also believe they are going to heaven because they are generally good people. It is imperative that you give them the fatal diagnosis before you share with them how to be cured.
Again, most unsaved people already believe God loves them, and also believe they are going to heaven because they are generally good people. It is imperative that you give them the fatal diagnosis before you share with them how to be cured.
The gospel covers that...here is an example of preaching the gospel from scripture....I know we have been taught differently about what the preaching of the gospel is...
Acts 10:39-44 (NASB)
[SUP]39 [/SUP] "We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
[SUP]40 [/SUP] "God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,
[SUP]41 [/SUP] not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
[SUP]42 [/SUP] "And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
[SUP]43 [/SUP] "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
[SUP]44 [/SUP] While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
The gospel is believe in Christ and your sins are forgiven..it did not say to them what your particular sin is..that's our modern version of the gospel.
I love how the Holy Spirit rushes in to fall on the people when they hear their sins are forgiven because they believe in what Jesus did for them!
If they didn't believe and rejected Christ...they would have condemnation left on them and that is something they choose..who would want that eh?...it's crazy
Beautiful!
Acts 10:39-44 (NASB)
[SUP]39 [/SUP] "We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
[SUP]40 [/SUP] "God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,
[SUP]41 [/SUP] not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
[SUP]42 [/SUP] "And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
[SUP]43 [/SUP] "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
[SUP]44 [/SUP] While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
The gospel is believe in Christ and your sins are forgiven..it did not say to them what your particular sin is..that's our modern version of the gospel.
I love how the Holy Spirit rushes in to fall on the people when they hear their sins are forgiven because they believe in what Jesus did for them!
If they didn't believe and rejected Christ...they would have condemnation left on them and that is something they choose..who would want that eh?...it's crazy
Beautiful!