SCL

Growing up, I remember being taught how to “witness” using Bible verses. That was it, just Bible verses. Your non-Christian friend has a probing question? Here’s a verse to answer it. Why do Christians not realize how completely illogical this is?

How true.
The point in witnessing is making God’s story relevant to the individual you’re trying to reach.

you’re the freaking man for writing this one.

So true!! this post is awesome sauce.

It’s true that just shouting at people with Bible verses will work in only the rarest of occasions- but the Word has the power to change lives. That’s why in the end you (and by you, I mean me!) need to seize upon opportunities that present themselves- basically, when a question comes up, answer it honestly.

One of the things we’re taught in seminary is to just give good, loving advice (if that’s what’s being asked for, for example) and follow up with a story: “Jesus dealt with that once.” and just tell the story that fits the situation. Use the Word- because the Word works.

Not in shouting, but in whispering.

(And I’m not anonymous- I’m just not a member of any of these sites. I’ll identify myself as Luke- my name!)

very well put, especially the last part. bravo

Have you ever seen America’s Next Top Model? In the first season one of the models is an athiest, and another one is like a Bible thumper (BT for short). So BT comes across this verse that says something like, ‘he who do not believe in the word of God is a fool’ I think it’s Psalm 14:1. So she shows it to the athiest to try to persuade her to believe. The athiest says, “what do I care what the Bible says. I think it’s a bunch of crap. You’ve gotta be an idiot to believe what it says.” It takes more than a Bible verse to convert someone.
Good blog

Good stuff, thanks for adressing this one.

I like the ideas here. One thing I have been thinking about recently is that if you rely 100% only on the Bible for your religion/beliefs…etc, then there is a lot of room for doubt. But if you have had a real encounter with the Living God, that’s not something that can be taken away from you. You can always point to that moment when Sarah had breast cancer and you prayed and the cancer left, or John had a limp and the Lord healed his leg so he wouldn’t limp anymore. I think the Bible is absolutely essential for every believer for a million reasons, but I think truly encountering and experiencing God is also important. And I think we as believers can help others experience God in so many ways that we overlook. But if they have begun to experience God (their tumor going away or swelling going down), how much more receptive will they be when we tell them how much Jesus loves them?

LOL! Yes! That’s what I’ve been tryin’ to say! Nobody listens to me. *whimper*

I’ll be impressed if those that most need to think about this one actually read this & do think about it. But either way, 10 thumbs up (I’ve been told that I’m all thumbs).

To play the other side’s advocate, though, doesn’t the word of God “never go out void”? And, the “truth will set them free.”

Have you read Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God”? Awesome writing, does not try to use the Bible to further all his points.

Yes, Josh, it’s a good point you make for the other side.

His Word *doesn’t* return void! But it’s not the impressive referencing of chapter and verse that does it–why not just know the Word so well that it is naturally part of our thought process (and so, our rhetoric).

His Word doesn’t need my attribution to do its job.

UGH I hate this…seriously…it’s like why would/how does this work at all? It doesn’t….and yet . . . . . . . . people still try this tactic.

boggles the mind.

Non Christian friend:
“The words part.”

Perfect. LOL

Tell others about Jesus. If you have to, use words.

When I got saved, I hadn’t read a word of scripture yet. I got saved when I studied evolution and realised it was an absolute load of rubbish and couldn’t possibly be true. There are many ways to prove God outside of the bible, especially when you use history and prophecy facts.

Thank you for writing this. I’m kind of “undecided” as to my religious inclinations, so I’ve had many conversations with Christian friends and family and I’ve gotten that a lot. What’s also frustrating to me is that I haven’t found anyone who can give me personal experiences like some of your commenters have alluded to. I ask people why they believe what they do and they say, “because the Bible tells me so.” Okay, so why do you believe that the Bible is God’s absolute word? “Because the Bible tells me so.” It’s so circular. I crave talking to people who can give reasons like “because when I prayed to Jesus, my tumor shrank” or other person personal experiences!

Your desert/ocean metaphor resonates deeply with me. Of course, as an atheist I see myself in the ocean, frustrated at how my Christian friends are trying to prove God exists through the bible.

Man… This one couldn’t be more true.

Nothing like having an Uncle tell you to stuff all that “religous crap”, and your only comeback being “well here, take this tract” that, from his point of view, simply contains the written version of the “religious crap” you were just vocalizing.

The other part is, I don’t believe in literally everything in the Bible myself. I know that there are some that do, but I simply don’t believe that Jonah lived in a whale, nor do I particularly buy into Samson killing a thousand men with a jawbone. I also don’t believe that David had to fight a giant, because A: I don’t believe in giants and B: If I did believe in giants, I would find it hard to believe that they were incapable of fashioning helmets to protect their apparent vulnerability to rocks in the head. My point is simply that I don’t literally believe those things, and showing me the words on the page isn’t going to change my mind.

Very well said…
It would be as if a Muslim came up to you and started witnessing using the Koran to try and win you over. How receptive would any of us “infidels” be to that kind of tactic?

This is EXACTLY the problem I have with Lee Strobel’s book “The Case for Christ”. He seems to make the rounds to all of the Christian scholars out there and they all – big surprise here – have a “proof” that Christ existed. Which, by the way, is their job. There’s no balance. If you don’t believe in Christ, asking a bunch of Christians for proof is like, well, using the Bible on someone who doesn’t believe in the Bible.

Or, for instance, creating a “science” out of a book of faith. Or a “faith” out of a book of science.

You guys should just quit bugging other people who do not beleive what you do. Instead of apologetics, you should try apologizing. Remember, good deeds speak more for a person then a book.

Yeah and it works even less with us former Christians who also have “Romans road” memorized, etc. If Christianity will someday be proved I doubt it will be because somebody finally found the right Scripture verse.

in response to Tim Burge’s post

Yeah, proving that the Bible is true by using the evidence that the Bible contains in order to accomplish that goal is as silly as using the White House to prove that George Bush lives in a White House… Just silly…

For the record – the Bible contains scientific facts recorded BEFORE their modern-day “discovery.” Science was not “created” out of a book, it was given to us by our Creator… Now as far as faith goes, it seems as though atheistic evolutionists have born their faith from a book that only holds a theory – not science…

Most Christians don’t seem to believe the Bible either… Otherwise they’d act a whole lot differently. Sure, they use the verses they like, but the truths contained in the Bible are life-changing in nature — if you’re life’s not changing, then you probably don’t believe what you’re spouting out to others… Sorry, I’m a pastor and nothing drives me more nuts than Christian intellectuals with no practical clue. Jesus met with 12 blue-collar (mostly) uneducated fishermen. What we need is more Christian trade schools that show people how to live their faith and equip them with CHANGED LIVES to minister with rather than Christian Colleges that produce earthly wisdom with heavenly terminology. *end rant*

One of the best books I’ve seen on the authenticity of the Bible as God’s word is More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell. I know that it is the job of Christian scholars to prove such things, but McDowell was an atheist hell-bent (pun intended) on discrediting the Bible with his own intellect and research. He actually converted himself in the process. He proves the authenticity of the New Testament based on how historians prove the authenticity of any piece of written work (Caesar’s Gallic Wars, for example). It’s a short read, inexpensive, and worth buying for anyone who will read it.

thank you, thank you, thank you, I thought I was the only person who’d noticed this strange phenomenon. It’s not as infrequent here, in fact it seems to be the modus operandi. The worst part is when some Christians get angry at non-believers because they don’t believe in what we believe about the Bible. It baffles me that some Christians find this so hard to understand. It should be simple: when it comes to faith and salvation, God does the work in people’s hearts. I believe the Word has power, but only by the will and action of God. It explains how I can be an atheist one day and believe in Jesus and God the next.

catching up on older posts…i have to say relational evangelism doesn’t throw chapter and verse @ folks…and some intellectuals actually stumble over their own intelligence, on their way to jesus. i think they are the stories where the Word works in their hearts as they investigate as skeptics, like strobel and mcdowell were.
a good friend shared for over a year w/ a coworker who was amenable to friendly discussions/ almost arguments along the “prove your faith to me” lines. after a long holiday weekend, the coworker comes to rich and says I’m a believer; I went to church @ my parents’ over the holiday. friend was so happy “dude, was it the apologetics? our study of romans? hermeneutics? what tipped you?” the sweet answer was , i saw the way you treat your wife, over the course of our friendship in the last year. and i know you two have more than just a marriage.
long story, sorry, but i think that wins folks to jesus’ love and grace just as much as crusades…it just happens in hearts as we live our lives in front of folks, with those dangerous concepts of love and grace showing.
anon because i don’t belong to any groups…

One comment in defense for using the Bible along with general reasoning, and living a life that would attract people to our God…

If you were in medieval times, and were making fun of a knight, he would pull out his sword to show you he means business, if you said, I don’t believe that is a sword, he could poke you a few times, eventually the knight could convince you that the sword he has was real. And he probably wouldn’t just take the mockery that his sword wasn’t real, and hop on his horse and trot away with his head down either…

We as Christians have the Bible telling it is our sword, but the first moment someone says I don’t believe you have a sword, or says I don’t believe your sword is real we put it away, and never use it again.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

WOW. That is so true. I’ve been struggling with this a lot, sharing my faith and all that. But when I ask someone how I can do it, they say the Bible. I’m pretty sure atheists are atheists because they DON’T believe in the Bible. Just a guess. And then we present them with Bible verses… yeah that makes sense. When I asked someone how they know FOR SURE the Bible is God’s word, they said by faith. Most atheists don’t have that either. But you’re right. You just have to live it. AWESOME post. :]

are we saying that God is not powerful enough to use His OWN WORD to win someone to Himself? are we saying that we have something to do with someone coming to Christ?

i’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit is the one whose job it is to convict someone, and how better to do that then with the Word that is God-breathed and inerrant?

sure, i know that throwing references at someone probably won’t win you any points with them, but like a previous post said, why do we have to use references?

this is why apologetics exist, this area of knowledge uses rational evidences to defend the authority of Christ and his words

when you have faith that the word is true and god is true thats when you will get to experience how awesome god is how great he is. thats when you start feeling god and then knowing hes real knowing hes word is real. when you have faith and no doubt thats when you can begin to see miracles. gods moving around the world and when your to stubburn to realize thats god then you will never know if he is real or not. if you gave the devil a chance to tell you gods not real and believe in it so strong might as well give the other side that same chance.

We have to remember that “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. We are to give them the word, the Holy Spirit will do the rest. When we neglect giving them the truth in scripture, they are not getting words of life. Mark 16:15,16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. It’s not up to us to change the formula. People need the tru gospel, not something tainted.

Loving this site but your commentary on this one is wrong, although the hypothetical exchange between Christian and Non-Christian is pretty funny and certainly NOT the way to do it.

Do you believe the Bible is Truth? "So faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 ESV

I believe it and therefore the Bible must always be a part of any evangelical effort. God's Word is the only thing that has the power to convince someone that God's wordis Truth.

I love, love, love this post. I believe the Bible is truth, but sometimes Christians use a kind of circular logic to talk to people who don't believe: "The Bible is true because it says so in the Bible, which is true because… well.. it's the Bible." This drives me crazy! When we're talking to people who don't believe what we do, throwing verses at them usually doesn't help… especially if they don't hold the Bible in the same regard as we do.

Now, watch God prove me completely wrong…

Not even Jesus said that God's word would always turn people to him. Early missionaries were told that when they were met with defiance, to give up, leave and try elsewhere. Sure, speak the word, but don't treat it like magic. In John it says that the Father draws people to himself, so the saving is His alone.

Dude, you couldn't be more right! It's like walking up to someone who you know isn't religious, spiritual, or in any way interested in hearing the Good Word and saying something like "I want to talk to you about Jesus." You have approx. 1/2 a second after an opening like that before they lose interest completely. I'm new to your site and I just have to say that, first, I love it, and second there is so much insight in its hilarity. As Christians, we need to get off our soapboxes and see things from a non-Christian point of view if we have any hope of showing people the power of God's saving grace. They don't need us to cram it down their throats right off the bat, if they stick around long enough (because we're just plain awesome to hang out with) they'll get the jist.

"even if all they’ve seen are sandstorms for the last twenty years, when they’re around you, they can’t help but start to hear the waves."

this speaks to me. great word.

Or maybe you've got to be content with the fact that they have their own beliefs/lack of..?

However, just because you "act" like a Christian, it most likely won't change non believers mind. We are very logical people. It's like taking a 5-month African baby, and teaching him NOTHING but Japanese, and then ask others: Do you think this boy is Japanese? He knows how to speak Japanese fluently! Look! LooK! Uh… NO, social conditioning for so many years can make you act a certain way, but it does not make something truth. Teaching an African baby Japanese for 10+ years doesn't make him Japanese. I'm sorry.

Just because you read something and followed it doesn't make it true. YES, being kind to your neighbors, and giving, and tolerant, and compassionate, whatever will probably attract others. The PHILOSOPHY could be attractive. But the underlying points such as Jesus was the son of Man, You must baptize or you can't go to heaven.. those things? Sorry, can't convince us. Deep down, the philosophy of Christianity is similar to philosophy in other religions and Eastern philosophies.

You can take a baby, and drill him/her the philosophy of being compassionate, caring, giving, respectful etc, and if you compare him/her with a Christian, I'm pretty sure you won't notice a difference. How do I know? Because I KNOW people who are like that and they aren't Christians.. Oh, oh, how do you know their hearts? Please, I won't even answer such a question.

There's a HUGE hole in Christianity and most religions.

1) There HAS to be a creator, right?! right? right? I mean… who created us?! Nothing?!
Ok, there has to be a creator. Sure i grant you that. Sure.. but who says that this creator is the Christian God? Who says the Bible was his word? Who says he sent Jesus to Earth to save you? Who says he told u you gotta get baptized? Who says he is always looking after u? Who says he was harsh and tortured some dude named Job? The bible could be fabricated. MADE UP STORIES.

OK OK, but really you tell me… made up stories? Come up, get REAL. That HUGE book? Made up? You kidding me? I got 2 things to counter that: The Koran – that's a HUGE HUGE book too, why is that false?
2 – We're human beings. Humans lie. Humans manipulate. Humans are crooks. We deceive. I can very very very much believe the Bible was fabricated. Very much. It doesn't even require a 2nd thought. I have NO faith in humans. NONE. Bible = LIE? YEP! I can believe that. and very likely too – let's see we got unfulfilled prophecies, lots of discrepancies in the books, ambiguous doctrine, events that seem unbelievable, things that seem to stem from past religions before christianity, etc… I believe Christianity is a deception b/c it most likely is… NOT because it's what I wanna believe (Nice try!)

Shit just happens randomly, folks. No point or purpose or meaning in anything. You believe but deep down you know there is no proof. The Bible is no proof. I understand and respect if Christianity adds value to your life, and gives you inner peace. Keep on believing, but there is no logical reason Christianity is true.

To be honest… I see too many so-called Christians who are the scourge of the Earth. Vile disgusting people. To many people claim they believe a faith, but don't understand the faith. If you are going to claim you are a true follower of a faith? You should have read, digested and understood the bible, it's related books, and understood it's philosophical underpinnings. And at the very understand that what you have is nothing more than a BLIND FAITH. That's what the concept of faith is. Something that you have no tangible reason to believe, but you believe nonetheless. And thus having a conversation with an intelligent rational person is moot. If he doesn't already believe? He won't change his mind. Religion is an amusing concept but not a convincing one to someone who has lived in a more practical world.

As for the validity of the bible or any holy book? The leaders of every faith will admit to have edited the holy book. On top of that the Christian bible is made up of ONLY 4 books. You realize that there were originally hundreds… possibly thousands? That each book was an account of things told by 1 person. So do you expect us to believe that only 4 out of the MANY got it right? And on top of that look at how we treat our heroes in history. We wipe clean their humanity, and over exaggerate their accomplishments… making them seem legendary. Jesus was a man… like the rest of us. It sounds like he was a fairly well spoken man with a lot of friends. Are you going to tell me that such a man didn't enjoy the pleasure of a woman? It's completely reasonable that he slept with women, had relationships, and even got married. But such a truth would TAINT your faith.. So it must be stricken from the record.

So, all in all? What do we expect? Religion is like the military. It tends to attract people who are emotionally broken, poorly educated, irrational, or too young to REALLY ask questions. You'd have a hard time going into a community of highly educated, rational people who are good citizens, good friends, etc… and convincing them the bible is the TRUE WORD.

To be honest… nothing in the bible is truly convincing to people. We're social creatures. What convinces us is other people. If the person preaching has a respectable, mature, understanding, worldly appearance, he will draw in people because of who he is, not what he's saying. No eskimo needs to buy ice, yet if you have the right person do it? He'll make a fortune. Why? Because people don't typically concern themselves with the words until AFTER the fact. When people convince others of something? They don't approach it the way they might have before the fact. They talk to the "non christian" as if he already believes, and perhaps simply lost his way.