In order to share the true gospel, and not burn bridges, with the Jehovah Witnesses there are a few things that will be required from you. You will need the following:
*Prayer
*Love & Patience
*Know Jesus
*Know the Gospel
*Know the Bible
Hopefully, after reading this, you will feel a lot more comfortable sharing your faith and the truth with a Jehovah Witness.
The next time a Jehovah Witness(JW) knocks on your door, greet them and treat them like a real person, because they are. Also, remember they need Jesus just as much as anybody else. Let them talk and let them explain to you why they are there. Don't interrupt them when they are talking. You don't want them to interrupt you. Also, try not to shut them down right away with the discussion of Jesus' deity, the 144,000, Heaven, Hell, and the Earth, or The New World Translation. There is good timing for all of that later.
Do your best to meet the JW where they are. Ask them to tell you what the most important thing is they want you to know. Ask them, "If we were to never see each other again what is the one thing you want me to know, what is your gospel?". When they tell you, listen very closely because they are going to say things that may sound right and you are going to wan to repeat back to them what they have said. Unfortunately, what the JWs have, is what all cults have, a watered down gospel or non existent gospel. When they have finished telling you their gospel ask them to tell it to you again. Say to them, "I want to make sure that I am understanding you correctly and I don't want to miss anything can you please tell me that again?"
You want to do this for two reasons. One, you really don't want to miss anything they said. Two, you want to show them that you really do care about them and what they have to say and because you want to take God's word seriously. You will want them to show the same respect to you when it is your turn to share the true Gospel with them. After they have told you their gospel twice, you are going to repeat it back to them. Start out, "Is that your gospel?" Let them answer yes or no. Follow up with, "Just so I know for sure what you are saying I want to repeat it back to you to make sure I am not missing anything." Then repeat what they have said to you. When you are finished ask them, was that your gospel? As long as you have repeated what they said was their gospel there shouldn't be any problems.
When they have affirmed to you, essentially three times, that, what they said twice and you repeated is their gospel, then go to your Bible. Ask them if it is okay for you to read some verses out of the Bible. They are most likely going to say yes. Then read to them, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 10:8-13, and Galatians 1:6-9. Then say, "that is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ." At this point it could get a little hairy but you must stick to scripture. The JW may respond with a rebuttal, "that is what I meant" or "well, yes that included." but this is when you explain to them saying, "No, it is not. I asked you twice to explain to me what your gospel is and I repeated what you said and all three times you said, 'yes, that is our gospel.'" At this point make it clear to them that you have or had no intentions in attacking them but only want to show them how serious you take God's word. Whatever happens after this point remember to stick to Jesus and the Gospel. Continuously, try to keep bringing the conversation back to why Jesus came and died and rose again. Share your testimony and how Christ has changed your life and also talk about your prayer life and how God has answered your prayers. Again, when dealing with cults unfortunately those caught up in cults do no have a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
If it comes to the point that you have to talk about the deity of Christ you can ask them who they think Jesus is. After they have explained to you who they think Jesus is do not go right in and ask them about the deity of Christ just yet but, because they believe Jesus is not God and was a created angel, the archangel Michael, ask them to show you where in scripture it says that Jesus is the archangel Michael. No where in scripture does it say this nor does it even hint at it. But this is what the JWs hold to.
The JWs will probably go to 1 Thessalonians.
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." (1 Thessalonians 4:16). If this is their logic that because He comes with the voice of an archangel then He must be an archangel then logic also follows that because He also comes with the sound of the trumpet of God then He must be God.
In Jude 9-10 we see Michael afraid to confront Satan. This is not our Jesus. No, instead when we read Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus is not afraid at all of Satan and in fact commands Satan what to do.
Angels throughout the gospels do not let people worship them because only God is allowed to be worshiped. But Jesus allows people to worship Him thus showing He is God.
The JWs will also try to point out the Greek and Hebrew words for Hell and try to allude to you that the words do not mean nor never meant a place of eternal torment but only a place of rest in the grave. At this point ask the JW where Satan and his demons will go when Christ returns. If the JWs say that they believe that there is a lake of fire of torment for Satan then you can show them Matthew:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)
The main point of meeting and taking time with the JWs is not to debate or have intellectual arguments but simply show them where they are wrong and present the true gospel to them. Before this is done, you must be equipped to do so, know the Gospel, the Bible, and spend lots of time in prayer. If you try to do this out of your own flesh or to try to win an argument you will have defeated the purpose of meeting with the Jehovah Witnesses and will not have done any good for anybody. For other central doctrines and their scripture click here.
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