I LOVE questions. I have told a LOT of students over many years that one of the most valuable skills in life is learning to ask Questions. So, I was thrilled several years back to meet then Cru staff member, randy Newman, who wrote the great book, Questioning Evangelism, recently released in its second edition.
Randy grew up in a Jewish family and normal conversation reputedly went like this:
"How are you doing today grandmother?"
"How should I be doing, I'm 86?"
Every question was met with a question in response. Jesus did the same in his meeting with the Jewish lawyer in Luke 10 and the rich young ruler in Luke 18, and in numerous encounters with Jewish leaders.
I doubt we can do better than Jesus himself in our evangelism. So why don't we slow down on spurting out our Gospel spiel, and instead ask a few questions.
What kind of questions?
Well, these are starters:
What do you believe about G^d? Interesting, why do you believe that?
What happens if you are right; if you are wrong? Why do you think that?
Who do you say Jesus was? Why? What did Jesus say about Himself? Why?
How did we come to be, personally? Why?
Is there any purpose in life? How did you come to that conclusion?
What happens after we die? Why do you believe that?
Do you believe mankind is mostly good or bad? Why?
How does a PURE, HOLY, JUST G^d deal with us fallen sinful humans? Why?
How could you resolve the issue of a HOLY, just G^d having to deal with unholy, unjust people? Why?
If you died tonight what would happen to you?
Not only these, but most questions can be met with questions. Randy's illustration is:
How could a good God allow people to go to hell? Notice the unspoken confounding assumption, that leads Randy to ask, "So you believe in Hell then?"
It takes a bit of practice, but it is a GREAT way to overcome many objections to Christianity, plus it is a LOT of FUN!!
Randy grew up in a Jewish family and normal conversation reputedly went like this:
"How are you doing today grandmother?"
"How should I be doing, I'm 86?"
Every question was met with a question in response. Jesus did the same in his meeting with the Jewish lawyer in Luke 10 and the rich young ruler in Luke 18, and in numerous encounters with Jewish leaders.
I doubt we can do better than Jesus himself in our evangelism. So why don't we slow down on spurting out our Gospel spiel, and instead ask a few questions.
What kind of questions?
Well, these are starters:
What do you believe about G^d? Interesting, why do you believe that?
What happens if you are right; if you are wrong? Why do you think that?
Who do you say Jesus was? Why? What did Jesus say about Himself? Why?
How did we come to be, personally? Why?
Is there any purpose in life? How did you come to that conclusion?
What happens after we die? Why do you believe that?
Do you believe mankind is mostly good or bad? Why?
How does a PURE, HOLY, JUST G^d deal with us fallen sinful humans? Why?
How could you resolve the issue of a HOLY, just G^d having to deal with unholy, unjust people? Why?
If you died tonight what would happen to you?
Not only these, but most questions can be met with questions. Randy's illustration is:
How could a good God allow people to go to hell? Notice the unspoken confounding assumption, that leads Randy to ask, "So you believe in Hell then?"
It takes a bit of practice, but it is a GREAT way to overcome many objections to Christianity, plus it is a LOT of FUN!!
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