What is the Problem?
We live in crazy times. It seems to me that society is about as uncivil as I have seen it in my entire lifetime. Most of the incivility seems to revolve around politics. It mostly has to do with the fact that the two most prominent political factions in the U.S. today are expressions of entirely different worldview beliefs that are in conflict with each other. The political conflicts tend to be most prominent as: Trump supporters vs. Trump haters, conservative vs. liberal, and free market capitalism vs. socialism.
But the incivility that exists is not just about politics. There is a lot of conflict as it relates to religion as well. We see this expressed most prominently in the culture war battles going on in society. The most visible manifestations of this include: abortion vs. pro life advocacy, gay marriage vs. traditional marriage advocacy, attempts by certain states to enforce sanctions against businesses that will not cater to homosexuals, and attempts to “remove religion” from the public square.
In the course of trying to get a handle on this, I have written other articles that deal with why this conflict exists. The reason is because the worldview beliefs that inform the two sides actually represent different religions that understand reality in entirely different ways. Each side sees the other’s beliefs as untrue and offensive. The naturalistic worldview beliefs that are the foundation of modern American Liberalism is atheistic, while the traditional beliefs that were the originating foundation of American society is based on Christian Theism.
As Christians, our chief desire should be to cut through the conflict in order to ultimately share the most important thing about our faith – how a person can know a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is not meant to imply that we should avoid discussions about politics or the contentious issues related to religious beliefs. As Christian citizens, we should be concerned about the laws and policies that govern our land. However, in the process of these discussions, we should also have a greater ultimate goal in mind – helping opponents understand not only that their policy preferences are wrong, but that the very basis of their beliefs do not represent reality. We need to be able to use discussions like this to point people to Christ. There are two huge problems that we must overcome if we are to become effective in accomplishing this goal.
The first problem is that most people pick sides but are generally ignorant of the actual tenets of their beliefs. Sadly, this applies to people on both sides. There actually are reasons why Christian beliefs are true and right, and opposing beliefs are false and wrong. Many Christians intuitively know that Christian beliefs are true, but when asked to explain why, they are totally unable to do so. The problem with this is that it is impossible to explain what you don’t understand. A Christian witness is an explanation. If you are not conversant with why Christianity is true and Naturalism is false, it is almost impossible to share the truths of the Christian faith with someone who believes your beliefs are a fantasy. On a side note, most people who hold Liberal views don’t understand the whys of their beliefs either.
A second problem emerges out of the first. For the most part, people talk at each other but not with each other. There is a lot of trying to shout each other down, but very little discussion about the actual beliefs people hold. Based on my experience of interacting with scores of people who oppose my Christian beliefs, I think the root of this problem lies in the fact that the vast majority of people don’t know how to intelligently discuss their beliefs. That being the case, all they are left with is to try to shut people up by name calling, insulting, and shouting the other person down.
It used to be that sharing a witness could be limited to simply sharing the gospel message. It is still possible to do that if the person you are interacting with already believes the worldview expressed in the Bible. But the people you interact with who advocate “Liberal” beliefs do not hold a biblical worldview – even those who claim to be Christians (see http://www.marketfaith.org/2018/08/the-non-christian-beliefs-of-modern-liberalism). Because of that, sharing a witness these days very often requires more than simply sharing the gospel message. These people begin with the belief that the gospel message is a fantasy, so a deeper explanation is necessary before they will even be willing to hear the gospel. Of course, in the end, it is the gospel message they must respond to, but getting to that place will generally require another step.
Education
People cannot respond to what they don’t understand, and generally those who hold a naturalistic worldview do not understand the gospel. Interestingly, their lack of understanding is not merely because of a lack of knowledge, it is because they actually believe a biblical worldview is fantasy. In order to deal with people who believe that, it is necessary to give them an education. As such, a big part of witness today has to be education.
Self Education
Providing people with an education about the Christian faith, though, is not merely about sharing facts; we have to educate people about how to understand reality in a different way. This means we must start with ourselves. Obviously, every Christian already believes the Bible is based on reality, but if we want to help other people understand that, we also need to understand their beliefs. As such, the education process begins with ourselves. There are two aspects of this self education.
The first part has to do with learning the worldview and the doctrinal beliefs of the person you want to witness to. There is great value to this in the witnessing process. First, it is valuable because it allows you to understand where the other person is coming from, thus be able to answer their questions intelligently. But there is also value because it gives you the tools to show them why what they believe is not based on reality. It is their doubts in this area that will at least open them up to hear what you have to say.
The second aspect of this self education is to become proficient in your own biblical beliefs. It is not enough merely to learn “what” the Bible teaches, we must also become knowledgeable regarding “why” it is the truth. This is the kind of knowledge that will put you in a position to stand strong against untruth. This is a key ingredient in an explanation of the gospel message to someone who holds a non-biblical worldview.
“Other” Education
But in witness, it is not enough to educate yourself. In years past, America was very homogenous religiously. If you just explained the gospel message, most everyone actually understood what you were talking about. That is simply not the case any more. America is now religiously quite pluralistic, and there are a large number of people who, if they hear the gospel message, simply will not understand. It will not make sense to them because their understanding of reality (their worldview) will not allow them to believe Christianity. Because of that, you may have to do a lot of explaining to help them grasp the very concept of biblical thought. A big part of this will involve comparing their beliefs with yours (which is why the self education is so important).
But there is another element that you must also be aware of. Just as many self-identified Christians don’t grasp the basic tenets of the Christian faith, many people who affirm other beliefs also don’t understand their own beliefs. It is possible that you may even have to help them understand their belief system so they can see what is wrong with their own faith.
Attitude
There is one more element that you need to be aware of as you share a witness with people who hold other worldview beliefs – your attitude. Many of the people who will actively challenge the Christian faith and Christian principles are down right mean and ugly. These are the uncivil people we have already referred to in this article. When dealing with people who are like that, you will never be able to share an effective witness if you have the same kind of attitude they have, and act like they do. There are three things to keep in mind on this front.
1. You need to understand that if you openly advocate for the Christian faith, you will likely face hostility. You need to be ready to receive it and reflect back love. This does not mean that you cannot confront and contradict their views, but it does mean that you must do it in love and be willing to handle their hostility as you engage them.
2. You can’t allow yourself to be intimidated. My experience is that many of these people will not only blast what you say, but may even do it in a very condescending and vile way. If you have educated yourself well, this will never be a problem for you. People who hold a naturalistic worldview hold beliefs that do not reflect reality, and there is not a single argument they can give that cannot be refuted. The key is to refute well, but always do it in love. This is your opportunity to educate them and help them gradually come to an understanding of the truth.
3. You have to be persistent and can’t give up. My experience is that in the process of this persistence, if you actually never do give up, at some point the other person probably will; they will simply quit the conversation. But that is okay. As we share a witness, we don’t always get to be the harvester. Sometimes we are the one God uses to break up the sod or to sow the seeds.
The Nature of Witness
It is essential to keep in mind that we do not have the power to save other people. We also don’t have the ability to make other people’s decisions for them. Salvation is a work of God from start to finish. God provides the means for salvation. We do, though, have the privilege of being instruments God uses to share the message. That, and that alone, is our responsibility. If we take it seriously and prepare ourselves to do the work of witness he has called us to, God will use us powerfully to touch the lives of many, and his Spirit will stir in their lives.
© 2018 Freddy Davis