Volume 3 Number 3 February 13, 2008

MarketFaith Ministries is an equipping ministry which is focused on helping Christians become more effective
in living out their faith in the midst of the increasingly diverse worldview environment of modern society.
Introduction

What is your feeling about witnessing? Is it one of those things that you feel you ought to do but find it to be difficult? I un-
derstand where you are coming from and I believe that this problem is primarily one of mindset. Somehow we have been
indoctrinated with the idea that we need to be constantly out verbally confronting people with a gospel presentation, and
mostly doing it in cold call situations. Now, we do need to always have our antenna up for opportunities. But the most ef-
fective witnessing has always been, and always will be, to people we already have a relationship with. The key is to devel-
op our relationships so that talking about faith matters is both natural and enjoyable.

But let me get off of my soapbox and give you a preview of today’s article. It is always enjoyable to talk with friends about
matters that are of interest to both. Our faith can definitely be one of those topics if we learn how to talk about it intelligent-
ly. An understanding of worldview will put you in a position to do just that. But assuming you have that knowledge, what
do you need to do in order to make your faith make sense to those you are sharing with? Well, you have to start your wit-
ness in a place that makes sense to that person. And that is today’s topic. I hope that you find some significant insights to
help you on your path.
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What Is the Best Starting Point for Witness?

I became a Christian when I was sixteen years old and al- Following that there is an explanation of the gospel mes-
most immediately felt the desire to share my faith with peo- sage. Then, finally, a call to make a decision.
ple who did not know Christ. That was right in the middle of
the Jesus movement of the 1960s. In America, the traditional starting point for sharing the gos-
pel assumes that the person being approached already has
In order to be able to share my faith, I learned how to pres- a basic understanding of the Christian worldview. It as-
ent the gospel message. There are actually a number of sumes that the person already believes in a creator God
methods that people use to do this, and I learned a couple who is the one described in the Bible. In days past that was
of different ones. To further expand my knowledge, over the probably not an unfounded assumption. Almost everyone
years I have had the opportunity to participate in numerous did believe in God that way. But that is just not the case any
witness training opportunities. All of these use the same more. Now you are just as likely to interact with someone
gospel message (after all there is only one message), but who is a Naturalist, an Animist, an adherent of one of the
each one is packaged a little differently. Far Eastern Thought religions, or a member of some other
Theistic religion or cult.
Basically, each method consists of several parts. They usu-
ally start out with some kind of introduction – a way to en- It used to be that we could start out telling a person: God
gage a person in a conversation about the gospel. loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. But in our
(Continued on page 2)

Contact MarketFaith Ministries

312 Anton Dr. Toll Free: 888-883-0656
Tallahassee, FL 32312 info@marketfaith.org Phone: 850-383-9756
http://www.marketfaith.org Fax: 850-514-4571

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Over the last few weeks I have been sharing with you a project that we have taken on at MarketFaith Ministries. We are
working to send a free copy of our new book on witnessing, Worldview Witnessing, to prominent Christian leaders
around the country who focus on evangelism – including denominational Evangelism Directors and evangelism profes-
sors at seminaries and Bible colleges. We have already made some great progress on this but are looking for a few part-
ners to help us complete the project. If you know anyone who might be willing to make a contribution, would you please
share this need with them. A tax deductible gift in any amount would be greatly appreciated. It may be sent to: Market-
Faith Ministries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312. It is also possible to donate online. Simply use the “Donate” but-
ton on the website to make a contribution by credit card.

Needless to say, we are very excited about the new book and it is now available if you would like to order a copy. You
can order them on amazon.com, or if you would like an autographed copy, you can order directly from the secure order
form on the MarketFaith Ministries website.

And remember, we are always here for you. Feel free to contact us any time with comments, questions and suggestions.

God bless,
Freddy

(Witness - Continued from page 1)

current day, the person may believe in a different god, may not believe in God at all, may believe in many gods, or may
even believe in the “impersonal cosmos.” So, what do you do if you try to present the gospel and the person doesn’t be-
lieve in God or doesn’t understand what you are talking about? Do you just write them off? Of course not! We can’t do
that. We need to know how to explain to them the message of salvation in terms that make sense to them.

The key to dealing with this problem is not so daunting that we can’t do it. We must simply realize that the gospel mes-
sage never changes, but the way we tell it has to be customized to the person we are sharing with. To do this, we don’t
change the content of the message, but we do have to begin at the right starting point. If they don’t understand who God
is, we can’t start simply by saying, “God loves you.” We have to go one step further back and explain who God is.

So, where do we need to start in order to share an effective witness? We need to start in the place that will allow the one
we are sharing with to understand. What good does it do to tell a person that God loves them if their understanding of
God is different than what is taught in the Bible. We must first find out what they believe. Then we will be in a position to
explain the message in terms that will make sense to them.

Doing this is possible under virtually any circumstances, but is much more difficult in cold call situations where you don’t
have the ability to spend time getting to know the person. Using a cold call methodology is not impossible, but it puts a
great burden on the one who is trying to share a witness to have a tremendous grasp of worldview principles. But if you
have the opportunity to share your witness in the context of a longer term relationship, your chance of sharing effectively,
and seeing fruit, are much higher.

In a short article like this, it is impossible to give an in depth training. However, we can lay down an outline that will help
us understand the process we need to use. Here, we will put this in a five step formula for sharing a witness.

1. Listen, first, to discern what the other person believes. You can’t know where to start a witness until you find out
the person’s understanding of God. The easiest way to do this is to discern their foundational worldview. You can do this
(Continued on page 3)

Find these books along with other

great worldview resources at
www.marketfaith.org

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by finding their answers to the seven worldview questions. All you need to do is ask them questions about what they be-
lieve and just listen to them talk. (Since this article is not about the worldview questions, we will not take the time to deal
with that here. However, you may check out the worldview primer, as well as other related articles, at
www.marketfaith.org to get a grasp of this concept.)

2. Analyze the differences between their belief in God and what is revealed in Scripture. It is not enough for you to
hear what they have to say, you must also discern where they are wrong. The purpose of figuring this out is not to jump
on their case. If you do that, you will certainly lose your opportunity to share what you believe. The reason this is neces-
sary is that this will tell you specifically what you need to share. You must have this understanding firmly in mind before
you ever say anything. If you are versed in an understanding of worldview, you will have a powerful tool for gathering this
information. Not only will you know what the differences are between their belief and yours, you will also know why you
are right and why they are wrong.

3. Step three is to let the other person know that you believe something different than they do. There are a couple
of ways to do this, and you need to pick the one which gives you the best chance of sharing your witness.

If the person is very firm in their own beliefs, the best way to approach them is to ask questions which help them to see
the deficiencies in their faith. This approach lets them see that you are genuinely interested in them and lets them share
their strongly held beliefs. It also earns you your turn later on. If you were so kind as to listen to them, they will feel obli-

gated later to listen to you. (Note: The MarketFaith Minis-

tries website also has articles on the topics which will
expose the deficiencies in the various worldviews.)
Subscription Information
If the person is not that well versed in their own beliefs, you
may be able to be a bit more direct – not aggressive and If you would like to receive Worldview Made Practical as a
haughty, just more direct. That is because this person is free email subscription, simply go to www.marketfaith.org
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proach simply means that you identify for them the areas
where you see problems in their faith, and begin to give Past Issues of Worldview Made Practical are available
reasons why what they believe is a problem. If you do this free of charge in .pdf (Acrobat) format in the archives at
kindly, it will open up the opportunity for you to share your http://www.marketfaith.org.
solution – the gospel.

4. Get permission to share what you believe. Getting
this permission may require an overt request or may simply
mean discerning that the person you are talking to is ready
to hear what you have to say.
Sometimes, the person you are witnessing to is so focused
on themselves that they do not really think of hearing what
you have to say. In that case you may have to say some-
thing like, “I have a different understanding of God. May I
share with you what I believe?” If you must take this ap-
proach, be sure that you have listened fully to them, first.
After you have listened to them, they would have to be
rude to turn down your request.
At other times, though, the conversation may create a nat-
ural opening for you to simply share what you believe. If
that opportunity opens up, don’t hesitate to jump right in.
5. Share your faith and provide for a decision. Finally,
you are in a position to share the gospel message. When
you do, start at the place which helps them understand the
message. If they don’t believe in God, you must start by
giving evidence that there is a God. If they believe in many
gods, you must give reasons why there are not. If they be-
(Continued on page 4)
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you would like to partner with us in this effort, you may
send your tax deductible contribution to MarketFaith Minis-
tries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312.

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(Witness - Continued from page 3)

lieve in an impersonal “cosmos,” you must be able to share why there is a personal God. If they believe in the God of
some other religion, you must be prepared to share why the God of the Bible is the true God. If they believe in a hybrid
system (a mixture of several worldviews) you need to be prepared to share why that is impossible. If they believe in God,
but not the God of the Bible, you must bring them to the point of at least understanding what the Bible teaches before your
gospel presentation will make any sense to them. (If all of this seems a bit daunting, let me refer you once again to the
worldview primer. Once you know the basics, it is not daunting at all.)

When you get to the point of asking for a decision, you must again be very careful to discern what your friend under-
stands. If you get a person to “pray the prayer” of repentance, but they really don’t understand what they are doing, they
have not really accepted Christ. Entering into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ does not happen by reciting a
formula (even if it is in the form of a prayer), any more than you enter into a human relationship using a formula. We are
dealing with the formation of a personal relationship, and that only happens when a person truly understands that God is
a real person who can be known in a personal relationship, and they actually step into the relationship. Sometimes it is
more prudent to let your witness percolate in the person’s heart for a while until they truly understand. You will have to be
very discerning at this point.

So, What Is the Best Starting Point for Witness?

What is the best starting point for sharing a witness? It is the place where the other person is. Wherever they are, that is
the starting point. In order to be truly effective, you have to learn how to find out where that point is for each individual,
and share your witness based on that understanding. If you learn how to do this, your effectiveness in bringing people to
Christ will explode.

Next Month’s Article: The Gospel According to PETA