Month: August 2016

Is It Wrong to Celebrate Birthdays?

birthday-1008396_1280The Watchtower prohibits Jehovah’s Witnesses from celebrating birthdays. Witness children are not allowed to attend birthday parties of non-Witness friends, nor are they allowed to give or receive birthday presents or cards.

I wouldn’t raise this issue for discussion because it’s not a salvation matter. However, if Witnesses insist on talking about it, I recommend that you show them from the Scriptures that what days a Christian does or does not celebrate is a matter for the individual’s conscience, not for organizational rule-making. Continue reading

Stage 6 of a Witnessing Relationship: Scenario 2: Walking Away

Stage 6 - Walking awayMuch as I would like to think that every witnessing relationship with a Jehovah’s Witness will result in their coming to saving faith in Christ, I’m a realist.

Most of the time, witnessing efforts end with an impasse, so let’s talk about how to handle that situation. Continue reading

Stage 6 of a Witnessing Relationship: Scenario 1: Coming to Jesus

Stage 6 - Coming to JesusAt some point, your meetings with any given pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses will come to an end. The chances that both of them will be ready to come to saving faith in Christ at the same time are very slim.

In fact, you will need to be alert in order to detect that you have gotten through to even one of them. That Witness won’t want to let his partner know that his faith in the Watchtower organization is wavering. If he does, he will soon find himself being summoned to explain himself to the elders. In the worst case scenario, he could be disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for apostasy. As a result, he would be completely shunned by all Jehovah’s Witnesses, including his own family.

One way to deal with this reality is to make it clear at some point that you would be happy to meet with either of the Witnesses alone if trying to meet together becomes inconvenient. The unwavering Witness won’t do that. The other one might, though secretly.

The other option would be to find a time when the two Witnesses have separated momentarily and make the offer privately to the one you think is open to the gospel.

Let’s assume that you do get an opportunity to share the gospel with that Witness one-to-one. What points do you need to make sure he understands? Continue reading

Stage 5 of a Witnessing Relationship: Challenging Directly

Stage 5 - Challenging directlyUnless they are harboring secret doubts, the Jehovah’s Witnesses who come to your home believe that the Watchtower Society is God’s visible organization on earth. They believe that it is God’s only channel of communication to man in these last days.

They also believe that the Governing Body of the Watchtower organization are the “faithful and discreet slave” (Matthew 24:45) and that God has put them in charge of his worldwide work.

In order for them to be saved, they must at some point come to rest their faith in Christ himself rather than in an organization that claims to represent him. In other words, their reliance on the Watchtower must be broken.

For this reason, one witnessing strategy is to show them evidence of one or more of the following: Continue reading

Stage 4 of a Witnessing Relationship: Opening Up

Stage 4 - Opening upWhen dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses, asking questions almost always works better than making declarations. That’s because they see themselves as the teachers and you as the student.

But there comes a time in your relationship where you will need to put some of your cards on the table and open up about what you believe even though you know that will cause friction between you and the Witnesses.

It’s not always easy to know when that moment has arrived. If you move too quickly or too boldly, the Witnesses may simply pack up their book bags and leave.

Here is some advice about how to make the transition: Continue reading

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