How can we disarm those we are witnessing to?

When the believer interacts with an unbeliever, seeking to share the good news of Jesus Christ, we have one great advantage- we’ve read their mail. That is, before the conversation even begins we know the unbeliever already knows God exists, and that they are under His judgment. This unpleasant truth they seek to suppress. But we know it’s there. We’ve read Romans 1. We know their objections are insincere smokescreens.

We don’t, however, announce our inside knowledge. Such only makes them more defensive. Instead we use it to their advantage. We can chip away at their bulwark before we even begin to make our case. I’d suggest that for most unbelievers the foundation of that bulwark consists of two “truths.” The unbeliever believes the believer is first, not as smart as your average bear and second, more mean than your average snake.

What if, when we approach the unbeliever, we seek to bring doubt on those two gratuitous conclusions? We start by adopting a position of humility about ourselves. We are not telling the unbeliever how they can be good like we are. We are instead telling them about the one good man redeemed bad people like us. We acknowledge what is already obvious to everyone around us, that we not only were sinners before but we, even as saints, continue to struggle with sin. We rejoice that in Christ we are deemed righteous, and beloved of our Father, as are all who repent and believe.

With all due humility we also strike at the second part of that foundation, the premise that believers are stupid and unbelievers smart. Here our advantage is that this premise is only half true. We believers are stupid, but no stupider than anyone else. Our stupidity, like everyone else’s, flows out of our sin. We all face the temptation to believe what we want to believe, not what is obviously true.

The unbeliever, for instance, likely embraces the creed of western civilization- there is no such thing as objective truth. The problem is, going back to Romans 1, they already know this truth isn’t true, and, ironically, if it is true, then it’s not true. This epistemological bedrock is self-referentially absurd. It contradicts itself. If it’s true, it’s false. If it’s false, it’s false.

The unbeliever knows there is truth, even when he denies it. That he is engaged in the argument with you is all the proof you need. He’s trying to persuade you that “his” “truth” is the real truth and “your” “truth” is false. Don’t, though it can be hard not to, embarrass him. Acknowledge that you too have been known to embrace some pretty silly ideas, that you too are sometimes mislead by your own emotions. However stupid we may be, truth is knowable. And he knows that.

We haven’t yet come to the place for explaining or defending God’s existence, the Bible as truth, Jesus as God our Savior. What we have done, however, is prepare the way. We have made low every mountain and raised up every valley. We have been John the Forerunner. That is a good start.