Last year I began sharing Bible stories and a gospel witness with children in a particular area of Barrouallie. A family at the end of the road graciously allowed me to use their house as a “meeting place” of sorts for the children. Most times they would sit along with the small wall outside their home while we sang songs, practiced memory verses, and listened to a Bible story.
Not only did they allow me to meet there, but the family helped by encouraging the children to listen, and pay attention to the story themselves. The wife in particular would sit outside and listen carefully, asking questions afterwards.
A few weeks ago I was talking with her about coming to visit with them for a Scripture reading during the week, and she told me that someone from another church was already meeting with them on Wednesdays. I honestly didn’t think about it too much, but asked Monday about meeting with them another day of the week.
The wife replied that the lady actually met with them online. When she brought up the fact that it was a lady, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.
It didn’t take long to figure out that she was meeting with a Jehovah’s Witness for weekly studies.
The sad thing is this woman knows the Bible very well. She should be able to see through the false doctrine and beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Yet she proceeded to tell me her personal beliefs that came through her study with that woman.
Many of those are pretty unimportant, like refusing to celebrate Christmas or Easter. But what broke my heart was she doesn’t believe hell brings eternal suffering.
Her view is that a persons body will just burn up, and then there’s nothing left
To be honest I was incredibly convicted by that conversation. Here was a woman sitting less than six-feet away listening while I shared the Gospel, and she didn’t believe in eternal punishment in hell.
this is first and foremost a conviction upon me for not directly sharing the Gospel with her, and learning about her personal spiritual views. It is also a condemnation upon Christians who are too passive when it comes to sharing the Gospel.
Scripture promises that the Lord will open the door for us to share the Gospel. This means He will lead us to the hearts of those that He’s working on. So part of evangelism or outreach is to find the doors that God has opened. At the same time, we are called to share the Gospel in an aggressive, or intentional way.
The reason why this woman started a study with the Jehovah’s Witness is because she came to her, along with many other people in my community every week sharing her doctrine. As the weeks went by she would spend more and more time at the woman’s house.
Finally the Jehovah’s Witness started saving her house for last….giving plenty of time to teach her false doctrine.
I am thankful today that the Lord gives me an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in front of this woman’s house every day, and she loves to listen. At the same time my heart is broken because so many Christians are looking for just the right opportunity to share Christ, while cults are reaching the entire community.
Johnhwilburn.org 