How NOT to Witness (IMO)

[InTheLight]

I saw this on the back of a vehicle today:

http://www.planetichthuschristiangifts.com/products/Where-are-you-Going-when-you-Croak?.html

Actually it was a license plate frame, but with the exact same words.

Just above the license plate was a Christian 'Fish' with JESUS spelled out inside the outline of the fish.

So here we have a self-professed Christian asking strangers "Where are you goin' when you croak?" with a cartoon frog asking the question. I thought this is definitely not the way to witness. I also imagined the driver with a glove box full of Chick tracts.

 

[mandym]

I don't put bumper stickers on my vehicles. They just become deteriorated and look bad after a while. We need to be careful of assumptions about other people based on our won prejudices. There is no way to make a judgment of this sticker in relation to chick tracts.

 

[Tom Butler]

I don't do bumper stickers either.

The one in the OP trivializes an eternal matter, and is off-putting as well. It was obviously designed to be light-hearted, but failed.

There are two bumper stickers I saw that I liked. "Tithe if you love Jesus. Anybody can honk."

The other was on the rear of a big motor home. "We're out spending our children's inheritance."

 

[Jon-Marc]

I also don't put stickers on my car. I've quit driving anyway due to health problems and failing eyesight.

Making a joke out of witnessing is, in my opinion, in poor taste. Also, people shouldn't do to unbelievers what was done to me when I was 16.

A friend invited me to church, and I reluctantly agreed to go. After the morning service, I was taken to a back room where they had me on my knees with someone saying, "Repeat these words after me." Being shy and afraid of adults thanks to an abusive dad, I did as I was told and repeated words that were meaningless to me--especially since I had no idea what "saved" meant.

When I went home, my dad jokingly asked me, "Well, did you get saved?" He had a 7th Day Adventist background, but I'm quite sure he was never saved. I said, "Yes, but I don't know what from." We all laughed at that.

However, I kept going to that church to get away from my dad and because I found the love and acceptance there that I wasn't getting from my dad. I began to have a "head knowledge" and eventually believed that I was saved. I suffered through doubts and confusion for nearly a year until the Holy Spirit finally got through to me and made me realize that I had not gotten saved that day nearly a year earlier.

What if I had gone all my life thinking I was saved and then died and found myself in hell because of over-anxious people who wanted to add another soul to their belt and didn't bother to find out where that person was spiritually? Wanting to win souls is a good thing, but it's also a good idea to make sure the person actually understands and got saved. One question would have settled that on that day. All someone had to ask me was, "What just happened to you?" I would have replied, "I have no idea."

 

[seekingthetruth]

I don't do bumper stickers either.

The one in the OP trivializes an eternal matter, and is off-putting as well. It was obviously designed to be light-hearted, but failed.

There are two bumper stickers I saw that I liked. "Tithe if you love Jesus. Anybody can honk."

The other was on the rear of a big motor home. "We're out spending our children's inheritance."

My favorite is:

"I've seen the village, and I don't want it raising my kids".

I only have one on my truck and it says:

"The closer you get, the slower i go"

But seriously, I think that religious bumper stickers depend too much on one's interpretation of scripture and basic beliefs, so I would rather not use one.

The worst bumper sticker I ever saw in my life was this one:

"Paganism gave birth to Christianity"

I guess if you believe like Luke2427, and believe that every Christian denomination came from the RCC, then maybe the sticker is true, but I don't think that's what the owner here meant.

John

PS: "Where's the birth certificate?"

 

[Tom Butler]

What if I had gone all my life thinking I was saved and then died and found myself in hell because of over-anxious people who wanted to add another soul to their belt and didn't bother to find out where that person was spiritually?

Jon-Marc, this jumped out at me in your previous post. I think there are a couple of questions that could have been asked.

The first is a direct question: "Where are you spiritually." Their answers will tell you a lot about their understanding.

The second is, "How do you think one comes into a right relationship with God?" The answer will be revealing, as well. And don't be surprised if their answer is some sort of works salvation.

It is dangerous to ask someone, "are you a Christian?", because Christian means different things to different people. If they answer "yes," then you're basically done.
The only way to follow a "yes" answer is to ask, "what are you basing that on?"

Your description of what happened to you sent cold chills down my spine. I also know someone who was asked about their hope of heaven. The answer: "Well, I said the prayer."

I did run into this situation. My witnessing partner and I knocked on the door of a home occupied by three bachelor brothers. We were warmly welcomed inside, had some small-talk conversation. Then we turned to spiritual things.

"So," I asked one of them, "how do you think one comes into a right relationship with God?"

"Well," said the young man, "you have to repent of your sins and trust Christ for your salvation."

Wow, I wasn't expecting that.

"Well, have you ever done that?"

"Naw, never have. And if I ever do, I'll go to the church down the street to do it."

Well, I have to tell you, I didn't know what to say after that. So we invited them to our church, and thanked them for their hospitality.

 

[HAMel]

I am going to be way over my head here but it does appear to me that for the most part, way to many folks are talking and nobody is listening. Especially those lost individuals as they all have opinions regarding the here-after and they have all been told about Jesus. Everyone in America has heard about Jesus.

Jesus taught. Did he "witness"? The word "witnessing" only appears once in the Bible that I can find and that's in Acts 26:22. To witness means, among other things, to have first hand knowledge. Those of us who are believers have a form of first hand knowledge but we never "witnessed" the accident on the corner of 5th and Main. We walked up to it after the fact. So our witness would not hold up in a court of law.

Our lives should speak louder than words when it comes to our relationship with the Lord but that is even hard at times as we are humans and we often fail. I spoke with a man once about his salvation and he flat told me that no, he knew he wasn't going to heaven. Boastfully, he said he knew he was going to hell and once there he'd party with all his friends. So sad.

I think there is a need to ponder the difference between "telling" others and "showing" others about Jesus.

I think that sometimes the very act of praying in a restaurant sends the wrong signals. Some pray in public just to be noticed. Nothing wrong with a short prayer in public but certainly not turning it into a Rodgers & Hammerstein style production. I am of the opinion that a family in a restaurant reflecting the joys of what a family should be as a unit sends a much stronger testimony. Besides, what ever happened to manners?

We need to tell people about Jesus for sure and warn them of the terror waiting just around the corner should they not come to Jesus. Perhaps a way to find the ones in need is to focus on those who are definitely "in need" as their distress, pain, anxieties, etc., will be a "witness" for them crying out for help and relief.

Stop talking and listen for a change.

 

[glfredrick]

This one is rather sad:

 

[Alive in Christ]

I don't do bumper stickers either.

The one in the OP trivializes an eternal matter, and is off-putting as well. It was obviously designed to be light-hearted, but failed.

For you it doesnt work, but you never know...it might be just the thing that will draw someone to Christ.

 

[glfredrick]

I see that someone edited my post above.

I had a picture of the "coexist" bumper sticker. Google it...