Is There Any Difference Between Soulwinning & Witnessing?

Everyone is to be a witness for Christ.

There is no promise anywhere that guarantees you will lead a person to Christ.

There is a difference.

Out like that one kid in kickball that ran the wrong way.

[ September 13, 2002, 04:07 PM: Message edited by: PreachtheWord ]

 

If you give someone the reason for the hope thatlies within you then you are witnessing.
If they choose to be saved at the end of your witness and you lead them to Christ you are a soulwinner. All witnessing is to win a soul. Like fishing, you can cast and cast and still be fishing if you do not catch a fish. It is just more fulfiling and rewarding when you do.

 

I believe the two terms are synonymous. However, they probably shouldn't be.

To me, the term 'soulwinner/ing' has mans pride all over it. Who actually 'wins' that soul anyway?

I prefer the term 'witness'. I'm a willing witness of what Christ has done for me. God wins the souls.

 

I believe soulwinning and witnessing could be synonymous.

Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The purpose of this promise is to empower us to go forth and witness for Christ. That would be declaring the Gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection. That is what soulwinning is.

Soulwinning is planting the seed. You may or may not reap the harvest, but you still sowed the seed. Several farmers in our area are not reaping a good corn harvest but they are still farmers because they planted the seed.

1Cor 3:6 "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

Our mandate is to "go and tell;" it is God's responsibility to give the increase.

[ September 13, 2002, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Pastor Bob 63 ]

 

I agree with RomOne16 100%... there are some things which impair our ability to be effective for God, and Pride has got to be near the top of the list. I'm reading a book about D L Moody, and it's amazing how humble he was despite all his success at evangelizing. I think that's one of the main reasons God empowered him to be so successful.

Eric

 

I agree. The term "soul-winning" sends my red flags up. In my experience, pushers of easy-believism (Hyles-types, among others) use this term heavily.

It reminds me of a young man I heard speak in a church one time. He recounted that some friends and he were out soul-winning one day. He said, "the first guy got one but I didn't, then the second guy got one, then the first guy again, then the third guy but I still hadn't got one. Finally as we were headin' back, I saw a little 8 year old boy playing at a motel. I says, Stop here!Stop here! His mom said I could talk to him about Jesus and so I got one too..."

It seemed like they were making a sport out of souls. When Jesus promised to make his followers fishers of men, I don't think he was talking about trophy fishing and notching belts.

 

The term "soulwinning" is a biblical term:
Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."

I agree 100% that those that make soulwinning a competition are in for a rough time at the Judgement Seat. They are creating a lot of false security in many people. Soulwinning is far more than talking someone into "saying" a prayer.

Soulwinning, IMO, is showing someone from the Scriptures their need to repent of their sins and their need to trust in the finished work of Christ on Calvary for their salvation. This cannot be done in three minutes on a street corner.

 

PTW,

Just wanted to say hi.

Out like a preposition.

Out like "he" in the TNIV

 

Sure, you can tell all about what Christ has done in your life...without ever turning it around and asking the other person if they want to accept the gift of salvation. People do it all the time. The people who say with their life ... "look at me...see what I have?" And think they're job is done.

Soul winning is a Bible directive. He who winneth souls is wise....hmmmm

 

Aaaaamen! The pastor of another church I visited (with a direct link to Hyles-Anderson) stated from the pulpit that they had won over 14,000 people to Christ the previous year. There might have been 500 adults and 200 kids attending that Sunday morning... I thought to myself, "If that many were saved where did they all go?" They weren't making disciples, they were keeping score.

This part has become a matter of definitions for my part. What you describe above, I would call witnessing. What wisdomseeker calls witnessing, I would call a testimony.

The term witness to me means telling about Jesus, not what has been done in our lives. I believe we are literally witnesses of the cross and resurrection.

I have been looking at some polls at http://www.barna.org. At one place, it said that only 4 of 10 Baptist had shared their faith within the last year. The definition of "sharing their faith" was not clear to me. That number seems high to me. Another survey I saw by the SBC said that only about 2% of Southern Baptist would share the gospel in the typical year. This number seems low.

The truth is probably somewhere in between. Both numbers are pathetic in that the command to declare the gospel is to all believers.

 

I agree with ScottJ and Pastor Bob 63.

I would say that witnessing would be taking any opportunity that arose to give an answer for the hope that lies within us.

Soul-winning would probably fall moreso under the category of meeting at the church and planning to go out and tell the community about Christ.

Personally we enjoy both.

 

Amen Pastor
Murph