jonathan.borland
Active Member
I agree completely with your last statement.
I have never one time offended anyone in Japan (where 95% of adults drink; I've even heard of whiskey at a PTA meeting) by telling them I do not drink. But many, many times telling them this has given me an opportunity to witness for Christ. It works this way. They say, "Huh? You don't drink? Why in the world not?" My answer is, "I don't need to. I have the joy of the Lord in my soul because I'm saved. I have no need for bottled joy." And we go on from there.
Good one, John! My rejection lines are very similar. My general dilemma is phrasing my rejection conversation in such a way that this atheist's first run in with a foreign Christian does not end with yet another barrier to reception: "If I become a Christian I can't drink with my buds anymore," a friendship death sentence in their minds. In the end I usually use the saying, "Our friendship's good, allow me to use tea instead of wine" (感情有,茶代酒). I usually try to refrain from using the Conficianism, "Immorality follows drinking" (酒后无德), unless I perceive that such is the case in their lives.