07 December 2003 15:00
1113034.2207i just returned from hearing a french pastor speak on the subject of witnessing to new agers. he grew up in a new age home, his father was a "master" in a particular new age cult (a cult which originated in California by the way). he himself was a firm believer in reincarnation and the like until shortly after his graduation from high school. he was converted to evangelical christianity in france itself. there are 350000 evangelical christians in france (based on what he said), that's .06% of the nation's population. it's terrible. and to think that that number is way higher than the number of christians in turkey.
what i liked the most about this guy: he did not soft-pedal the scriptures. his constant theme in witnessing to these people was "love them, share the gospel with them, then pray for them." he spoke of sharing the gospel very matter-of-factly, to him it was the easy part, the hard part was convincing them that their new age beliefs were wrong. he didn't focus on tailoring the gospel to the individual, to presenting it to them in the most acceptable manner to them. he just presented it. this is what God did, this is what Jesus did, end of story. he placed the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the hearer. we simply bear the message, we share the message and it is out of our hands and into God's. it is up to the person hearing the message to now make a choice: ignore, or believe (or at least question further). if they are interested, then we share more, and we try to convince them that they are wrong.
and he wasn't afraid to tell somebody they were wrong too. hmm. there is definately a way to be tactful about that, and a way that is wrong, even unkind (goodness knows christians shouldn't be unkind). and it was obvious from his relation of earlier experiences that he had grown a little in this area, and on top of that, recognized that growth. but he has an excellent point, they are wrong, and there is no denying that. sugar-coating it won't help. saying "you're wrong, you're a sinner, you're going to hell" probably won't getting you far. but saying, "well, yeah, you can think that, sure. but uh, that way i see it, see, what i believe is, well, the way I understand what the bible says, you probably shouldn't be doing that" that probably won't get you very far either. this man's favorite verse in dealing with those who believe in reincarnation is Hebrews 9:27. okay, so a little out of context, but you can see why being destined to "die once" might have an effect on someone who believes in reincarnation.
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