(2 Cor 4:4) “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Have you ever been in an intellectual muscle fight? You know: those discussions where you and another person are trying to outwit each other with differing points of view? Well, my encounter with Aaron at the front door of his home felt much like that. And, oh boy, that Aaron…he was ready for a fight. If you know me, I do not have two brain cells to rub together, much less to have an intellectual muscle fight. Things took a turn for the worse when the discussion turned to Jewish history, world history, and the church. The most I know about history is that it’s mostly learning about dead people, which is kind of spooky when you think about it, wouldn’t you say?
Here are three things I learned about Aaron in our almost hour-long discussion:
He is Jewish. After going through the survey with Aaron, he wanted to let me know some things about himself. Among the many things I found out about Aaron in the first minute of our conversation, I learned: He has a Masters in Religious Studies, he is fluent in both Modern Hebrew and Modern Arabic, and most importantly he is Jewish. “Do you speak Hebrew?” he said to me in Modern Hebrew. Once he realized I did not understand what he said, he repeated himself in English. With the stage set, Aaron started swinging.
He is Passionate. He started attacking the Bible. “The Bible is full of contradictions,” he said. I opened my Bible, handed it to him, and said, “Show me one.” “Hold one second,” he countered, “I have something better.” Aaron left us at the door and retrieved his Torah. While he was away, my partner and I decided to pray silently that we would be able to verbally share the gospel with him, since he had already refused the tract.
Aaron came back ready to point out the contradictions. I thought he would attack the New Testament, but to my surprise he attacked Noah and the account of the flood. He claimed that in Genesis 8:22 God promised not to destroy the world again. Genesis 8:22 in his copy of the Torah did not match with the corresponding verse in my KJV Bible. The Torah he was using left out all the qualifiers found in the KJV. I answered by reading (Gen 9:11) “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” I explained that we have different viewpoints because we have different authorities. He agreed. I was about to shake his hand and go on to the next house, but he was not done.
Aaron continued by accusing a well-known church in the area of directly attacking Jews and children. He wanted to know, therefore, how we decide which communities to evangelize and what we do when children answer the door. I showed him the map and answered both questions. Being satisfied with my answer, he asked for my permission to allow him to write this church, informing them that my church disagrees with their method of evangelism. I let him know repeatedly that I could not do that, and even after the umpteenth time, he insisted even more. Again, I was about to shake his hand and move on when he said to me, “I have one more question.” By this time, his wife, being assured we were not Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses, joined in the conversation. She too had a Masters degree in Religious Studies and she assured us they are well-educated. They both wanted to know what I think of the Pope.
They were wowed by the Gospel. I was beaten up and torn down at this point, just ready to go onto the next door. So for their question about the Pope, I gave a rather quick answer. But this was when my soul-winning partner, who was silent until now, spoke up and said, “I grew up Catholic.” “Oh?” they inquired. My partner then proceeded to share his experiences and how Christ saved him from Catholicism to a new birth in Christ. He then explained the simplicity of the gospel and that we are not saved by works, but by repentant faith in Jesus Christ. I then quoted Ephesians 2: 8-9. This couple highly educated in religion, looked at us and said, “Wow! We have never heard it explained that way before, the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself.”
This encounter had me wondering, are apologetic arguments necessary for soul-winning? The short answer is, No! However, 1 Peter 3:15 says “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” In Acts 7, we see Stephen using apologetic arguments; in Acts 17, Paul defended the faith to the Athenians; and all throughout the book of Acts, we see the apostles defending the gospel. Though apologetic argument will never be required for soul-winning, it can go a long way and it may just lead to an opportunity to actually share the gospel.
I like what one Christian apologist has to say about the issue when he said, “Apologetic argument doesn’t save people, but it certainly clears the obstacles so they can take a direct look at the Cross of Christ.”
Will you join us on our next evangelism efforts? Trust me, encounters like this one with Aaron are rare.
(Act 17:16-17) “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.”
(Acts 17:6) “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;“
