Questioning Evangelism | Randy Newman

Randy Newman. Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did. Kregel, 2004. 240 pp.

Introduction

You may think that this book is just plain weird. When it comes to evangelism, I think differently than a lot of people. I ask questions that other people don’t ask. I come up with answers that many people don’t think of. And answers that a lot of people find knock-down-drag-out invincible, leave me unconvinced.

Maybe you think like I do. Or maybe you know people who ask the same kinds of questions that I ask. Or maybe our world has changed so significantly that we need to rethink evangelism. . . .

My prayer is that readers will be encouraged and aided in the task of telling others the best news ever announced. I’m not calling into question the validity of evangelism. I’m calling Christians to use questions in the venture of evangelism. I have two fears, however. The first is that some people might see Questioning Evangelism as a criticism of other books on evangelism or apologetics. Such landmark works as Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter, Paul Little’s Know Why You Believe, or C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity come to mind. It would be the height of presumption for me to criticize such works. These books (and many others like them) are gifts from God to His church, and He has used them in amazing ways. I give away copies as often as I can, because they’re very effective with certain people. . . .

A diverse audience, though, requires diverse approaches. Questioning Evangelism offers another approach. If Jesus teaches us anything about evangelism, it’s that He used a variety of methods with a variety of people.

Any evangelistic approach, though, requires three skills. The first and most basic involves declaring the gospel, including the ability to clearly and concisely articulate the message of salvation. . . . Declaring the gospel also includes the sharing of one’s own story or testimony. Every Christian needs fluency in articulating how the Lord changed his or her life and the difference that change makes daily.

The second evangelistic skill is ability in defending the gospel. Anticipating common questions, acquainting oneself with helpful discoveries from the past, and planning how to deliver this information in a logical sequence has to be part of “always being ready to make a defense” (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).

The third skill—and this is where Questioning Evangelism fits in—is built upon the foundations of declaring and defending the gospel. That skill is called dialoguing the gospel. Often neglected, difficult to master, but absolutely essential, this skill of giving and taking asking questions and bouncing ideas back and forth might be just what our postmodern audience needs. We need all three skills if we’re to be Christ’s ambassadors in the twenty-first century.

My second fear is that some people might view Questioning Evangelism as a technical handbook. If so, they might be tempted to use its approach to evangelism in a cookie-cutter, mechanical way. Doing so, however, would prove unfruitful and frustrating. I don’t want people to respond to my examples by saying, “I’ve got to memorize this so the next time someone asks me that question, I’ll say these words, use these phrases, ask these questions,” and so forth. . . .

The goal of Questioning Evangelism is to help people know how to think about an issue more than what to think. This book will help followers of Jesus to develop their minds (”the mind of Christ”) more than their methodologies, giving readers a sense of what to say. More important, though, readers will grow in confidence, knowing what to ask, because this book is about questions—questions that Christians can ask to move the conversation in a Christ-ward direction, questions that non-Christians are asking (either directly or indirectly), and questions that Christians can use as answers!

Some of the questions that people ask today are the same old questions that people have asked for millennia. . . .

Some of the questions have been asked before, but the temperature in the tone is hotter now. . . .

Some of the questions are new. Twenty years ago, few people brought up the issue of homosexuality in the context of an evangelistic conversation. Now, however, people raise that question often, and often word it as an attack: “Why are you Christians so homophobic?” . . .

Whether the questions are old or new—or angry varieties of either—we should be more engaging and less confrontational in our sharing of the Good News. We must find new hinges upon which to swing open new doors. We must be disciples of our Lord and rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, so that more and more people will join us in that great gathering of worshipers around the Lamb. . . .

Why Are Questions Better Than Answers?

Is There a Better Way to Evangelize?

We can have better results from our evangelizing. Our efforts can produce more fruit, advancing the kingdom further than has been recently achieved. A better way exists, and it looks, sounds, and feels more like Jesus, the rabbi, than like Murray, the used car salesman. It involves more listening than speaking, inviting rather than demanding “a decision.” Perhaps the most important component to this kind of evangelism is answering questions with questions rather than giving answers. . . .

It’s uncanny how often our Lord answered a question with a question. . . .

I once did a study of how Jesus answered every question that was asked of Him in all four gospels. Answering a question with a question was the norm. A clear, concise, direct answer was a rarity. . . .

At times (far too many, I’m afraid), I’ve answered questions with biblically accurate, logically sound, epistemologically watertight answers, only to see questioners shrug their shoulders. . . . My answers had, in fact, hardened them in their unbelief rather than softened them toward faith. . . . Rather than engaging their minds or urging them to consider an alternate perspective, an answer can give them ammunition for future attacks against the gospel.

So I started answering questions with questions, and have gained far better results. . . .

What Is Rabbinic Evangelism?

Answering a question with a question is part of a different style of sharing the Good News, one that I call rabbinic evangelism. Rabbis, using this style of debate, train their disciples to think about God and life. The method was used in Jesus’ day and is similar to what happens today in training schools called “yeshivas.” This method is sometimes called “Pilpul.” . . .

I believe that Paul used such a style of evangelism in his synagogue preaching, which is mentioned many times in the book of Acts. In Acts 17:2-3, for example, we read, “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,’ he said.” (Emphasis added; similar statements are found in Acts 17:17; 18:4, 19; and 24:25.)

Those three verbs—reason, explain, and prove—convey the give and take that occurred in those sessions. In the original Greek, the first verb, reason, has an intensity that may well be best stated in the Revised Standard Version’s translation”he argued!”

What Rabbinic Evangelism Is Not

Rabbinic evangelism is not simply a rational, logical argument. We must avoid the danger of thinking that a person’s reception of the gospel is simply based upon his or her ability to reason. If that were the case, nonbelievers would only need to be convinced of the truthfulness and sensibility of our message and they’d walk the aisle. But faith is more than intellectual assent to the facts. Far too many Christians have come away from an evangelistic presentation, shaking their heads in wonder at the stupidity of their unsaved friends. “What could be holding them back?” they wonder.

If we think that the gospel is simply a good deal that any reasonable person would accept, we’ll not only be amazed at how many people turn it down, but we may actually distort the message in the process of proclaiming it. We might strip the gospel of its supernatural and convicting elements, talking about the offer of a free gift, or going to heaven, or living forever, or feeling the freedom of forgiveness, or the need to make a decision as if these were parts of a benefits package. To be sure, these are important components of the gospel message. But without the context of God’s holiness, the horror of our sinfulness, the need for repentance, and the necessity of the Cross instead of just a guidebook to better behavior, we’ll terribly misrepresent the gospel. People need to hear the bad news in our message before they can appreciate the Good News. Not only do the minds of nonbelievers need to be persuaded, but also their knees need to buckle. . . .

Rabbinic evangelism also is not a sales pitch. If we were to try and convince someone to “buy” the gospel, we’d shy away from some difficult words that need to be said. Confronting a prospect with unpleasant truths doesn’t work in sales, but it is essential in evangelism. . . .

This book offers a solution for our evangelistic frustration. I’m suggesting that we do more than just “proclaim the simple gospel” and wring our hands when the results don’t come pouring in. I’m proposing a style of evangelism that is a dialogue more than a sales pitch. I’m pleading for conversations that lead to conversions, rather than presentations that lead to preconceptions. I’m encouraging the use of questions more than the use of answers. The apostle Paul found validity in adding “reasoning, explaining, and proving” to his arsenal of evangelistic weapons. So should we.

Taken from Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. copyright © 2004 by Randy Newman. Used by permission of Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI 49501. All rights reserved.

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