Witnessing+Strategy

Witnessing Strategy
a. Attitude towards non-believer.

These are the attitudes of non or ex believers you may encounter:


 * The Aggressive** – This is the most difficult person to have a discussion with, not because they have already researched church history and the Gospel, not because of their clever rhetorical skills, nor their ability to quote Nietzsche and other anti-Christian philosophers, but because they have a clear agenda: to disprove the validity of Orthodox (and usually all) Christianity. This person has already said in their heart “I do not want to believe in God or have a relationship with him”. Like a lawyer gathering evidence to support their case, they go on a research mission which includes pouring over the Holy Scripture with a cold, critical eye.

Often they argue that they are simply being "independent thinkers", and claim “Prove to me and I will believe!” In reality however, they usually debate Christians not for the sake of learning the truth, but for sport. It is their desire to see Christians “fold under questioning”, to stump them and make them doubt. Positivist atheists are most frequently found in this category, but others can be found here too.


 * The Apathetic** - The person who is not interested in the question of faith. They may engage in a brief debate, usually recycling arguments they have heard from other skeptics and agnostics, but usually they will run from the subject as quickly as possible. These people usually tend to be weak atheists and agnostics, people who continually postpone their spiritual search and hope that the question will go away.


 * The Moral Relativist** – The person who apparently is “open to anything”, except that truth which says it is THE truth. To them it is hard to accept that there is such a thing as a RIGHT religion, and that the majority of the world’s population is not following this path. They believe that God would never have allowed for this to happen. They often argue (and believe) that if one religion proclaims itself as the source of the one truth, that others who do not share this view will be automatically excluded and treated as sub-humans, or even persecuted. As support for their argument, they cite the inquisition and other instances of religious persecution and religious wars.

This type of person is often found in today’s liberal cosmopolitan centers, where people of various religious and cultural backgrounds intermix. There, relativism is promoted as “open mindedness”, for the purpose of promoting socio-political “equality” and preventing any discrimination against people “who are different”. This includes people who’s ideas and lifestyles are hostile and antithetical to Christianity. As a result, this relativism often winds up taking on a veiled anti-Christian bias, serving as a protection for the spread of anti-Christian ideas and lifestyles while instituting a defacto censorship and forced compromise of the Christian message.

It is not possible for a moral relativist to be a true Christian unless they change their relativistic views. If they are as open minded as they claim they are, this change is possible, but if they are close minded towards the idea of an ultimate truth, it is very difficult. It is not unusual for moral relativists to satisfy their spiritual quest with eastern religious beliefs and the New Age.


 * The Seeker** – A confused person who is “soul searching”, but often ends up falling for whatever is most intriguing at the moment, shopping for religion as if it were clothing. They may find it difficult to retain a monogamous relation with one religion, so they can switch from one to another, sometimes very quickly. The seeker often believes in exploring all religions before one can settle on anything. Often, they are more attracted to ritual and social circles than the principles of faith. For them this journey is more of an adventure, sometimes even the following of a “fad”, instead of a true spiritual search.


 * The Open Hearted** – This person is the most pleasant and productive to talk to because they are in a true sense not just open minded, but open hearted. They ask questions with the sincere desire to find answers, not for the sport of argument. They are seeking the truth, and even if they doubt, they are trying to give faith a fair chance.