Witnessing - One Person at a Time

Newsletter article for February 1997

© 1997 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

The new year is already one month old. I wonder how many resolutions have been kept. I don’t make New Year resolutions myself. It’s not that I’m perfect and don’t need some self improvement (far from it), but I recognize the futility of the exercise.

Nevertheless, I do have some goals for the year. It is my wish that this congregation would grow in their Christian faith through worship and Bible study. It is also my goal that the members of this congregation will also grow in their willingness and ability to witness their faith in Jesus Christ.

I learned a good lesson about witnessing during my time at Concordia Seminary. It is true that I took Evangelism and Missions classes, but the event which I am describing occurred after classes. I was the editor of the campus newspaper, and it was my job to report on what was happening on the campus. The Seminary campus can sometimes be a busy place, and October 10, 1993 was just such a night. There were baseball playoffs on TV, a piano recital in the auditorium, and a lecture on missions to Muslims in a conference room.

I wanted to get someone to report on the lecture because I thought it would be an interesting and useful topic for future pastors. However, everyone was busy that evening, and no one who I asked was willing to report on this lecture, but because the editor wanted the story, the task fell to him to do himself. I didn’t want to do it because I had already assigned myself two other articles for the following issue, and because I wanted to do other homework that evening.

There were only five people at the lecture. The lecturer was Dr. Luther Meinzen, a retired missionary to India. Also in attendance was Dr. Meinzen’s father (who at the time was 95 years old, and still had an iron grip when he shook my hand). Professor Harley Kopitske and his wife were also there, along with one seminary student (me).

Dr. Meinzen’s presentation wouldn’t have taken place if the student hadn’t been there. The Kopitske’s didn’t need to know about foreign missions because they spent many years as missionaries in New Guinea. Rev. Meinzen (the elder) didn’t need to hear the lecture because he began his mission work in 1920 in India and was a missionary there for 37 years (his son followed in his footsteps). But because one student showed up, Dr. Meinzen (the younger) was glad to spend an hour talking about missions to Muslims.

In witnessing to Muslims, it is important to emphasize the caring aspect of your Christian faith. Take the time to get to know the people you are dealing with so that you can be an effective witness. Muslim people are just as diverse as Christian people, so it pays to find out where they are coming from. It is somewhat ironic that those who are less indoctrinated in Islamic theology are usually the most rigid and uncompromising. Those who are more educated are often more open minded and willing to listen to what you have to say. It is also important for you to be willing to listen to what they have to say.

Dr. Meinzen suggested that argumentation is not the way to witness the Christian faith. You should show an openness to find out what they believe in. It is important to remember that in general, Muslims are very righteous people. Since there is no separation between Church and State in Islam, the Islamic rules of conduct are strictly enforced in many countries. Dr. Meinzen said, “People compare the best in Christianity with the worst in Islam, but that’s not the approach of Christ. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you’ is the law of love.” Christ didn’t stereotype people, or prejudge them, but he talked with all kinds of people, ate dinner at their houses, and took care of their needs through healings and the like.

“There’s a Tamil proverb,” says Dr. Meinzen: “You can’t dry the tears of your baby without getting your hands wet.” That is also how good witnessing works, where you get so close to a person that you get your own hands wet when the person is sorrowful. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He got so close to us that he became one of us when he was born of Mary in Bethlehem. Jesus ate with sinners, and tax collectors, and he died on a cross to take away our tears forever.

At the lecture, Dr. Meinzen gave an example of this hospitable kind of witnessing. A few years ago the campus pastor of Kent State University invited a Muslim doctor to speak to his Bible class about Islam. The pastor instructed the class to be polite and to listen to what he had to say, and not argue or put him down for his beliefs. A short time later the doctor invited the pastor to the Islamic Student association on campus to tell them about Christianity. This was an unexpected, but welcome opportunity to share the Gospel with Muslim people from several nations.

That is how missions work, and in some ways witnessing your faith is like Dr. Meinzen’s presentation, best when done on a one to one basis. You may be reluctant at first, but it can be very rewarding.