Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
I can answer really quick.
Speaker 2
All right, so Robert had a question here on saying, interesting take, Jay. Is it our job to convince people that God is real? I’ve learned in Bible studies it’s not. What’s your thought?
Speaker 1
So, Robert? Yeah, great question. And I think it was I don’t know if it was last week or a couple of weeks before that. We actually did touch on this issue of how do you minister to an atheist? And we talked about how the Bible says, a fool says in his heart there is no God. And that’s not saying we should go read that verse to them. That’s going to be very counterproductive. But the key there is the fool says in his heart. And we tend to approach atheists very rationally, and that’s going to be a losing argument, especially if someone really has a heart problem and they have emotional problems, they’rejecting God for a reason, and we need to figure out why is that? Why is the why? And we got to really just get to know them, spend time, build a relationship, see what’s going on, what is the blockage by prayer and the Holy Spirit, maybe that could be revealed to us. But I absolutely agree that ultimately it’s God in the spirit that reaches them and we play a limited role. But it’s powerful to build a relationship, and God needs us to do the relationship as a human being.
Speaker 1
God’s not another human being. He needs us to be the fellow human being, to really befriend them and witness to them.
Speaker 2
And I will say, too, that I spent a lot of time with a lot of people who were atheist, agnostics and all different belief systems, and a lot of people that did not know God. I went through a phase in my life where I didn’t know if God was real or not. And I found it really helpful when people shared the evidence. At the time, I was thinking very much from an evidence perspective. I wanted evidence. And I started studying content that really got into the evidence of is God real or not? And there’s a lot out there. And doing that, seeking that out and having that presented was actually very helpful to me in dealing with the logical barriers that I had sort of created against knowing, against believing that God was real. And it was ironic because at a deeper level, I knew God was real, but I was rationalizing it away, as I had been taught to do by these communities of people and education that I had experienced. And so I did need some of that broken down and I needed to see a different perspective. I needed to see the other angle that was always being shut down.
Speaker 2
I needed to actually really study that and see the truth of that and realize that there was another path. And once I did see that, it’s just like all the walls just came crumbling down and it was like, I can’t deny God is real because I know it in my heart. And now all the evidence is also there and I don’t have to be a master of it, but I know that it’s there. And so I know that this other stuff is all just theories, theories upon theories upon theories, and it’s not truth. And once I started to realize that and understand it, then it was like, okay, now I can just trust that God is real because he’s been showing up in my life all the time. And these other things are just theories and they’re not true.
Speaker 1
It was April, by the way, that we went deeper into this. So I think it was maybe the last or second to last question on April 21.
Speaker 3
That’s great. Yeah. And just real quick, if you don’t mind, I feel where you’re coming from. When I was first converted, I was like, I want to tell everybody and make them believe that God’s real because he’s been so real to me. And I hope that’s the zeal that’s in you is that you want to just tell the world that God is real and that you can come to Him. But what I realized in my Christian journey is everybody has different things in their upbringing that keep them from understanding. And it’s really your need to. It’s so good that you have a desire to share with people your faith. But to ask God, how do I approach this person? Because some people, they actually might need some science and logic because they’ve just been told scientifically, oh, Bible can’t be real by a scientific method perspective. And so it is good to know some science that points to a creator and that the Bible can be trusted in a scientific sense. But other people, it is a heart issue, definitely, and it’s only the Holy Spirit that’s going to guide you in that way, but other people, too.
Speaker 3
What the Bible talks about being such a powerful witness to uplift Christ is just your testimony, just saying what God has done for you in your life, like it says in Revelation 1211, and God’s people overcame the beast by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And so your testimony is such a huge witnessing opportunity too, but that’s only going to be effective if the Holy Spirit’s working in you. And so it’s just really a matter of praying every day for you to be led by God, moment by moment. How do I interact with each person on an individual basis?
Speaker 1
The King James version has this interesting concept you could keyword search called meet in due season. And I don’t know how the other translations deal with it, but it’s this concept that you’re giving people what they need in that moment. And that takes a lot of spiritual discernment to get a point where you really know. Okay, this is the time I should say this, or this is the time I should refrain from saying it and maybe say this other thing.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Amen. I remember one time I was knocking on somebody’s door and trying to share with them about Christ. And I was going to say all this thing because I got excited and it was like something just I couldn’t say a word. And I was like and then the guy’s like, I want to accept this literature that you have because you’re so soft spoken. I’m the most not soft spoken person ever. But the Lord knew what that person needed, and I was just grateful that he intervened and didn’t. I felt like, was it John who couldn’t speak until he right?
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 3
John’s dad, Zechariah, who couldn’t say anything until he confessed? My son’s name was John. And so know God can lead you. And again, that was not me, that was the Holy Spirit. So again, we need the Holy Spirit working every moment of every second of our lives.
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In His Service
BibleAsk Team
