How to Witness to Jehovah's Witnesses, with Andrew Rappaport
ThinkSquad, when was the last time a stranger rang your doorbell? Maybe it was the Amazon delivery guy. Sometimes it's company coming over who rings the bell. And sometimes we get a salesman, typically a young dude, early to mid-20s, hawking a pest extermination or roof repair service. I've got nothing but respect for those guys. In fact, when I was a financial advisor years ago, I actually used to go door-to-door myself. I did it because I believed what I had to talk with them about was important and could help them. And there's another group that ostensibly rings our doorbells for the same reason: the Jehovah's Witnesses.
As a Christian apologist, I get a mix of dread and excitement when Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door. Maybe you can relate. Dread because it's a major interruption in my day. Excitement because I know I'm about to have a stimulating theological discussion—and, Lord willing, I'm going to get to talk about the real Jesus and the biblical Gospel.
How do you handle it when Jehovah's Witnesses ring your doorbell? Do you invite them in? Do you know what to say? This is something we need to be ready for—and ready to lead our families in—so I brought in an expert to help: my friend, Andrew Rappaport.
Andrew is the preaching pastor of Grace & Truth Bible Church in Bucks County, PA, and founder and executive director of Striving for Eternity Ministries and the Christian Podcast Community. He's an evangelist and the author of What Do They Believe, which is a systematic theology of the major western religions.
Now when diving into a topic like this, we could talk about both specific tactics to use, as well as broad principles for engaging in discussion. While the former is important, we also need to master the latter—and that's what we mostly cover here. While it's vital to have Bible verses and doctrines in your back pocket that refute the heretical doctrines of cults, we also should know how to apply principles for dissecting what's being said, comparing it to Scripture, and contrasting truth with errors. After all, every individual Jehovah's Witness is just that—an individual—and we need to get to know them as people, find out what they actually believe (rather than assume), and guide them, individually, to the real and biblical Jesus.
My conversation with Andrew begins with an introduction to his work, followed by consideration of the following questions:
How important is it to learn about other religions?
When investigating other religions and cults, what should we be looking for, in terms of distinctives and differences to biblical Christianity?
What's the most important thing Christians need to know about Jehovah's Witnesses?
How should we evangelistically engage with Jehovah's Witnesses?
How can fathers prepare their kids to interact with Jehovah's Witnesses?
To learn more about the history and beliefs of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, get Andrew Rappaport's book, What Do They Believe? https://strivingforeternity.org/store/books/what-do-they-believe.
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