Jehovah's Witnesses
How to witness to Jehovah's Witnesses
How to Witness to Jehovah's Witnesses
Guides on how to witness to Jehovah's Witnesses
abound but tend to be light on the specifics of how to witness to them. This
section presents two guides, both comprehensive, on how to witness to Jehovah's
Witnesses and refute their false claims.
One of them is very easy: simply refer the Jehovah's Witnesses to read this page. The other, presented below, is a step-by-step guide on how to approach, engage, and witness in person to Jehovah's Witnesses, who comprise exceptional witnessing targets for these four reasons.
I. Safe and willing
Sharing the Gospel in frontline mission fields to Muslims, Hindus and Communists risks decapitation, incineration and incarceration, respectively, while most people in the West now claim no time or desire to talk about God. The Jehovah's Witnesses who knock on doors or stand on sidewalks are there to talk about God and on their best behavior. They are mission fields at our doorsteps.
II. No other book
Witnessing to Muslims, Catholics, Mormons, etc. requires dealing with their Quran, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Book of Mormon, or some other blasphemous book, which the Jehovah's Witnesses do not have. Although they are taught out of their The Watchtower magazines and read their translation of the Bible primarily to support what they are taught, Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be Bible-based, which lowers the key hurdle to showing them how their New World Translation has butchered the original text of the Bible to support the lies they have been taught. As shown below, that isn't hard to do.
III. Proven soldiers
Unlike most self-declared "Christians," who have never shared the Gospel in their life, most Jehovah's Witnesses witness, and witness regularly. When you witness to them and they become Christians, they will continue to witness, but this time to share the true Gospel.
IV. Honor Jesus
If someone stands on a busy sidewalk telling passersby that your mother is a female dog, would you just walk by? If you did, how would your mother feel about you? Jehovah's Witnesses misrepresenting the Bible and telling passersby that our Creator is a mere creature is a far bigger insult than your mother - a creature - being called another creature. If you love Jesus, you will defend His honor as you would defend your mother's.
Here is the 10-steps in-person guide on how to witness Jehovah's Witnesses in person and refute their false claims.
1. Prepare
You don't need to be a pastor, a missionary or a Greek scholar to witness to Jehovah's Witnesses. But you should be a born again Christian who firmly believes the Gospel and can defend your beliefs from Scripture. If you are used to citing people instead of Bible verses to defend your beliefs, or qualifying churches based on how nice its people are instead of what they believe, do this Bible study first, and then read the content below.
2. Approach without fear
Jehovah's Witnesses don't have some special power or knowledge that can damage your faith. The question on their sign above - "What does the Bible really teach?" - insinuates that Christians have been lied to, yet it is the Jehovah's Witnesses who have been lied to, as you will see below. You have the true Gospel that leads to heaven instead of hell, so approach them with confidence and without fear. If heeded, the Gospel will turn their world upside down, so approach them also with loving compassion.
3. Start gently
The Jehovah's Witnesses on the sidewalk have been told to evade "argumentative" Christians who come to share the Gospel with them, so they will size you up to see if you are someone they should talk to or evade. If they see you coming with your eyes fixed on them from 30 yards or meters away, they will raise their shields. So walk toward them while looking down at the sidewalk until their poster enters your peripheral vision, then casually look toward it, stop walking, and read it.
And if you open the conversation by blazing away with Bible verses, they will refer you to visit their website and end the conversation before it even starts. If an older Jehovah's Witness is nearby, he will come, send the others away "to take a break," refer you to their website, and end the conversation. To have them size you up as someone they can talk to, start gently, even mundanely. Below is an example of the opening exchange.
Christian (with a smile) - How are you?
Jehovah's Witness (smiling back) - Fine, thank you, how are you?
Christian - I'm fine
as well, thank you... Have you been out here for a while?
Jehovah's Witness - Oh, not too long.
Christian - Have you had many people stop and chat?
Jehovah's Witness - Not really.
Christian (offering a handshake) - I'm John.
Jehovah's Witness (accepting the handshake) - I'm Bill,
and this is Mike.
Christian - Nice to meet you.
Jehovah's Witness - Nice to meet you as well.
4. Let one go
Christian - Are you both from around here?
Jehovah's Witness - He is. I'm
originally from the UK.
Christian - Oh, from whereabouts in the UK?
Jehovah's Witness - London.
Christian - Very nice. How are you liking it here?
Jehovah's Witness - I like it very much.
Christian - Are the locals being nice to you?
Jehovah's Witnesses typically witness in pairs. At this point or later, the one less engaged in the conversation may excuse himself and step away, especially if another passerby has stopped to read their poster, because he sees that you are not a threat and the conversation isn't interesting to him.
While both of the Jehovah's Witnesses should hear what you have to say, being apart from his partner will allow the one who stays with you to focus on your words instead of worrying about what his partner is thinking about the conversation, so do not object if one excuses himself from the conversation. The Lord will draw and retain those whom He has timed to hear the Gospel.
5. Witness
Here is the content for witnessing to and refuting the false claims of Jehovah's Witnesses. You will neither have the time nor need to discuss all of them, but reading through them will give you confidence, heighten your desire to witness to them, let you know where the answers are when the Jehovah's Witnesses make false claims, and help you choose the topic to discuss in the situation you are in. For example, Colossians 1:16 will facilitate a long discussion, while Jehovah's Witnesses' False Prophecies and Revelation 1:17-18 will jolt them if you have time to cover just one page or just one question, respectively. To have them cover the elements you couldn't cover with them in person, refer them to this page, which covers all of the elements below. This content is shocking to most Jehovah's Witnesses and many of them actually prefer to digest it in privacy, away from the eyes of other Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah's Witnesses' False Prophecies
"All," not "All Other" - Colossians 1:16
"Preeminent," not 'Born First' - Colossians 1:15
Wisdom, not Jesus - Proverbs 8:24
Jehovah Died - Revelation 1:17-18
God called God, "God" - John 20 & Hebrews 8
Jesus isn't Michael - 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Holy Spirit is God - Acts 5:3-4
Hell isn't Symbolic - Luke 16:23
"Jehovah" is Incorrect - Psalm 68:4
Truth about the New World "Translation"
Jesus wasn't "Begotten" - John 3:16
Jesus is the True God - John 17:3
6. Prevent obfuscation
When confronted by irrefutable evidence from the Bible that one of their claims is heretical, the Jehovah's Witnesses who sincerely seek the truth simply stare in stunned silence at the Bible verse you have shown them. But other Jehovah's Witnesses are less interested in the truth and more interested in defending their claims even after they have been proven to be false. What they say to obfuscate and how to rebut them are discussed in this page.
7. Present the Gospel
If you expose to Jehovah's Witnesses all of their lies and heresies above but don't share the Gospel, you leave them hell-bound. Take them through the content of the true Gospel and the Trinity pages, then have them google "John Bible study," click on this Bible study among the first few search results, and encourage them to study it. Encourage them also to share what they have learned with other Jehovah's Witnesses, find a church that teaches and obeys the Bible, and share your contact details with them.
8. Step aside
Jehovah's Witnesses typically work in shifts as well as in pairs. And if those standing next to their poster are relatively young or new Jehovah's Witnesses, a more senior Jehovah's Witness is keeping an eye on them from nearby. As you present the content above, the Jehovah's Witness(es) you are speaking to will grow increasingly silent and/or uneasy from being unable to rebut what you are sharing, and may turn to and make eye contact with the senior Jehovah's Witness, who will interrupt the conversation and ask you to step aside for a private conversation with him.
If you decline the invitation and insist on continuing to speak to the Jehovah's Witnesses you have been speaking to, the senior Jehovah's Witness will send them away "to take a break," take up their position next to their poster, deem you a threat, be closed to anything you have to say, and then try to get you to leave.
Since you will lose the conversation you have been having anyway, gladly accept the invitation to step aside. When you do, the Jehovah's Witness who asked you to step aside will visibly relax a notch and become your new audience for witnessing.
9. Hold your ground
But if another passerby has stopped at the Jehovah's Witnesses' poster, protecting the sheep from being led astray needs to be prioritized. So decline the invitation to step aside, and continue to ask for an answer to the question that the Jehovah's Witnesses who had been sent away weren't able to answer, or change the topic so that the true Gospel can be heard and the other heresies of Jehovah's Witnesses can be exposed to the passerby.
The discussion may grow louder and contentious, which may draw in more passersby, who become additional ears to hear the Gospel and be warned about the heresies of the Jehovah's Witnesses. At some point, the following exchange may ensue:
Jehovah's Witness - Please step away from our space.
Christian - This is a public sidewalk. Its space is as much mine as yours.
Jehovah's Witness - But we were here first.
Christian - I was here before you came and sent away the couple with whom I was
having a conversation. I am not going anywhere until they return to resume our conversation.
The Jehovah's Witness will eventually move, along with their poster, leaving you to continue to share the Gospel with the passersby who have gathered.
10. Send them home
If even 10% of the world's 800 million professing Protestants, who outnumber the world's 9 million Jehovah's Witnesses almost 90 to 1, were actually born again and obeyed Jesus' command to share the Gospel, we would outnumber the Jehovah's Witnesses 9 to 1 on the sidewalks, knock on 9 times more doors, and fill our pews.
Each sidewalk poster is manned by up to half dozen Jehovah's Witnesses who take turns in shifts. Show up in numbers one more than them and witness one-on-one to every one of them, even the ones who are being sent away to take a break, as well as any passerby who stops by their poster.
You can also make up posters that read, "Learn how Jehovah's Witnesses have Changed the Bible," or "Learn how Jehovah's Witnesses Contradict the Bible," or "Learn about Jehovah's Witnesses' False Prophecies," display them near the Jehovah's Witnesses' poster, and witness to those who stop at your or their poster. If the Jehovah's Witnesses move with their poster to a new location, keep them company until they go home, leaving you to share the true Gospel.