Tips On Dealing With Jehovah's Witnesses

Dealing with the Witness: 

1. Do not argue. The Witness is trained in argumentative means, and is more susceptible to genuine Christian love, which may disarm him. Lead the conversation by asking questions. The Witness is there to teach, not to be taught. The only way you can make him think for himself is to ask questions. 

2. Don't get sidetracked. The Witness will try to change the subject when getting too close to something he is not comfortable with. Keep the conversation on the subject at hand, and tell him you will get back to his new subject later. The Witness will try to play Bible hopscotch, reading a verse from one Bible book, then a verse from a different book, and so on. Always stop him long enough to establish the context of the verse. This will often prove the Watchtower's argument to be wrong, and will also demonstrate to the Witness the right way to study the Bible. Also, he is trained to present only one side of a question. Remember that you are not dealing with his own beliefs, but those of the Watchtower Society. The Witnesses are trained not to think independently, but to stick to what the Society has told him is true. 

3. Realize that you will get nowhere on doctrinal issues until you have undermined his faith in the Watchtower organization. He feels that all truth come through the organization, so no matter how much the Bible shows that it is wrong, he will believe the Society's explanation until his faith in it is shaken. The Witness has a faith in the Society that is similar to the faith a Christian has in God. 

4. If you cannot avoid a doctrinal discussion, deal only with primary doctrines: the Person and the Work of Christ are vital. 

5. Give your personal testimony of salvation. 

6. Don't deal with the Witnesses without your own Bible, his has been modified to match the doctrines he has been taught. 

7. Pray that God will open his eyes to the truth and that he will be saved. 

8. Do love him in Christian love. Let him know that your love is for him as an individual, but that you have problems with the Watchtower organization.

The Individual Witness: 

1. Is trained in a particular doctrinal system and is normally quite comfortable as long as no questions are brought up that are outside that system; 

2. Is committed to the Society without reservation and considers it to be God's Channel of Communication through which truth will come; 

3. Is under mind control, a fact attested to by many former Witnesses; 

4. Rejects being born again, therefore cannot give a testimony of an accomplished personal salvation.