This is an excellent ReBlog of my friend and fellow RTB Community Scholar Dr. Stephen Chua. When you engage with colleagues and other “genuine questioners” consider Dr. Chua’s excellent advice:
Posture of the Answerer
The first thing to note is our posture toward the questioner, which includes our attitude/tone/demeanor/choice of words. We must be:
- Nonjudgmental (not “holier than thou”)
- Nonadversarial (not “us vs. them”)
- Prepared and compassionate
People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. Winning their hearts, with gentleness and respect, should take precedence over winning an argument (1 Peter 3:15).
Process of the Answer
After demonstrating the proper posture, the process of systematically presenting the gospel could entail the following (3E model):
- Empathize – Walk with them; don’t talk against them (1 Corinthians 9:22b-23).
- Educate – Lay out the pertinent evidence succinctly (2 Corinthians 10:5).
- Evangelize – End the discussion with a clear presentation of the gospel (1 Timothy 2:3b-4).
