Newman - Questioning evangelism: engaging peoples hearts the way Jesus did

This is an important book that anyone interested in the evangelism of contemporaries who are deeply alienated from the gospel will read with much profit. Distilled out of twenty years of personal evangelism, this book reflects both a deep grasp of biblical theology and a penetrating compassion for peopleand finds a way forward in wise, probing questions. How very much like the Master himself!

D. A. CARSON

Research Professor of New Testament
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Questioning Evangelism provides an absolutely unique blend of apologetic information and practical evangelistic advice. Newman is a skilled practitioner and this book is must reading for those who want to learn how to bring apologetics into evangelism in a biblical and relationally sensitive sort of way.

J. P. MORELAND

Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

Randy Newman goes way beyond how-tos and apologetics, bringing back the lost art of listening, dialogue, and the heart of evangelism in the spirit of Christ.

MARC V. RUTTER

National Director, Human Resource Leadership
Campus Crusade for Christ International

Randy Newman has penned a valuable resource for all of us who are trying to share the good news of Jesus with our contemporaries.

MITCH GLASER

President
Chosen People Ministries

Asking questions, the right questions, is an essential skill needed by all Christians. Next time I share my faith, Im going to be asking some gospel-paving questions!

LIEUTENANT GENERAL R. L. VANANTWERP

Former Chief of Engineers, United States Army
President of the Officers Christian Fellowship

Questioning Evangelism: Engaging Peoples Hearts the Way Jesus Did

2004, 2017 by Randy Newman

Second edition 2017

Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., 2450 Oak Industrial

Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Newman, Randy.

Questioning evangelism: engaging peoples hearts the way Jesus did / by Randy Newman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliograpical references.

1. Witness bearing (Christianity). I. Title.

BV4520.N46 2004

269.2dc22

2003022323

ISBN 978-0-8254-4428-9

Printed in the United States of America

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 / 5 4 3 2 1

To

my Jewish mother,

Rhoda Newman,

who, at the ripe young age of seventy-five,

found answers to her many questions

and became a follower of Jesus,

Savior, Rabbi, Redeemer, and Lord.

T HE EMAIL WAS SNARKY , with decidedly hostile and mocking undertones. At the end, the personsomeone I didnt knowposed a pointed question: If your God is loving, why does he allow so much pain and suffering in the world?

I wasnt in a good mood when I read the missive. Part of me wanted to answer in a similarly negative style, but I quickly realized that wouldnt be the right approach. So I started to write a detailed five-point answer to the pain-and-suffering questionyou know, the kind of theologically sound response you learn when you study Christian apologetics.

I paused. I deleted what I had written. Instead, I simply typed, Of all the questions in the universe, why did you choose to ask that one? I hit send.

The answer came the next day. This second email had a totally different tonethe anger was gone, and the writer was much more sincere. He described his impressive academic achievements and how he had climbed to success in his careeronly to lose his eyesight and health to diabetes. His job evaporated. His friends drifted away. Now he was living on welfare and food stamps. He was suffering from depression, loneliness, bitterness, and fear.

My heart went out to him. As for him, he responded that he felt heard and valued. Suddenly, the door was open to a fruitful spiritual conversation.

This, in short, is the power of a question. And thats what this book is abouthow to share Gods message of hope and grace through probing questions. Thats rightsort of like Jesus did.

Nobody teaches the art of question-asking better than my friend Randy Newman. When you meet Randy in person, youre immediately drawn to his self-deprecating humor, his undeniable intellect, and his big heart for God and peopleall of which bleed through the pages of this must-read book.

Years ago, Christian apologists would figuratively line up the targets of their evangelism and machine-gun them with facts, evidence, and arguments. That no longer works. For the most part, evangelism happens through relationships, which are better nurtured by provocative questions than a memorized gospel speech.

Let Randy teach you how to be a more effective ambassador for Jesus in the twenty-first century by doing more listening than talking, by validating the other person as being made in the image of God, and by respecting their spiritual journey.

And, of course, by asking good questionslike Randy learned from the Master Himself.

Lee Strobel
Author of The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith
Professor of Christian Thought
Houston Baptist University

I TS BEEN MORE THAN A DECADE since the original publication of Questioning Evangelism. During this time, our world has changed dramatically but our gospel has not changed at all. The environment in which we proclaim the good news has gotten more hostile but our message is just as good as ever.

At one point, I think Christians were motivated to share their faith because of guilt. That created a variety of ills. Then, there was a period when the primary motivation was triumphalism. We had more evidence and better arguments than the non-Christians around us. We wanted to win! That was even worse than the guilt-motivated days. But today I find more and more Christians who want to reach out because of their concern for lost people. They love them. I am hopeful that this gracious motivation will bear much fruit in spite of the current cultural hostility.

The most encouraging feedback Ive heard about Questioning Evangelism has been when people say, Ive read your book and I now think, I can do that. I can ask questions and see how God uses me. I believe God will honor those efforts to engage peoples hearts the way Jesus didby asking questions.

One comment has been less encouraging. In reading my sample dialogues, some readers have responded, Oh, I could never be that clever. Im just not that brilliant on the spot. Well, Im not either. Hardly anyone is. The reality is the sample dialogues arent as spontaneous as they seem. We would all do well to brainstorm numerous ways we might enter dialogues with inquirers and practice articulating what we might say. Dont let the sample dialogues discourage you from trying to engage, even if your words arent as smooth as they seem in my examples.