As I silently banged my head on the steering wheel I noticed the two nicely dressed people approaching my car. A moment of relief and of annoyance crossed over me. Don't get me wrong, I am one of those people that truly enjoys hearing about other faiths. It helps answer questions that I have and truly it helps to solidify my love for the Catholic faith. But I was just so overwhelmed and tired trying to get to this meeting.
They approached the car and asked if I needed a jump. Why yes, yes I did. So these two very nice people took quite a bit of time to help me jump my car and get on my way. They also provided me with some literature about Jehovah's Witnesses, which I welcomed.
The nice lady has been back quite a few times. I haven’t been here to greet her until this last visit. She asked how I was and if she could give me some more literature. I took the opportunity to share with her that I was a devout Catholic but at her request she was welcome to come back and talk.
I think I get that Jehovah's witnesses are very good about evangelization as the disciples did. I guess I am trying to figure out if she would be open to my questions challenging the validity of her faith. I would love to sit down with her and know what it is that makes her loved her faith so much. People with passion are inspiring! But mostly I feel like I will be wasting her time... knowing that all I really want to do is allow her to see the beauty of Catholicism.
I love that they are out in the world truly evangelizing. Isn’t that what we are all called to do? I want to respect her and the Jehovah faith enough to listen to her words. And yet I want to be prepared to share from my heart as well.
Has anyone had any experience with a situation like this one? And courteous advice? I know she will be back soon! :)
Yes you can! JW's love to share why they believe what they believe from the Bible. 1 Peter 3:15
ReplyDeleteI was in a similar situation a number of years ago. I had allot of expectations and ideas about Jehovah's Witnesses... but what I found was that they were happy to listen and learn about what I believed.
ReplyDeleteWe had some very interesting conversations and after a time, I even studied the bible with them.
It was great! I learned allot about my bible that I never knew before - and that is never a bad thing :) And, given that the bible is God's word, I guess I learned more about God than I knew before too. Win, win.
Really, they are awesome people (they would have to be to keep going out preaching in today's climate of apathy) and, like you, I have nothing but the greatest respect for them.
I say, go ahead and engage them - If you regret that decision at any time you can always tell them you don't want to have them call anymore. They will respect that.
Jehovah's Witnesses come in all flavors, colors, and skill levels.
ReplyDeleteEven those who know they are not good at evangelizing try .. and that is to their credit.
If you get someone on the right side of the bell curve, we welcome hard, tricky, and leading questions ... the idea is that we know the TRUTH about God, and this is not just another religion. Hopefully, you will get someone who can explain to you with scriptures, logic, and reasoning why Jehovah's Witnesses, alone among all the organizations on the Earth, are truly God's people. We have the same problems everybody else has ... but dramatically less of them.
Where the rubber meets the road is here: Jesus said "... you will know my people, for they have love for one another". That is an absolute, non-negotiable definition. You qualify for God's collective guidance and attention based on that.
Your Organization fits the definition or ... it does not.
QUESTION: Do Catholics war with each other.
ANSWER: Yes, and they have, for 1700 years have slaughtered EACH OTHER from opposite political "sides" on the battlefields of Earth.
..... THINK.
Tom.Rook@Technik-SA.US
Tara, My gut says be careful. what Mr. Rook said above gives me even more hesitancy.... he obviously doesn't seem to know what a real Catholic is, unless I am misunderstanding him. I think that it is VERY admirable is go door to door and evangelize, but there are other ways for you to learn about JW other than entertaining them in your home... I would sincerely recommend checking out some books from former JW's from Catholic Answers. The best way to evangelize is to meet people where they are at...NOT JUST GUESS. So if you are inviting people into your home for faith conversations to share your faith, you should be armed yourself with knowing what they know, and also with the Catholic Churches teachings. That's just my advice.
ReplyDeleteJust please be careful... you are loved.
Bets