I told a JW that he believes a false gospel.

A few opportunities to share the gospel have come up over the last few weeks that I have, cowardly, not taken.

In hindsight, it seems like the Lord had been placing perfect, open doors in my lap in order to challenge me + the other person at hand. But in the face of the (several) opportunities, I have chickened out in the name of “keeping the peace.”

Since I was practically out of the womb, one of my biggest struggles has been people pleasing. It clouds me.

This has been convicting me extra, lately.

I see a lot of Christians fall into a similar struggle as I. Where boldness and proudness of the truth has taken a back row seat to “keeping peace.” But what is actually true, is that people pleasing doesn’t keep peace. It protects pride. It protects us. But at what cost?

Ironically (or not), Kevin and I have been reading Romans 1 this week. A passage that stuck out to us was Romans 1:16-17, where Paul says “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[ ]as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

I’ve read that a plethora of times, each time thinking to myself “Amen” and nodding on into Romans 1:18 and on. But as I read it again this week and thought through all the gospel opportunities I have cowardly skimped out on, I suddenly felt a sting of conviction.

Oh…. maybe I am ashamed of the gospel?

Oof. I know in my head I’m not. Behind a screen, I’m not. But in my real life interactions with people I know and love, or even with strangers, I have been living as though I am.

So fast forward to today, I am sitting at a coffee shop working through my to-do list when a group of elderly folk walk in.

I had been sitting at a four seater table (alone) and not many tables were open. I offered up the extra chairs at my table to this group, and they eagerly took the offer.

About half an hour later as they were leaving, one of the gentlemen thanked me for my generosity with the chairs and handed me a little business card. I immediately recognized it as the JW (Jehovah’s Witness) false religion bible study card.

My heart immediately started pounding and my mind went straight to my husband, Kevin, wishing he were here. He is definitely not ashamed of the gospel, sharing it with almost everyone he interacts with, embarrassing me (bad, on my part), while simultaneously inspiring me in my cowardice. Kevin has had several conversations with the JWs, so I knew a small bit about what they believed.

I knew that this man, who seemed so genuine and kind, believed a false gospel. JWs don’t believe Jesus Christ is Lord.

In that moment, I had the option to take the card, nod, and bid him farewell before never looking at it again. Or, I could say something.

My heart pounded quicker as I scoured my brain for some sort of verse or to remember exactly what JW’s believed so I could have a profitable conversation. Unfortunately, as the people pleasing and fear of man got heavier and heavier, my mind drew a blank.

But, I spoke.

“Oh, thank you sir, but I’m actually a Christian.”

He looked taken back a little, and then smiled. Unfortunately, many JWs would say they’re “another branch of Christianity” and view my comment as a mark of common ground.

I continued. “Yeah, I’m actually a Christian and I just graduated with my Masters in Theological Studies.” Maybe now he’d realize that no, I am not just a blanket statement Christian. I know what I believe.

The man nodded and pushed me the card anyways, to which I replied.

"I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord…” I paused. Ahhh, where is the Scripture and the doctrine when I need it? It is escaping me in my terror.

“And so I am not going to be able to go to your bible study because I firmly believe that we cannot confuse what the Bible actually teaches about Christ with a false gospel.”

He looked a bit stunned. I was stunned. The truth, blatantly, came out of my mouth without a sugar coat. That was new.

We looked each other in the eyes, he said something along the lines of “Okay no worries, have a good day” and then he departed.

That was it.

I would probably never see him again. Though I didn’t get to share the full gospel or get into a deep doctrinal discussion about the Lord and our differences, I had boldly confronted him with the truth that… he believed a false gospel, and Jesus Christ is Lord.

I felt a sense of relief. Normally when I chicken out of these interactions, and they end, I feel a sense of sadness and guilt. This felt so much better.

Was it scary? Sure. Was it peaceful? No… but it also wasn’t a firey war zone or head to head debate or whatever I had subliminally been avoiding. It was… fine. It was a start.

I know that I am not ashamed of the gospel. I wouldn’t have moved away from my family and friends to spend the last year of my life in seminary if I was.

But knowing the word of God means nothing if not put to use.

Truth is not mean to be suppressed because of “peace.” The truth will set you free.

If I truly love the person across from me, chickening out of a gospel opportunity is the least loving thing I could do when the opportunity is presented. People pleasing robs us of the opportunity to love one another.

I need to love others more than I love my own image.

Ultimately, people pleasing is often putting our image above others.

What I did today is not special. It’s really the bare minimum that we can do as believers. Yet, so often, we don’t.

My interaction with the JW man was my reminder that, in Christ, I can be courageous. I can put my self preservation aside and love the person across from me by speaking truth.

And I hope this reminder to myself, can also serve as an encouragement for you.

Moving forward, I plan to pray for more gospel opportunities and I want to take them head on.

The only way to grow in confidence in the gospel and skill in articulating the faith is to do it. Not to keep studying until I’m ready. If we’ve been saved by grace through faith, we’re ready now.

— GH