As a young man, I learned a profound lesson in demonstrating sensitivity as I witnessed about Christ. I was born into a devout Sikh family in India but found Christ when I was 18 years old. I experienced the transformative power of the gospel, and I desperately wanted my family to experience that too.
I engaged in numerous heartfelt conversations with my father, sharing the gospel with him passionately, adeptly winning the arguments, only to lose him in the end. Looking back now I realise how I was an insensitive witness; trying to win arguments, not realising that I was losing relationships.
I realised that the act of being an insensitive witness not only diluted the transformative power of Christ’s message but also hindered my own spiritual growth.
Once I became a Christian, I found it easy to slip into being critical or judgemental towards the faith and culture of my Hindu and Sikh friends and neighbours. But I knew there had to be a better way to win them for Christ.
If we reflect on the conversation between the Lord Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4, he didn’t criticise the Samaritan beliefs and customs, but instead he earnestly shared the good news with her.
He focused on her profound need to fill the emptiness in her heart and life, which she was attempting to satisfy with physical relationships.
The most loving and effective thing we can do when witnessing for Jesus, is to direct our attention towards the emptiness that people carry in their lives—a God-shaped vacuum that only he can fill. Judging others’ beliefs can close their hearts to the beautiful message of the gospel.
When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength . . . You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31, NASB). Notice that Jesus desires love before any kind of judgment.
While we may feel compelled to address others’ personal beliefs and show them what they are missing without Jesus, we can never let that replace lovingly explaining the gospel to them.
Since the gospel is so unique, there is no need to compare it with other faiths or engage in competition with them. The deeper I delved into the comparison between Christian faith and Sikhism with my dad, the more arguments we seemed to have as resentment grew between us. us.
It appears that as the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 began to defend her own beliefs, she wanted to engage Jesus in a discussion of comparison. “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship” (John 4:20, NASB).
But Jesus responded unexpectedly. Immediately he redirected her focus toward God and how she might relate to him, “Believe Me, woman, that a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21, NASB). Although he addressed her beliefs at first, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know” (John 4:22a, NASB), he went on to emphasise the opportunity she has to fill the God-shaped vacuum through a personal relationship with him. He told her that the Father has opened the doors for everyone to worship him anytime and anywhere (John 4:23-24).
And yet even if we remain gospel-focused with love-filled intentions, there is also a need to be sensitive with even the language we use.
You may have heard of the term ‘Christianese’ referring to the words we can slip into using when talking about our faith. Even the word ‘faith’ may be Christianese to some! How can we seek to love people through the language we use? We don’t want our listeners to be left perplexed or uninterested.
When Paul preached the Gospel in Acts 17, he realised his language was too ‘Judeo-Christian’ and unfamiliar to the Athenian philosophers he was speaking to. They reacted negatively, “What could this scavenger of tidbits want to say?” (Acts 17:18a, NASB) and others misunderstood, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities” (Acts 17:18b, NASB).
Realising his approach’s shortcomings, Paul immediately corrected it at the next opportunity, using words and concepts much more easily accessible to his audience. And look at what happened—“Some men joined him and believed” (Acts 17:34, NASB)!
Avoiding Christianese is particularly important when talking with our Hindu and Sikh neighbours and friends. Words like ‘salvation’ or ‘forgiveness’ translate as something totally different for them. For a Hindu and a Sikh, salvation signifies liberation from the perpetual cycle of birth and death. Forgiveness of sins might appear superfluous to them, given their nuanced perspective on transgressions against the divine, where the notion of sinning against God lacks a distinct clarity.
As we share the gospel, let’s use fresh and common language that resonates with people, providing them with genuine reasons to respond.
An overriding principle I have always found helpful is from Ephesians 4:15, “speaking the truth in love.”
As witnesses of Jesus Christ, we are called to share the truth, but to share that truth with love and grace.
Being loving does not devalue the truth. Truth remains constant in any circumstance, in every place, and across all cultures. But a loving approach can be the sweetness that not only helps people listen, but also accept what we are saying.
As we nurture empathy, compassion, and gentleness, we can truly become Christ’s witnesses, radiating his love and hope to those who don’t yet know him.
LCM shares the gospel alongside the local church of London, equipping everyday Christians to lovingly bring a message of hope in Christ to those least likely to hear it.
Registered Charity No. 247186
