When witnessing, what should you ask instead of “Are you a Christian?”
Instead of asking whether someone is a Christian, ask them why or how God should let them into His heaven. This approach invites people to explain their own reasons and exposes that everyone falls short, overlooking Romans 3, and cannot enter heaven unless God acts on their behalf.
Les explains that either the Navigators or Campus Crusade—he is not certain which—admonished students in one-on-one witnessing not to simply ask, “Are you a Christian?” because people will invariably say yes. Instead, they were told to ask, “How or why should God let you into His heaven?” Les says he has used that question over the years and calls it the best way to start. Approaching people this way puts them on a soapbox and lets them express themselves. Their answers reveal various reasons they think God should admit them, yet they invariably overlook Romans 3. Les ties this to the first step of faith on the road to salvation: recognizing that in ourselves we are lost, like sheep without a shepherd, separated because of Adam’s fall as federal head of the human race. Scripture says all have come short of God’s glory, meaning no one can enter God’s heaven unless God does something on their behalf.