THE CLINICAL METHOD OF WITNESSING!
DO 1941
1/85
--You Lead & Let'm Read!
--The Five Points of Witnessing!
--Witnessing Dangers!
1. IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO TELL PEOPLE TO GO OUT & WIN SOULS, OR EVEN JUST TELL'M HOW TO GO OUT & WIN SOULS, OR EVEN JUST TO TAKE COURSES IN HOW TO WIN SOULS, YOU'VE GOTTA SHOW'M HOW TO WIN SOULS! You have got to actually take'm with you & demonstrate to them as they watch you witness & win souls, that's the best way. That's why Fred Jordan called his method of teaching the "Clinical Method" & his school "The Soul Clinic". They call that the Clinical Method because they learn by being shown & by watching someone else do it. The older brother or sister would show the newcomer how to witness while the novice, the babe, the beginner, would just watch what they were doing.
2. THE BIBLE, TO ME, IS STILL THE GREATEST TOOL IN WITNESSING, PARTICULARLY IN THE SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN WORLD, & EVEN CAN BE, I BELIEVE, AMONGST THE ORIENTAL WORLD. So I think you'll find it a very indispensable book in your witnessing, & you should always carry one with you witnessing. I have found by personal experience that there's nothing like reading it, not to them, but letting them read it right out of the Bible themselves. "The Word of God is quick & powerful & sharper than any two-edged sword." (Heb.4:12)
3. SO YOU'LL DO A LOT BETTER IN YOUR WITNESSING IF YOU'LL GET THEM TO RESPOND EACH TIME BY READING A SCRIPTURE. That's the best way to keep their attention & the best way to get them to remember it & really never forget. They may not memorise the verse completely, but they'll never forget that they read that right in the Bible, that's really what it said, that's really what's going to happen.
4. THE BEST PERSONAL WITNESSING IS ABSOLUTELY PRIVATE, ABSOLUTELY ALONE! That's why our FFers do so well with their fish, because that's something you do in private usually, alone, when you can really get their full attention & concentration. The best personal witnessing is private, because there's nothing else & nobody else to distract'm or to get their attention or get their mind off of what you're talking about or what you're getting them to read out of the Bible. So remember that's the best way to do it, to get them to read it for themselves.
5. YOUR BEST ABILITY IS TO BE ABLE TO FIND VERSES FAST, & THE BEST WAY IS TO HAVE YOUR BIBLE SO MARKED THAT YOU CAN JUST FLIP FROM ONE TO ANOTHER, BUP BUP BUP, BANG BANG BANG! You know, it doesn't matter how good a gun you've got & it doesn't matter how much ammunition you have, if you don't know how to shoot it & you don't know how to fire it in rapid succession, it's not going to do much good.
6. KEEP'M SO BUSY READING SCRIPTURE THEY CAN'T LOOK AT ANYTHING ELSE, at you or your legs or whatever, & think about something else, because you've got'm busy reading Scripture! As long as you've got your eyes focused on something like that & that's at the focal point of your attention, the human mind is so constructed that about all you can think about is what you're reading.
7. AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY'RE EVER GOING TO MAKE A DECISION IF YOU DON'T TRY TO GET'M TO READ IT & THEN MAKE A DECISION ON THE SPOT? Get a decision, whatever you do! Whether it's one way or the other, try to get a decision, & you'll always get a decision. No matter how good or poor your witness was, whether you did it right or wrong or whatever, you can ask them to receive Jesus as their Saviour. Whether you think it's the time or not the time, "be instant in season & out of season." (2Tim.4:2)
8. PUT'M ON THE SPOT! MAKE'M MAKE A DECISION! Some people don't even want to make a decision, they know they're being put on the spot, but your business is to drive them to a decision, believe it or not. Our main business is to witness & try to get people to make a decision.
THE FIVE MAIN POINTS OF WITNESSING!
9. DO YOU WANT ME TO GIVE YOU THE MAIN POINTS OF WITNESSING? One of the best ways to start witnessing is just exactly the same way you get acquainted with anybody or any stranger: "Hi, how are you? Nice day, isn't it?" Just talk about the weather or anything, everybody's interested in the weather. And of course the most interesting subject to everybody is themselves.
10. GET THEM TO TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES!--BECAUSE AS A WITNESS, A PERSONAL SOUL-WINNER, YOU ARE A SOUL DOCTOR! AND WHAT DOES A DOCTOR DO? You come in, you've got problems, you've got trouble, does he immediately start writing out the prescription to you? You know the prescription, you know the remedies, but they're going to think you're kind of crazy if you start giving them the remedy without even finding out what's wrong with them! They want to talk, they want to tell you about themselves, & the thing people like to talk about the most is themselves.
11. SO GET THEM TO TALK, & THAT WAY YOU'LL FIND OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM, WHAT THEIR SEVEREST PROBLEMS ARE, WHAT THEIR BACKGROUND IS. How are you going to know what Scriptures to give'm when you don't even know what they need? How are you going to know what the prescription is--the prescription Scripture--unless you find out what their problem or their illness or their ailment is?
12. AND ALMOST EVERYBODY, IF YOU SHOW'M A LITTLE HUMAN INTEREST, A LITTLE LOVE, A LITTLE CONCERN & ASK THEM QUESTIONS, THEY'LL TALK!--If you're in a place where there's an opportunity to talk.
13. SO TRY TO FIND A LITTLE COZY QUIET PLACE IF YOU CAN. Invite them to lunch or go over in a quiet corner of the park. If you can get'm in a bedroom, that's fine, all the better! You can not only talk but show'm love. But try to get someplace quiet if you can & private so that they can really pour out their heart without being embarrassed by others or conscious of others or distracted by others or anything else. Some people will confess more to a stranger than they will to their own friends. They'll tell a stranger more than they would their own mother!
14. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IN WITNESSING, YOU'RE NOT THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO DO THE TALKING AT FIRST, OR YOU MAY FIND OUT YOU'RE TALKING TO THE WRONG GUY! It's best to get them to talk first to see where they're at, see where they stand, see who they are, what they are, where they are, as well as where they're from etc. Then you'll know how to talk to'm eventually. So ask questions, listen to their answers, then give them God's answers!
15. SO THAT'S THE BASIC PRINCIPLE: ASK QUESTIONS, LISTEN TO THEIR ANSWERS, THEN GIVE THEM GOD'S ANSWERS! They have all kinds of answers, & probably most of them are wrong, some of them might be right, but you really have the right answers. So once they've rattled off & given all their solutions & answers which they themselves don't even believe & know don't work, you start giving them God's answers: "Well, you know what it says here--look! Well, you know what God said about that?--Read this here! Read it! Hear God's Word!" You can preach at'm, you can show'm & everything, but you need to let them read it for themselves, & "faith cometh by hearing the Word of God"! (Rom.10:17) I've seen the light of faith dawn on faces while they were reading the Scripture.
16. BUT THEN AFTER YOU HAVE ASKED THE QUESTIONS, LISTENED TO THEIR ANSWERS & THEN GIVEN GOD'S ANSWERS, THE FINAL & MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO GET A DECISION! So I would say really those are the five most important points of witnessing, not just four. I added one to the original Soul Clinic Course, & of course they did that in practice. The first thing you've got to tell most people who want to be witnesses or who are going to witness, is, "Well, go witness! Find somebody in the right place & situation to witness in!" So to me the first point of witnessing is to witness, go someplace & find somebody to talk to. And ask them questions, listen to their answers, give them God's answers & get a decision! PTL!
17. BUT WITNESSING CAN BE DANGEROUS! A LOT OF TOWNS HAVE LAWS AGAINST IT. You know what they do in some places? We've had our kids arrested for littering, & our kids would swear up & down they never threw one piece of lit on the sidewalk. The police would say, "Yes, but you're peddling them here, & here they are all over the sidewalk!"
18. WE HAD TWO BOYS STANDING RIGHT OUT IN FRONT OF THE LIGHT CLUB ONE DAY WITNESSING TO THESE TWO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS who'd come walking along & stopped, interested in this good-looking boy & what literature he was passing out. He was talking to them, really witnessing away & socking it to'm & handing them literature, & they were reading it & he was explaining it to'm, when a cop came along & said, "Hey, buddy, stop molesting those girls or we're going to arrest you!"
19. THE SYSTEM'S GOT ALL KINDS OF CRAZY LAWS LIKE THAT! We've had Jews who would try to charge us with molesting because we held the Bible & even laid a hand on their shoulder to try to get'm to read it.--You know, lovingly, in a friendly way. They'd say, "Take your hand off my shoulder! That's assault!"
20. SO IT'S DANGEROUS BUSINESS SOMETIMES JUST DISTRIBUTING ON THE STREET OR GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR! People's imagination just runs riot! The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Since they didn't really know us & really know about us, our enemies could tell them any kind of lies, anything, & they'd believe it!--Because we were different! That's one reason we revised our clothing code pretty much & told our people to look a little more Systemite & quit looking like hippies unless you're really trying to work with the hippies. Sometimes you have to do as they do & dress like them.
21. YOU'VE GOT TO REALLY BE AS WISE AS A SERPENT & AS HARMLESS AS A DOVE TO GO ON THE STREET, LIKE WITH THESE POSTERS & WITNESSING ETC., OR EVEN DOOR-TO-DOOR WHERE YOU'RE MORE HIDDEN. You're usually at the door or inside the yard & out of sight, you're not out on the sidewalk where the cop can look clear down two or three blocks & see you out there on the corner. Very fortunately sometimes they invite you in & you're inside the door & the house door is closed & you're there at the invitation of the householder, & they can't do a damn thing about it!--Unless they have a law that you cannot distribute literature without a license or a permit. Even if the permit costs nothing, they have all kinds of ways to hinder you & make it hard for you. Or they have some law that you cannot do it here in this particular section or there this way or in this park or that place or blah blah!
22. I'LL TELL YOU, THE DEVIL HATES ACTIVE WITNESSING & LITNESSING! THERE'S NOTHING HE HATES WORSE, BECAUSE YOU'RE ON HIS TERRITORY! And let me tell you, he tries his best to protect his territory! We found that school campuses were really the Devil's territory! He had the best protection there of any place you ever tried to go--guards & policemen & ranting, raving, screaming parents & teachers!
23. DISTURBING THE PEACE IS ANOTHER LAW! They arrested Josh for disturbing the peace when he was just out there witnessing & litnessing etc. There's hardly any kind of witnessing or litnessing you can do without breaking some law in the United States in most states & most cities.
24. OH, ANOTHER LAW IS, "THIS GUY'S TRESPASSING!" They can think of more ways to actually charge you with a crime! I don't want to scare people off from doing this, but I'm just warning you that that's the way the U.S.A. is!
25. SO IT'S DANGEROUS BUSINESS & IT'S DIFFICULT! And the danger isn't only from the authorities & the law, but from neighbours or somebody calling the cops on you because you're bothering them & it just annoys them. Public nuisance, that's another one of the laws. There are so many laws that they've got that they can claim you're breaking & have you hauled off to jail & pay a fine--just for witnessing & talking to people about Jesus.
26. SEE, THE DEVIL IS SMART! HE GETS THEM TO PASS LAWS KNOWING IT'S EVENTUALLY GOING TO STOP & CATCH YOU! And that's why a lot of System laws are passed by enemies under seemingly good pretexts & excuses, because who they really want to get is you & me, God's people, who are in some little harmless way violating their System rules & their System garbage.
27. SO WATCH OUT THAT THEY DON'T GET YOU ON SOME LITTLE RIDICULOUS CITY ORDINANCE LIKE LITTERING OR SOMETHING ELSE LIKE THAT! You've got to be really careful. And as I've often said, "He who fights & runs away, lives again to fight another day!"--"A live coward is better than a dead hero" & "Discretion is the better part of valour!" I taught my kids from the very beginning: "If the cop tells you in one corner of the park, 'You can't do that here,' well, he didn't say you couldn't do it over there, so why don't you go over there & do it?"
28. AND USUALLY, THE ROMANS, AS WE CALL THE POLICE, REALLY DON'T CARE! They don't want to bother you & they don't even want to be bothered. It's a complaint that does it, somebody else that brings a complaint.
29. THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T EVER WANT TO OFFEND YOUR NEIGHBOURS OR ANYBODY IF YOU CAN HELP IT, NOT EVEN ON THE STREET CORNER, CERTAINLY NOT DOOR-TO-DOOR WHERE THEY'VE REALLY GOT YOU! They can accuse you of trespassing, annoyance, disturbing the peace, all kinds of things if you're right at their door.
30. BUT SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER, PEOPLE AT HOME, WHEN THEY'RE NOT IN A HURRY OR BUSY, SEEM TO BE A LITTLE MORE AT EASE & A LITTLE MORE HOSPITABLE. We found'm usually a little kinder & a little more willing to listen. Whereas running down the busy street in a hurry to catch a bus or get to work or school or something, sometimes they're really annoyed at your bothering them & stopping them at all. So watch out about that!
31. AND NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, WHEN YOU'RE WITNESSING OR LITNESSING OR GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR, WHATEVER IT IS, DON'T EVER GIVE UP JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FEW DEFEATS! I told you about that missionary that came out to the Pima Indians in Arizona where we lived. The Indians just laughed at him & made fun of him! He witnessed on that reservation for nine years before he had one single convert! He built a little chapel single-handed all by himself with nobody's help. They watched him for nine years & they saw his life & his sweet Christian spirit & they felt his love & they felt the power of the Spirit of God until they finally were convinced, "This man is either a god or an angel or he is really what he says he is, he's really a Christian"--& the kind of Christian that they learned to admire. And when he finally got the first salvations, then the people just began to flood into his little chapel & he had a tremendous harvest, a tremendous reaping! But it took him nine years of preparation, nine years of work. So don't give up just because you have a few little defeats!
32. IT'S A DANGEROUS BUSINESS WE'RE IN! So watch out! It's dangerous business out witnessing, if you don't do it right you can get burned. So watch your step! GBY! ILY! We thank You for how You have kept us, Lord, & have kept our witness going on! TYJ! PTL! Amen! ILY! Lord bless you all!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family