Experimentally Speaking to People

Helping People

(a) In person (even by voice), (b) In a meeting place according to Biblical locality, (b) In your family, and (d) On the internet using a forum.

(a) Helping people to receive the truth in one sense is very easy. When in person, they have to heed our words because our words are effective and true, so they do. They actually repent right there on the spot in the midst of our words. It is visible. This has been my experience when discussing God's redemptive design with people. I seem unable to not be able to convince someone with God's loving Word, even if the person is not born-again, an unsaved tare in the kingdom trying to look like the wheat, or a carnal Christian - if they allow the time to speak to them! People have a very short fuse box.

But, if you let them keep talking, not less than 5 minutes later they change their mind ever so slightly in their thoughts and words again wanting to come back into their old selves, back to the way they were. It is most apparent! Their repentance at first seemed real on the surface, but then we realize it was not, when they lost what they gained so quickly. Very fickle!

(b) This is why Biblical locality is so important, because if the apostles are right and appoint elders that are right, the meeting places in a Biblical locality will be right, even within walking distance. How much easier it is for someone who is fickle like the above example, to walk to a local meeting place regularly if it is so close by! What they need is constant exposure to transform that initial change of mind they had that lasted 5 minutes to 10 minutes, then 30 miniatures, and hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, 10 years, forever! If the person is constantly receiving instruction, he will constantly be unable to reject it. But if there is no one there to guide him personally, he will go right back into the world and his own rampaging thoughts, even after a couple minutes.

(c) There is a word of caution though. Family members are most difficult to convert to the truth, just as Jesus said, He was not welcome in His own home in Nazareth, Galilee. Everyone thought they knew Him and his family in Galilee, but they didn't know Him at all. Preconceived notions about someone are very disabling for the assumer, and will block the one in the truth from trying to help them. This is why Jesus said if you don't hate your mother or father, brother or sister, you can't enter in the kingdom. This is a spiritual hate, not a natural hate, so do not misconstrue what is being said here. If you are so married to your family that you can't see who Jesus really is, then it is because you love the world and you don't hate sinners. This is the meaning of hating.

(d) Lastly, in Christian forums (don't try to convince someone of Christ on a non-Christian forum because there is too much hostility there to be able to reach through to souls; not to mention the flood of unregenerate ganging posts, you can't get a word in edgewise), whether leading someone to Christ (dogs or the tares) or helping a Christian overcome a false teaching (or way of being), it is a gargantuan task, because people on the internet are unbelievably belligerent. You have to take it exceedingly slow, slower than you would in person.

In an instant, in person, we can convince someone of something with words because they can sense something of our spirit and our emotion along with our words that it is righteous, loving and faithfully true to life. But on the internet these lines of communication are stifled. All you see are the words. Even so, if you take it slow, you can impact someone also. But note, you must take it much slower than you would likely expect. This means not merely days, but weeks and weeks of devotion to someone to help them as slowly and caring as possible. But do note, you can't even begin if at the outset the person you are helping is utterly belligerent. At that point all you can do is ban them or block them. Perhaps later they will have an ear to hear when they try out their new email and login name.

Praise the Lord!