Elements of the Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch In Soul Winning
by
Robert T. Seelye
"The Gentle Touch In Soul Winning" is made up of several elements. The first
element is to be constantly in prayer that the Lord will bring into your path
the person of His choosing. Be alert to what is going on around you so
opportunities can be identified. Does the person speak philosophically? Join in
and pose the question, "If a man die, shall he live again?" for example. Go
fishing, find a point of interest. Always be asking this question, "I wonder if
this person knows Jesus Christ?"
The second element is to ask questions of the person to whom you are talking.
The Key Question
As the conversation continues and you enter the spiritual realm look for a
place to ask this question. "According to your understanding of the Christian
religion what was the purpose of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross?"
This the KEY question. Fail to ask it and the method won't function. What it
does is to focus on the death of Christ, on his/her understanding of it, you go
to the heart of the issue.
You will usually get an answer something like this,
"Well, my understanding is that Christ died for the sins of the world."
Your answer; "I've asked a lot of people that question and your answer is one
of the best I've heard. What I'd like to do is prove to you that you are right."
Then ask; "Could I take a minute and show you something that has been a big
help to a lot of people?" I've never had a person say no.
Did you know your
name is in the Bible?
At this point you pull out your New Testament and open to 1st Peter. If the
person is Catholic you can ask if they've ever read the letters that Peter
wrote? Peter is big stuff with them, but in 100% of the cases, you will find
they have not read his letters. Chapter 2 and vs. 21 is where you start. You
show that the subject matter of the section is Jesus Christ, but that you will
be looking more at verse 24 than this one. When you come to vs. 24 you can ask
this question. "By the way, did you know your name was in the Bible?" "Oh no, no
way can that be! Let me see it." Then you show them the our¹ and ask whether
since Peter wrote the book, that would include Peter, you and me. "Well, OK,"
and that is always a brand new thought.
Where are your sins?
"Let's read together the 24th verse." Read the first phrase and then pose the
question, "According to this verse, are your sins on you or are they on Christ?"
You will get a variety of answers here but the key is that they are admitting
that they are sinners. They might say, "How can they be on Christ, I did them."
Or variations. "OK, lets try it once more and you read it to me with your name
in it." Using the name is optional, depending on how intently the person is
following things. "What does it say, are they on you or on Christ?" At this
point you will be very likely to get what I call the "Round the World Orbit."
He/she tells you about his great grand daddy who was a circuit riding preacher.
And then there was his mother, bless her memory, who really was into church. And
it goes on and on. Sometimes it is short and sometimes long, the longest for me
ran about 45 minutes, but that was an extreme case.
I don't think you
understood the question.
By and by the person runs out of steam. He has told his story, you have
grunted sympathetically all the way through his monologue, hav-
ing made NO COMMENTS at any time.
Your feet are tired, but the thing is getting close. When he winds down you jump
in and tell him what it meant for him to lay his soul bare like that. "You have
told me things about yourself that you might not have told anyone else, and I
really appreciate it."
What do you say about what he has said? Nothing. You don't take up any points
he has raised, dispute nothing, ignore it all. The man has had his say and a
sympathetic person was there to really listen, that is enough. You are his
friend for life. So you say it this way. "That was just terrific, but I don't
think you understood the question."
Quote him exactly.
Occasionally I find it helpful to break in at this point, look at my watch,
and remark that I am really running out of time. You would be amazed at the way
they want to continue. I've had them actually grab me and say, "Let's finish
this. What was the question?" and you go back to the beginning and tell him what
he said when you asked what his understanding of the purpose of the death of
Christ on the cross was. And you quote him exactly. Nothing cements the thing
more than to be quoted with approval by you, who is getting more and more
interesting to him. "You said this and we looked at what Peter wrote and the
question was: According to this verse are your sins on you or on Christ?¹ That
was the question and lets try it again." You go through it once more and this
time you get a very small orbit, might be one minute's worth. You ignore it,
never even acknowledge what was said, and go over the verse once again.
Take a different tack.
"Let's try it one more time." This time you take a slightly different tack.
Have the person read the verse with his name in it, then ask,² "According to the
Bible, where are your sins?² When they give the answer that the Bible says their
sins are on Christ, then ask "According to you, where are your sins?"
(This is the moment of truth.)
My sins really ARE on Christ!
Suddenly it hits a person that, "Hey, this is true, my sins really ARE on
Christ!" Some laugh at how simple it all is and they missed it for so long.
Others weep but when the truth of the location of that person's sins hits them,
they have already trusted Christ and you have a new Christian on your hands.
After they see that their sins are on Christ, ask them, ³Well, where are your
sins right now?² They will say, ³On Christ.² And you ask, ³How do you know?² At
this point they will usually take the Bible from you, point to the verse and
say, ³It says so right here!² I then ask if that is all the proof they have, and
they will apprehensively say that it is, wondering what comes next. I tell them
that they are correct, it is all the proof they have, or ever will have and it
is enough. The Bible settles it.
Then I ask if they ever pray. Whatever the answer, show them 1 John 1:9 and
explain how we acknowledge to God that we have sinned, but now that they are put
away, we can also thank God for forgiving them. ³Can you do that when you get
home?²
It is thrilling to watch
them grow, what a joy.
How to use this method to win souls:
Memorize the questions that are italicized and use them as the Holy Spirit leads
to move the conversation along. Do not spend time telling people what you
believe, just ask questions and listen carefully to the answers.
Robert T. Seelye