HOW TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE OF OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS

HOW TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE OF OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS
You are laid back, maybe watching a TV show with the family, and the door bell rings. You go to the door and there they stand. There is two of them in black slacks, white shirts, ties, and wearing big grins. Its the MORMONS!!! It could have just as easily been Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, or some other group doing the hard task of door to door evangelism. Some of them are good Christian people serving the savior. Others may carry a Bible and fist fulls of other literature, but on closer examination, are not following the Christian God of the Bible. How do you respond?
The first step in reaching out to the cults is to know what YOU believe. Peter admonishes us, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."(I Peter 3:15 NKJV). Paul charged Timothy with these words, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."(II Timothy 4:1 to 4 NKJV). It would do well for any church member to find out if their congregation has a "Statement of Faith" (a.k.a. Doctrinal Statement, Statement of Beliefs, etc.). If they do commend your Elders and Minister for their forethought. If not, ask why. This document needs to be periodically reviewed on a personal basis as well as corporately. So many problems can be avoided if one is drawn up and adhered to.
The second thing is to have your own things in order. II Timothy 2:15 reads, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(NKJV). Most people concentrate on the last section of this verse. However, the whole life and lifestyle are being talked about. Consider I Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy.'"(NKJV). Would you accept the testimony of a person who does not reflect what they are trying to teach or testify to? So many times Christians in the popular media are portrayed as hypocrites. Your Christian walk has to be evident to those you are dealing with.
Next we need to treat others with respect. Consider Paul’s example in Athens. As he address the crowd he says, ""Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to the unknown God. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you."(Acts 17:22 and 23 NKJV). In a respectful manner he reveals the identity of the unknown God. The result was the openness of some to enter into a dialog with Paul, and for some their eventual salvation. Please note that showing respect does not mean compromising or condoning any anti-Christian beliefs. Some may think that giving these people a "hearing" gives them a false sense of legitimacy or acceptance. We need to tactfully agree to disagree, but do not compromise the truth.
We need to become like the Bereans. Acts 17:11 reads, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."(NKJV). Take notes during your discussions. Compare these notes, or their actual literature, to Scripture. Formulate questions based on the Bible, but remember they may use the Bible just as we do.
Finally, keep your goal in perspective. I Corinthians 3:1 to 9 read, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul,'' and another, "I am of Apollos,'' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it."(NKJV). In dealing with a cultist, or any non-believer or member of a different church, you are feeding them milk, the food of infants. You are either planting the seed of the Word of God, or you are caring for the seed someone planted earlier. However, God is the one who will harvest the crop. You may get to see it happen and witness a New Creature being born again, or you have to wait until the judgment. Never the less we must do our part in faith.