Presenting the Good News—About “The Government That Will Solve Man’s Problems”
1 In speaking the good news to people our objective is to reach their hearts. Because of the natural resistance toward callers at the door, some may reply, “I’m not interested,” or, “I’m busy.” This may be, not their hearts speaking, but merely an automatic response. For this reason it is important to say something right at the beginning of your discussion that will get the person to think, to touch his heart, if possible, so as to get a response from the heart. The following approaches might be used.
2 Since a subject of great concern is the pollution situation, we might say: “Pollution today is affecting everybody. Because of the concern we have for ourselves and our families, we can no longer ignore this problem, thinking that things will get better. Scientists tell us that pollution, if not stopped, will wipe out the human race in this generation. So we don’t have to wait for a global war to kill us all off, do we? [Allow for response.] In the cities, children cannot run and play without fear of damaging their lungs and hearts. The air, the water, our whole environment is getting to be filled with contamination, bringing sickness and death. Do you think God will do anything about this? [Allow for response.] How comforting it is to read in the Bible that God will bring to ruin those who are ruining the earth. The time is near at hand when, by his Kingdom government, he will solve this problem of pollution as well as other problems that man has been battling for centuries.” (Proceed to Rev. 21:3, 4; Dan. 2:44 or Ps. 37:10, 11.)
3 Other hearts might be awakened by calling attention to the danger that householders personally face because of increased crime. If something has occurred locally so that there is fear on the street or fear for security in the home, mention this first. Get the householder’s comment on the situation. Then you might continue: “Is the answer the increasing of the number of policemen? Even if we have one on every street corner, we have to face the fact that often police officers cannot protect themselves when violence breaks out, much less one of us. Some persons have been so frightened that they have been taking lessons in using a gun. But it is a mistake to become violently inclined. Jesus said that when these things happen, lift up your heads, for your deliverance is near. The Bible tells us what God will do about this and how we can be good people in his eyes, rather than to become involved in destructiveness and death.” (Turn to scripture or thought expressed in magazine.)
4 If we can get the other person’s heart aroused by causing him to realize the hopelessness of the situation from man’s viewpoint, and by creating a spark of desire to see what God’s Word has to say, we have accomplished much.