How do I share the gospel with Jehovah's Witnesses?

from the old testament

• The reference to Jehovah can be a valid topic for discussion, and we can agree with them that the God of the Old Testament was called Jehovah or Yahweh (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2).

from the new testament

• There are several points of discussion related to salvation that need to be addressed; the main one concerns Jesus being God in the flesh. Who people say Jesus is must always be a focal point of our conversations. Jesus refers Himself as the "I AM" of Exodus chapter three many times in the Gospel of John, and the religious leaders absolutely knew He was calling Himself God because they tried to stone Him for blasphemy (John 8:24, 28, 54-59; 10:30-3913:18-28; 14:9-14; 17:1-26; 18:4-8).
• The Apostle John declared Jesus as the Creator God in John 1:1-3, 14-18. Jehovah's Witnesses call Jesus a "little god" which still implies He is God. For example, a small human is still a human, and no less of a human because he is a small child.
• John calls Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" in verse 1:29. Jesus is the perfect and complete sacrifice. We cannot work to earn our salvation and only receive God's free gift by trusting the work of Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-10).
• In Colossians 1:15-20 the Apostle Paul exalted Christ as creator of all things. The Jehovah's Witnesses consider Christ to be created, and their translation of the Bible (The New World Translation) says, "for by Him all other things were created..." (1:16). They inserted the word other to indicate Christ was created and that He created every other thing. They also added the word other in verse 17, "He is before all other things..." That is not what the original Greek language says; the word other is not in the text.
• Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe God could die. Revelation 1 uses very strong language to indicate Jesus is God and that He died and rose again. Verses 12-18 describe the glorified Christ who identifies Himself as the "first and the last" who was dead and is now alive forevermore: ‏"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.'"

implications for today

It is extremely difficult for untaught Christians to have a sensible discussion with a Jehovah's Witness because they (especially their missionaries) are totally prepared with all of the talking points for their faith, and sadly, most followers of Jesus are very untaught in the Scriptures. Our tendency is to just toss them off our front door step because they are "evil" and we have no knowledge of how to refute them. However, they need the true gospel, and we should be willing to share.

We should ask God for wisdom and guidance when we begin an encounter with a member of any cult. When we consider that they are lost individuals, just like the rest of the lost world around us, we need to kindly engage them in conversation about our own beliefs. That mean we have to study the Scriptures for ourselves (2 Timothy 2:15). To be able to refute just one of the talking points above would be to "put a stone in their shoes" and make them uncomfortable about something they have been taught.

We should not be concerned about peripheral issues like holidays or methods of crucifixion; these things don't matter in the grand scheme of eternity, nor are they main doctrinal points. We must focus on what matters most: who Jesus is and understanding the implications of not having a right view of Him.

Jehovah's Witnesses also do not like to be called Christians, so why not just avoid that term and tell them you also witness for Jehovah? The key is to study their talking points and be prepared with Bible verses that help refute those points. We will probably not convince them that they are wrong at that time, but if we get them thinking about the issues, that will be a start. It is important to treat each one with the love of Christ because they may not understand the control their cult has over them. Our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people to Christ.