Titus 1:1-16
[An overseer must] … be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. (v. 9b) I find that I am able to “preach the gospel” (when the occasion arises), but I’ve never been good at responding to negative responses. I’ve heard that the best testimony that we can offer in that situation is to ask questions instead of trying to argue for the truth. But I find difficulties in that approach, in that the more a person responds with what they believe, the more committed they might be to that wrong teaching or wrong doctrine. I’m thinking here of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. If you let them talk you’ll just get an endless repetition of what they believe – or more specifically, where they find fault with our doctrine. I have found it best to just be polite, commend them for their commitment, but remind them of who Jesus is and what He has done and where they are wrong, then dismiss them and shut the door. Then I am confident that “…the word that went out of my mouth would not return void, but would accomplish that which the Lord intended.”(Isaiah 55:11, edited)
See also: October 1 / Titus 1:1-9; October 2 / Titus 1:10-16