Evangelism Options

[yummy_delight]

A good friend of mine and I recently got into a heated debate about evangelism. We're both Christians, but we have very different ideas about evangelism. When my friend started getting really involved in church a few years ago, he also became a rampant evangelist. He believes that by bringing more people into the church he is not only saving them from eternal damnation, but also doing his duty as a Christian. He has often quoted Charles Spurgeon, saying "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter," essentially stating that you can't truly be Christian without evangelizing non believers.

I, however, don't like the idea of evangelism at all. Although I'm a devout Catholic, I dislike the idea of evangelism because I don't believe that anybody, myself included, has the right to force his or her beliefs on someone else. I think that everybody has a right to be whatever the religion they choose. Perhaps it's because I have a different idea about God than other people. I don't think that God sends honestly good people to Hell just because they don't believe in him. There are such things as Christian people who are hypocritical, paying lip service to God at church on Sundays, and still go about causing harm to other people. In my opinion, these people are less deserving of heaven than the good-hearted people whose only "fault" is that they don't believe in God. I think that my duty as a Christian is to be a good person and have a positive impact on the world, which doesn't necessarily mean that I HAVE to be an evangelist.

I'd just like to know what everyone else's opinion is on this, not merely from a Christian standpoint, but from another religion's or atheist's perspective as well. Do you approve of evangelism? Are you an evangelist? Do you think that evangelism is a necessary requirement for all good Christians?

[sdingfelder]

Note that reasons do not excuse, they simply explain.

I couldn't agree with you more.

If you tell a child not to touch a hot stove, the reason they touch it is because of their temptation -- their desire to "see for themselves". Having that reason doesn't mean they don't get burned.

In the same way, standing in front of a judge and giving the reason/reasons for breaking the law doesn't take away the penalty for breaking those laws. In fact, explaining to a judge any reason for breaking a crime is simply an indictment that you actually did perform the crime. In effect, saying that to a judge is almost as good as saying, "Yes, Judge, I did break the law, but let me tell you why." You make the judge's job that much easier in admitting guilt.

While He instilled in me the the ability not to do those things, He also gave me the weakness to be tempted and seduced by them.

If you truly believe this, then the weaknesses you've given into could've been overcome if you'd looked more to the God-instilled ability to not do them. It's easier not to listen to your conscience, though. The conscience (unless it's been seared into an inaudibility) has been given as an early warning system -- it goes off as you're about to give into some form of weakness. It sounds off to try to keep you away from those temptations.

If God is a good and righteous Judge as you say, He will indeed grant true justice, taken all things in consideration, including our deficiencies.

...and please remember that in taking all things into consideration, He did give each person an internal alarm that goes off when we're about to give into something that may require a reason or an excuse.

Does anyone ever regret doing the right thing ? How about looking back and thinking they shouldn't have done something like lie or steal ? Speaking for myself, of course, there are many things I wish I could've done differently. And each one of them boils down to not esteeming the other person as much as I did myself (which Jesus said was the 2nd greatest Commandment). I regret those things because my conscience tells me it was wrong to have done them.