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?

[Mulder]

ahh, i missed a page. i'll try to catch up as best I can.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one". Please study the word "one" in this verse. It is the Hebrew word "echad" which is also used in Genesis 2:24. Ask yourself how "echad" can possibly mean "one and only one".

i said i was lazy, not stupid. ive been at some form of jewish education since...birth. i just don't go to synagogue, or pray... or be jewish. let's just say i'm athiest.

Even more pathetic, people end up targeting children. I know so many kids that are Christians, and have been since they were 3 and 4 years old. They dont know any different. You can make a little kid believe anything.

i completely agree. that's how i ended up as an...athiest. I was raised as jew, and never questioned it until after my batmitzvah. I don't regret having one... but I do regret knowing that it meant absolutely nothing to me, and probably never will.
the same goes for anyone raised as an evangelical...christian or messianic jew. Children don't question whether God is there or not, because they are innocent, and trusting. And sometimes people take advantage of the trusting nature of children. I myself have been corrupted by my parents. I still spout sayings that I know to be false only because my mom told me they were true. Doesn't the same go for a child and a religion?

I'm just curious (because the Jewish community considers jews for jesus taboo), were you raised in a jewish environment or a messianic one? I wouldn't question your beliefs if you were raised in a jewish environment, but I definitely would consider your family's effect on you if it's the latter.

I myself have decided, after visiting Israel and feeling no faith whatsoever, to take 2 years off of religion, and see where I end up. I think thats the only way to separate your beliefs from your parents.