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?

[Spirited Away]

Yes! Haha, they will get burned and they will learn from it. We are curious creatures "at heart". I still don't understand how, if God gave us the ability to be curious (among other things), and to learn, that He would punish us for the bad things that result from our learning. Isn't that like, making me to learn to cook and try out recipes and even mixing them, and then yell at me or punish me** when the food tastes bad.

If you can hold off responding to me until the next time I post in here, I'd appreciate it. I'm not done with my thoughts on your latest response yet, but I am pressed to study for three impending finals this week. I always like to be thorough with debates.

Until then, have a good week.

**In some cultures, and even in mainstream thought, if a girl can't cook, she isn't "wife" material. <-- a kind of punishment, in my opinion.

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Cont'd.

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.

Is it really easy to not listen to conscience? If my conscience exists to tell me the right things, and I know they are right, why would it be hard to listen? Because of weakness. What else? Weakness that comes from our imperfection. To overcome imperfection, to be perfect? No one can be perfect except God.

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.

Actually, I did regret doing the right thing once. My conscience agreed with me at the time, that I should tell the truth about my Aunts' feud to my niece so that she can be prepared to face their rivalry. Keeping quiet when she asked would have been 1) lying, 2) putting her in a situation where she doesn't know where she stands, and 3) confusing the shit out of her. Now she's pulled into this crazy game of tug-o-war, and what's worse, she's taking sides. I thought that was the right thing at the time, but I guess what's "right", even by our conscience standards, is questionable at times. "Right" and "conscience", is rather subjective, and can be fickles things.

Your point is very well made. In no way would I ever imply that you have to be Christian to care about others. Even worse, I'd have to be blind to say that all those who call themselves "Christian" do care about others.

But, being a Christian is first-and-foremost about caring about God and the things that are important to Him. And what's important to Him is that people turn from that which takes them away from Him -- their sin -- and that they turn to Him.

I have nothing to gain from writing these words. I'm certainly not winning a popularity contest. In fact, if you want to win a popularity contest do NOT do what I'm doing.

I don't know if you're married, but if your spouse were to write you a bunch of love letters and you never even opened the envelopes, how unkind would that be ? God could have left us all guessing as to what He requires to be with Him, but He didn't. He gave us 66 Books that tell us how loving, kind, good, and righteous He is. The Bible says He takes no pleasure in the death of the those who reject Him.

I actually read this from a Harvard Case Study about an Ophthalmologist in India who devoted his life to helping as many blind people in India as he can. I did not have time to go back and read the title nor look for the author as it was a case study we had to read before answering a series of service related questions for my Service Operations final.

The Ophthalmologist said "You do not have to be religious to serve God, you can serve humanity and serve God." He is a devoted Christian who believes that God gave him the purpose and the means to help people, yet he can say that we do not need to be religious to be useful to God. He summed up my beliefs in one sentence, that man.

The love letters may be left unopened. True unconditional love for a person need not to be returned in kind. If I am a mother and my children hates me for whatever reason and I love them even in their hate and with their flaws, wouldn't you call that unconditional love? Yes, it would be nice if they reciprocate my feelings, but my love for them shouldn't change if I can say I love them unconditionally.

If there are conditions to by loved by Him, then who is the one not being fair here?