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]

From Angelina Taylor:
Please, don't pray for me. I really, really hate it when people say that to me. Don't waste your time - there's nobody in the clouds.

I guess I should thank you for giving me a clear conscience. I will not pray for you, then. I will grieve, though.

From sadolakced acid:
Well, do you agree that an athiest such as myself may edit and create his own version of the bible, twisting the phrases?

You most definitely can. Why bother, though ? There are plenty of people who call themselves "Christians" who do basically the same thing. Instead of editing and creating their own versions, they simply take verses out of context, ignore other verses, and then twist them completely. Might as well not reinvent the wheel and just use some of their material.

From sadolakced acid:
and because we don't know which one is wrong, we must suspect it all, and cannot accept any of the bible as 100% true.

No, not at all. The Bible is an integrated message. First, if you contort a verse, other verses will show that something's wrong. Second, we still have the original Hebrew and Greek that we can go back to in order to see if the translation/version is correct.

From sadolakced acid:
therefore, no, i wouldn't agree that evangalism is a good thing.

I can completely understand. If you don't believe in a thing called "absolute truth", then why would you ever believe someone coming to you and saying, "This is THE truth."

The truth is that one day, we'll all step off this Earth and into eternity. That's truth. Even Benjamin Franklin recognized that: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." He was right. He died. Actually, he lived until the age of 84 in 1790. He's been dead for over 210 years -- a LOT longer than he was alive. This is reality. You'll be dead a LOT longer than you'll ever be alive. Please put serious thought into where you're going to spend eternity.

From sadolakced acid:
the things you never talk about with friends are religion and politics, and there's a reason for it.

Actually, those are the things YOU, specifically, never talk about with friends. But, consider this: Your friend has a blindfold and headphones on such that they can neither see nor hear anything. They're walking straight toward a 150 foot cliff. Wouldn't you run as fast as you could to hold them back if not tackle them in order to save them from the fall to come ? In fact, if you don't do that, you're not really a friend at all -- are you ?

If you actually knew something was true, you'd do everything you could to try to inform people of the truth you know. On the other hand though, if your convictions are so weak about something, why bother sharing with people the fact that you really don't have a strong stance on something ?

Remember the old saying: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

From sadolakced acid:
we agree that there are multiple religions, and we agree that until we die, we cannot know for sure which one is correct (and don't say you know, i'm talking about humanity as a whole).

I agree completely. There are many, many religions. Unfortunately, after you die it's too late.

This is why a Biblical evangelist makes every effort to share the message of how to be sure of your eternal destiny. It is out of a concern for your eternity. You can despise this person for caring enough to share -- that's certainly your choice.

Think about this: If some one came up to you and gave you 1000 invitations to a party, everyone who attends the party gets a million dollars, a car of their choice & a trip around the world. Wouldn't you give that invitation to every friend & family member you have ? If you didn't have 1000 friends or family members, you'd even give the invitation to complete strangers in order to share with them something that was given freely to you !

This is how a Biblical evangelist looks at it. We've been freely given something that we don't deserve and we're given an endless supply of tickets that we get to pass out.

Bottom line is that you've got to ask yourself something: Why would the God that gives you breath and a beating heart each day accept you when you reject Him each one of those days He provides ?

From sadolakced acid:
Therefore, until we know which one is correct we should abstain from attempting tp introduce religion to people.

You can believe in evangalism all you want, but if you try to convert me, i won't talk to you. It's simple as that.

Again, I can understand that. I wasn't raised in the way that I think today. In no way did my Jewish background have room for any concept that the Jewish Messiah had already come. I never shared Judaism with anyone because I figured it was a personal choice. Truly, it was because there was nothing redeeming about Judaism that compelled me to share it with me -- simply put because it offered to answers. Why would I share with anyone the fact that what I believe provides no answers ?

Please put serious thought into the fact that (no matter how old you are) you can do nothing at all to guarantee tomorrow. You have no power at all to control that. You can't even control your next heartbeat. Life is fragile. Eternity is a very long time.