14 Reasons to Stop Evangelizing Your Friends. (…. What the??????)

I recently ran across an interesting and startling post in the blog written by Jon Reid. My initial response was that some person posing as a Christian wrote the post, but after commenting on Jon’s blog, and having a short dialog with Jon, I realized that he is a man who truly loves the Lord and is a man who cares deeply that there are some unbelievers who are being hurt by those who are not gracious or thoughtful in the way they evangelize.

Having said that, I should also say that the blog is harmful in more ways than it is helpful. I say this because there are many Christians out there who do not want to evangelize, and look for any excuse not to. On its surface, Jon’s blog gives them 14 reasons, and the reasons are neither sound nor scriptural.

Jon’s blog is here.

Years ago, I decided to stop evangelizing my friends. Here are 14 reasons you might consider doing the same:
1. It makes them uncomfortable.
2. It makes you uncomfortable.
3. It makes you think about how to twist every conversation to Jesus rather than seeing how Jesus is already there.
4. It makes you believe you’re bringing God to them, rather than seeing how the Holy Spirit has already been active in their lives.
5. It pressures you into showing an unrelatable happy, plastic face rather than letting God’s grace shine through your struggles.
6. It makes you focus on talking rather than listening.
7. It leads you to answer questions they aren’t asking.
8. It makes you think about what to say rather than how to love.
9. It makes you think faith is a list of statements rather than a different way of living.
10. It puts you into the role of “teacher,” causing you to miss things your friends can teach you.
11. It makes them see you as a religious salesman rather than an apprentice of the Master.
12. It hurts your friendship.
13. It robs you of a good time.
14. It makes you think their lack of interest in your evangelism means they are not interested in Jesus or spiritual questions.
What do you think — do you agree/disagree? What other reasons can you think of?

One reason to evangelize your friends.
Jesus said to. (“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15:16)
Anything else is not from God.

1&2. “It makes them (or) you uncomfortable.”

Jesus often asks us to do things that are uncomfortable. In fact Christianity is not about our comfort or making us feel all warm and fuzzy. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:21-22
BTW: Witnessing is not nearly as uncomfortable as you and they will be if they spend eternity in hell because you did not want to tell your friend the gospel because you might be uncomfortable. Real friends/Christians talk about Jesus to their unsaved friends.

3. “It makes you think about how to twist every conversation to Jesus rather than seeing how Jesus is already there.”

If Jesus is truly already there we will see the fruit of the Spirit evangelism has already happened and the Gospel has been received. If we do not see the fruit of the Spirit then Jesus is not present and we must evangelize. Galatians 5:16-26

4. “It makes you believe you’re bringing God to them, rather than seeing how the Holy Spirit has already been active in their lives.”

If the Holy Spirit is truly active in a person’s life they will be trying to live a holy and righteous life that shows the fruit of the Spirit. Those persons have already been evangelized and have allowed the Spirit to work in them. People who are unrepentant do not know Jesus, or the Spirit, they must be evangelized. (1 John 3:7-10)

5. “It pressures you into showing an unrelatable happy, plastic face rather than letting God’s grace shine through your struggles.”

We can talk about Jesus to our friends while showing God’s grace through our struggles. Isn’t it really very silly to think that telling our friends about Jesus causes us to be insincere or disingenuous?

6. “It makes you focus on talking rather than listening.”
7. “It leads you to answer questions they aren’t asking.”

These two reasons actually present us with two fallacies. Fallacy one, those who evangelize the Gospel of Jesus Christ are unable to do so while listening and then giving Godly and appropriate responses. Fallacy two, those who evangelize needlessly answer questions that were not asked. The truth is, the act of evangelism may very well involve saying things that the person being evangelized has not thought of or asked. But, those who need to hear the Gospel do not know many things about Jesus and must first be taught so they might then ask the correct questions.

8. “It makes you think about what to say rather than how to love.”

Evangelism is one of the greatest acts of love a Christian can perform. Those who know Jesus and love Him really do not need to think about what to say, their joy just flows out. And let’s not forget that we are promised the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

9. “It makes you think faith is a list of statements rather than a different way of living.”

This is an assumption that has no basis in truth. Oh I suppose for a few it might be true, but it’s unfair to place every Christians who speaks to their friends about Jesus in this category.

10. “It puts you into the role of “teacher,” causing you to miss things your friends can teach you.”

The best teachers are those who are constantly learning. There is nothing at all wrong with teachers or those who are in the role of a teacher. If a friend is unsaved having never known Christ or they are backslidden to the point where they no longer live a Christian life, then a true Christian and a true friend will certainly begin to teach them the Gospel and the way to salvation.

11. “It makes them see you as a religious salesman rather than an apprentice of the Master.”

I suppose that would depend on the level of spirituality of both the person and the person being evangelized. The writer used a broad brush to paint all evangelists. If we are genuine, humble and sincere we really can’t help what others might think.

12. “It hurts your friendship.”
13. “It robs you of a good time.”

Christians need to see that there are more important things than temporal relationships and moments. Think eternally. BTW, if your friend is unsaved and comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus because you had the courage to evangelize them, your friendship will then be an eternal friendship.

14. “It makes you think their lack of interest in your evangelism means they are not interested in Jesus or spiritual questions.”

There are certainly times when this is true, right? The truth is we need to plant the seed so that the Spirit can then water it.

Christians, should be taught to know Christ’s heart, and to understand and believe what Paul wrote, “How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them?” (Roman 10:14) Telling others about Jesus is the most important mission Jesus gave to us. He did not just give us a mission, He asked us to partner with Him in this mission.

Paul wrote to Timothy and said, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:2-5)

This is sound advice that teaches us to spread God’s good news in a positive and productive way. Christians must be straightforwardly encouraged to speak about Jesus, in ways that are wise and godly, to everyone.

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5

I thank Jon for his commitment to Jesus and for his sensitivity to hurts we Christians sometimes inflict on others in our zeal to spread the Word. I just think we should be more cautious in the way we express our concerns.

Your thoughts?

Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” Roman 6:1

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” Roman 6:1

Being a Christian does not mean that we will never sin again and as the entire world knows there is no Christian who is perfect. Just ask any atheist and he will quickly point that out, and remind us of all the TV preachers who have taken great and well publicized falls.

Being a Christian means that we will struggle with sin and we will not be happy or comfortable with sin that is in our lives. That’s what Paul is speaking about in verses 6:20 and 23. “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Overcoming sin by our faith in God leads to eternal life. Believing God’s grace covers your choice to keep on sinning does not.

There are those who say they are Christians, who do not struggle with the sin in their lives. They are quite comfortable in their sin and they believe that the grace of God holds them blameless for the sins they choose to enjoy. They believe that since we are unworthy of grace there is no need to try to be worthy. Worse (especially for them) they teach others that it’s OK to believe as they do. It’s as if they believe that Jesus is actually concerned about us pleasing ourselves with whatever pleasure the world offers and our pleasure is more important than us living holy lives.

The Christians who think that way are some of the false teachers that the Apostles and Jesus spoke of. Be careful of them. What they teach goes against what Jesus and his Apostles teach us. Wake up Christian and live your life for Jesus. Get rid of anything in your life that does not make you a stronger Christian, does not point to the Cross or, which might sling mud on Jesus’ name.

“So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16

“. . .so faith without deeds is dead. . .”

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”James 2:26

We Protestant/Evangelical Christians like to say we are saved by faith only.

But we cannot ignore that each of the faithful in Hebrews 11 demonstrated their faith by doing something.

Moses took the Israelis out of Egypt, Rahab hung the scarlet cloth from her window and Noah built the arc. Each of these had faith but each would have perished if they did not put their faith into action.

As a Christian you should put your faith into action by caring for the hungry, fatherless and the widows. You should get the things of the world out of your life and live solely for Jesus.

When we stand before Jesus he will not be impressed by the books we read, our taste in movies, our fashion sense or our collection of music. He will question us about the love we showed to others, those we served or helped and how many people we pointed toward the Cross.

Are you living for the short time you spend here or are you thinking of eternity?

Are you seeing the entire picture and encouraging others to give their lives to Jesus for eternity or are you shallow and encouraging them with to live for this temporary life on earth? Teaching others to be holy, righteous followers of Jesus or lukewarm fun lovers?

Life is about choices. Think eternally, be relevant to the Kingdom.

” . . .set your hearts on things above. . .”

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1

If you call yourself a Christian, ask yourself what your heart is set on.

Did you spend more time yesterday studying the stats of your favorite sports team than you spent reading your Bible?

Have you spent more money this month entertaining yourself than you did tithing or giving to charities?

Did you talk more about the new box office hit than you did Jesus yesterday?

To the casual Christian these things seem trivial and unimportant. But according to scripture they show what you are truly passionate about and where your heart really is. Scripture never commends the casual Christian or speaks of rewards for the casual Christian. In fact according to Jesus and the Apostles there is no such thing.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus does not want anyone to hate anyone else. He is using hyperbole to show you that there is nothing casual about being a true Christian. You are either hardcore or you are……………………..

hyperbole |hīˈpərbəlē|
noun
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Don’t take it literally, do take it seriously.