Blog of Page’s

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?