I sometimes get the question “Shouldn’t we just let people believe what they want to believe?” Or, put another way “Isn’t evangelism unloving because you are trying to force people to leave their beliefs behind and accept yours?” In this age of “tolerance”, as it is called, there is a growing notion that everyone ought to be able to believe whatever they want and that all beliefs are created equal. To tell someone that what they believe is wrong is unloving and, well, wrong!
Of course the contradiction here is obvious. If it is wrong to tell other people that their beliefs are wrong, and I believe that others need to believe in Jesus as I do, why are you telling me my beliefs are wrong!? Tolerance, after all, is not the idea that everyone’s beliefs and ideas are equally true, but that even when we disagree we allow people to continue in their beliefs without using pressure tactics or threat of harm to coerce them to change their stated view.
To be certain, to insist that you “see it my way or die!”, or at least that their will be some sort of retaliation on my part if you don’t change your view would indeed be unloving and intolerant. The question is this, is that what Christians do in evangelism? Absolutely not. Put all thoughts out of your mind about the inquisition and other such atrocities that have been done “in Jesus name” and yet in complete rejection of His own teaching. Such heinous acts are not biblical evangelism.
Christian evangelism, done by biblical methods, is a loving act of seeking to persuade through reason, evidence and Scripture, the truth of the gospel (good news about Jesus). As Christians we practice tolerance in the classical sense of the word and allow others to hold their beliefs which we disagree with. We do not threaten them harm in any way, but all the while we seek to show them that Christianity is true and that all people everywhere need Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. No one is born a Christian and we are all sinners who need Jesus, I became convinced of the gospel as truth at a point in time in my life and believe that everyone needs to know Jesus just as I have come to.
Sometimes our efforts to persuade people towards Christ are seen as pushy or unloving, but the heart of our intentions is the good of those to whom we are sharing our faith with. Imagine with me for a moment that you saw a person who was both blind and deaf standing on a railroad track, unaware that a train was speeding his way, clearly under the impression that he is in no danger whatsoever. What would be the loving response on your part? Let him meet his fate with the train or try to move him out of harms way? Obviously the answer is to try to move him out of harms way. In fact, I would argue, that you have a moral obligation to attempt to save this man’s life.
Now it may be the case that when you come alongside this individual that he will resist you because, after all, he doesn’t know who you are or why you are urging him to move from where he is. You seem like an inconvenience at least and maybe even a threat to his well-being, but in reality you are performing an act of love with his best interests in mind.
This is a great example of Christian evangelism, not because people who don’t know Jesus are blind or deaf, but because they are either unaware or perhaps indifferent to the danger they are in. As such, if we love our fellow-man (or woman) then it our duty to share, encourage, persuade, etc., that they need Jesus in their life to avoid God’s just wrath against their sin. For us to simply keep this information to ourselves would be a heinous act of hate when you think about it.
We as Christians believe that all of us have sinned against God (Romans 3:23) and are guilty of breaking his commands. If you are unsure I urge you to read the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 and ask yourself whether you have loved God at all times more than other things, or if you have always honored your parents, ever lied, stolen, etc. We all have broken God’s law and are accountable to Him for what we have done. God is a good judge and he cannot and will not simply let us get away with lawlessness. Just as a judge cannot simply forgive a criminal for stealing because he said he was sorry or because he’s done more good than bad in his lifetime, so also God must judge us for breaking His law and hold us accountable for what we’ve done.
But God did not leave us alone in our situation, he sent His Son Jesus (John 3:16) who lived a sinless life, fulfilled the law of God to fulfill all righteousness and died on the cross to pay for our sins so that God could justly forgive us of our sin (Romans 3:23-26) on the basis of Jesus being an acceptable substitute for all who place their faith/trust in Him. Since Jesus is the one and only way God has provided to make us right with Him it is essential that we spread the message of what Jesus has done so that people may hear the message, believe and be saved (John 14:6; Acts 4:12 Ephesians 2:8-9). As Christians we want people to be able to come into a right relationship with God and know peace with Him.
Often people take offense to Christians sharing their faith and trying to persuade them to leave their belief system behind and trust in Jesus, but our motivation is love. If we really believe that Hell is real and that all people are on a path to go there apart from the provision found in Jesus alone then it is UN-loving to not share the gospel and not evangelize. We would be morally reprehensible people to believe in Hell and God’s just wrath against sin and to not share the hope of forgiveness found in Jesus alone. Evangelism is an act of love from your Christian friends and family. Regardless of whether you accept the message of Jesus (and I hope you will) know that Christians are loving you when they share with you the biblical message of Jesus.
