Being what most would describe as a devout Christian, little pains me more than Christians sounding like modern-day Pharisees. Sadly, this is what I encountered reading responses to Jeff Gaither’s recent column on Christianity. Gaither’s column was riddled with misconceptions, but did have the good intention of asking Christians to love people. Nonetheless, one of the nicer responses basically said “We can’t condemn you, but you condemn yourself to Hell, unbelieving heathen!”
This method of conveying God’s grace is far too prevalent in America today. Didn’t Jesus say not to judge others (Luke 6:37-42)?
I understand the enthusiasm with which people bear witness to God. Some believe that becoming Christian is the only way to heaven. I personally think that is God’s decision rather than something humans are supposed to know, but I believe that, for other Christians, trying to convert people is an act of love, intended to save others from damnation.
However, telling nonChristians to convert or burn in hell isn’t only insensitive, it doesn’t work. Think about it, Christians: if a Muslim said to you, “Stupid infidel, you must obey my Prophet to reach salvation,” you won’t think, “He seems nice. Maybe I’ll visit his mosque and see what this Mohammed guy was about.”
You’ll just think he’s a jerk and be driven further from his faith. We do the same thing by condemning nonChristians. Undoubtedly, people should know that certain actions are wrong, but if we condemn people for their sins we become hypocrites. After all, we’re all sinners, and compared to the rest of the world, even the poorest Americans are filthy rich. God would condemn all of us for that (Mark 10:25) were it not for Jesus’ incredible love and sacrifice.
Furthermore, most sensible folks won’t be completely converted in one day. Conversion should take lots of Bible reading, a supportive church community and most importantly, the Holy Spirit working in the converting member. We can be a supportive church, but nonChristians must accept the call of the Holy Spirit themselves as the Thessalonians did (2:13).
No matter how hard some fundamentalists try, transmitting the Holy Spirit by peer pressure is ridiculous. What we can do is get people interested in our faith so that they are more likely to come to church.
How do we get people interested? We don’t need to give sermons, but only to try to live by Christ’s example. We should feed the hungry (John 6), help the sick (Matthew 8), and give alms to the poor (Luke 12:33), not simply because we want to convert people, but because God tells us to and it’s the right thing to do.
We should strengthen our churches’ efforts to love and help the poor and sick, both within and outside our churches (Thessalonians 9-12). If, as Peter and later Paul commanded, we see our congregation as family, people will want to know why our beliefs cause us to care for each other so much.
This is how the early church grew so quickly in the Book of Acts. Peter’s preaching would have been useless without the actions of the early church backing up his words. Why else would Paul write so many letters telling early European congregations how to act? He knew how important their actions were in spreading the word.
Only through acting like Christ can we inch ever closer to God’s goal of a peaceful world worshipping him together.
I know it’s impossible for sinful humans like you and me to follow Christ’s example continuously. Nevertheless, we must make a persistent effort to follow His command to love and, by extension, serve others. I have made efforts to serve within and outside the church in the past few years, and even though I falter daily, I’ve had many opportunities to share my faith with others who want to hear about it (I should reiterate that proselytizing is not the reason to serve). Although I am just a sac of cytoplasm without God, I have gotten many people thinking about Christ, and I doubt that I’ve driven anyone away.
I don’t consider myself an impeccable communicator, nor do I enjoy writing. I wrote this because it tears my heart out to see well-meaning Christians driving people away from Christ when they could use that energy serving others. To these Christians, I beg you to consider what I’ve written.
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