Should Christians Evangelize?

To evangelize is to spread good news. In the Christian faith, it means to tell others that Jesus rose from the dead, and if we put our faith/trust in this Jesus, we can be reconciled to God and be adopted as God's children. The moment we accept this gift, we are given the Holy Spirit of God as "a deposit that guarantees our inheritance."¹

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Now it's all well and good to hold this belief, but should we try to convince others to accept it too? The Bible clearly states that we must,² but the world is hostile to it... though it readily accepts the forced indoctrination of millions into naturalist philosophy, and has no objection to the promotion of what is generally called "new age" spirituality. In my own experience, I have often seen very aggressive attempts to push some form of Gnosticism on everyone and exclude all who refuse to accept it.

So by its actions the world in general does not object to most forms of proselytism. Then the question for us Christians is, why not us? Why not our beliefs? Why do we allow ourselves to be singled out for silencing, and why do we allow others to dictate when and what we are allowed to say in public? Most importantly, why do we accept their distorted ideas of what makes a good or bad Christian?

From another angle, many Christians feel that the best way to lead people to Jesus is to lead them just about everyplace else. The rationale is, "First I befriend them, get them to be open to changing their mind about something less threatening, and then I gently introduce the Gospel." That all sounds great on the surface, and there is at least some Biblical precedent for this approach.³ But how often does anyone actually get to that point? Should we gamble that the person will live until we get that opportunity? When we stand before Jesus at the judgment, will we offer an excuse for not telling people the Gospel, "I thought it best to wait for them to ask"? Will we hope that such people will not confront us in tears and say, "Why didn't you tell me, you knew me for years!?" This approach is all the more tragic in cases where the other person has continually expressed their own beliefs and we just listened politely. To borrow a movie line, "If you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it."

The faith we have is more than just acceptance of a fact of history, that Jesus rose from the dead, confirmed by many eyewitnesses both friendly and hostile. It is a free offer of reconciliation and adoption.⁴ Our message to the world is that they too can be on good terms with their Creator, without having to work for it. After all, what kind of relationship would it be if, in order to be adopted, a child had to perform some difficult task? Or if they could be quickly disowned for even the slightest act of disobedience or imperfection?

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Should Christians evangelize? Yes, because it would be selfish and wicked to keep such an incredible "free offer" to ourselves or hide it in the ground, and because everyone else is allowed to try and convert others to their beliefs. But how should we go about this? The Biblical answer is, "It depends."⁵. If a person is hostile and attacking you, you have every right to strongly oppose them; we are not called to be doormats or punching bags.⁶ But if they're open and willing to listen, be gentle, remembering that this is a free offer of adoption, not a sales pitch or threat. We are God's ambassadors,⁷ not assassins. Save hostility for those claiming to be fellow believers who teach falsehood or wallow in sin.⁸