Over zealous evangelism.

Is there such a thing?

I believe so.


I was reading some Lewis and came upon this paragraph which made me think of this subject and of asking you guys such a question.

There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself... as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.

oh I totally agree. Many christians are so over full of the evangelistic spirit they forget who they are witnessing to. They push and prod and turn people away. I think a gentle spirit, being a living witness to the christ in us, and telling people about him in a loving way, as if we really did believe God was our father and we are sharing good things our parent has done for us, is much more effective than traditional gospel sharing.

just my 2 cents worth

A good two cents at that.

I agree, it certainly exists, and saddens me a whole lot.

SisterSandy wrote:oh I totally agree. Many christians are so over full of the evangelistic spirit they forget who they are witnessing to. They push and prod and turn people away. I think a gentle spirit, being a living witness to the christ in us, and telling people about him in a loving way, as if we really did believe God was our father and we are sharing good things our parent has done for us, is much more effective than traditional gospel sharing.

just my 2 cents worth

I agree with this I especially like when you say this
"as if we really did believe God was our father and we are sharing good things our parent has done for us"
this speaks volumes to me!
it is not just facts and figures which is what I believe lewis is talking about but an actual relationship with our living Father.
I do not believe it is our job to evangelise the world, please let me explain

2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

I believe our job is to speak the truth (the truth is found in a person not in a concept John 14:6)
{Zen Buhdism has truths but unless placed within Christ they never become THE TRUTH}

and to speak that truth when people like it and when they dont like it. now that does not mean shove it down there throat but what i mean is that when the subject arises you give an account for your faith and they can still not like it.

I believe that most ministry opportunities come to us, we dont have to go looking for them. because people that are hungry know where to look for food. I guarantee you that the people in your life that are not "christians" know that you are.

so. what I mean is we sow seeds of truth. God waters and tends to those gardens. We may never see the fruits of those seeds and yet they still come about.

Evangelising doesn't work at all if you don't genuinely love the person in question.

Prometheus wrote:Evangelising doesn't work at all if you don't genuinely love the person in question.

hmm , yea, that may be true, but there are so many different forms of love.

Ash wrote:

Prometheus wrote:Evangelising doesn't work at all if you don't genuinely love the person in question.

hmm , yea, that may be true, but there are so many different forms of love.

In a way that they feel loved? How might that be

well, you could be used by God , because of His love for people, without yourself necessarily loving the person you might be evangelizing.

Sort of indirect divine love.

And i would sat that Most Christian Love comes from God and not from Christians. As teh scripture teaches.."the heart of man is desperately wicked".

That doesn't mean that we can't be avid partakers in His love for others, but I think it bodes well to remember the source.

Well, for the whole thing to work, the people in question need to feel loved, by you and by God. To say that God loves them, but not with your deeds and words love them yourself makes you seem like a hypocrite and that won't win any converts

Well, to be honest, when I got saved, it wasn't out of feeling loved by God, but rather from being convicted and fearful of his righteous Judgment. And I wasn't influenced by any Christians at the time either.. it was just me reading the bible and being convicted by the Spirit of God.

but I know it is different with everyone.

But also, that, in itself, is also Love.. God's conviction and righteous judgement. It's very similiar to a parent's Love that directs him to scold a child he loves.. it never feels like Love for the person receiving "correction", but it in fact is. Because if a parent didn't love the child, they would not care to discipline it or scold it when need be.

God is love, but His love can be unpleasant at times.

I talk to him everyday though, because everyday I can die very easily. My job lately is too guard non religious Palestinians from religious Palestinians. That puts me right in the middle of danger, especially since we wear uniforms and they don't. But Jesus keeps me at peace, no matter what. He is my rock and my fortress.

When I lived in the south, you couldn't go 10 feet without coming upon a church, I admit I tried many of them, everything from Southern Baptist to Methodist, to Pentecostal to Messianic Jew. Most of my experiences were unpleasant faced with preachers wanting money and telling me how I'm going to hell. Yet when I went to the Methodist church all I herd was about the love of Christ and how much God loved us. An it made a huge difference in my opinion on religion and how churches work. I admit people need to know the price to be paid for having a life without Christ but more importantly they need to know about Christ's unconditional love and God's grace.