by Kimberly Due-Vacco

Created on: October 04, 2009

Pushing your religion on others

What is our job as Christians? Are we supposed to try to convert everyone we meet? What does being salt and light in the world mean? These are some serious questions that I have pondered as I evaluate the difference between evangelizing and pushing my Christian religion on others.

It seems to me that a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters are under the impression that we should be trying to insinuate ourselves into every nook and cranny of the lives of others in order that we might convert them. I went on a (bible) quest in order that I might better understand my duty as a Christian as it pertains to evangelism. I want to be obedient to the tenants of my faith, but I have never felt right about pushing my religion on others. I hoped that this search would make it clear to me just what I was supposed to be doing and how I was to go about it. First of all, I did a search for the word evangelism in the bible and came up empty. Interesting. Is it possible that Jesus never spoke of evangelism?

Upon further investigation I found that Jesus did speak of evangelism, but in a broader sense. He asked his disciples to go with him and preach the good news. He cautioned them, though, that if they were not welcomed somewhere that they should just shake the dust from their feet and move on (Matthew 10:14, Luke 9:5-6). Jesus also said on many occasions that he had come to speak his truth but that there would be those who would not believe it (John 6:64, John 3:11, John 8:45). He seemed to accept this.

He charged his disciples to be like him, he gave them a duty and special instructions to spread the gospel of salvation through him. Some of the things he told them to speak of were freedom, recovery, sight, release, forgiveness and good news (Luke 3:3, Luke 7:7, John 3:16-17). These were the main messages of all of the preaching that Jesus and his disciples did.

When Jesus talked about those who would reject him it was not with hate, in fact he said he was not sent to condemn, but to save. Jesus speaks of condemnation with the strongest language when he is speaking to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (Matthew 23) he calls them hypocrites, snakes and a den of vipers. These were the preachers of the day, the experts of the law of Moses that the Jews followed. He let them know that he was the fulfilment of the law and that the old ways were over.

Nowhere in Jesus' teachings did he tell someone who sought to speak with him that they were sinners condemned to hell and he did not push. When his disciples got out of line, he corrected them and when the Pharisees did things against his teachings, he let them know in no uncertain terms that they were wrong.

So from all of this I gather that if I am to be like Jesus, which if I call myself a Christian, is my duty, then I should go out in my world and be the salt and light that can be seen from my deeds, not my words. There should be no need to push (Matthew 5:16). If I am led to, I should talk about Jesus and my salvation. If I am not welcomed (ie, someone is not receptive) I should move on, not stay and push to argue my point. If someone is receptive to my message I should tell them the good news of the freedom, forgiveness, love and release that I find in my savior.

I hope that I can accomplish what God has planned for me in this life. Before I speak a word to anyone I hope to remember this prayer from Psalm 19:14 which says: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. If I keep this prayer foremost in my heart and mind there will never be a need for me to be pushy.

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