Perhaps you’ve wondered before why Christians feel the need to try to “convert” you to their religion.  Can’t Christians leave others alone?  Beliefs are personal business… why would someone try to push their beliefs on me?

I think the best place to start is to ponder what their motivation may be.  It is very possible to be a Christian and to miss the mark with arrogance or a superiority complex.  But that’s actually not often the case.  Take a step back and consider their motives with a different lens!

It’s Not Easy!

First of all, evangelism is not easy for the vast majority of Christians.  It’s a tightrope many opt not to walk for many reasons, including:

• We don’t want to be looked down on.
• We don’t know the answers to all the difficult questions.
• We’re afraid of losing our friendship with you.

That last one is a major struggle for many of us.  To us, persuading you of the message of the Bible is the greatest act of care we could ever offer.  It’s not because we want to prove you wrong or immoral, or that we want to display ourselves as smarter or more moral.  Jesus warned people, saying, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).  The very notion of repent is the need to change your mind, beliefs, and actions; and Jesus explains that this need is not by comparative sinfulness (Luke 13:2).

Understand also that our beliefs are not mere preferences like a favorite restaurant or favorite sports team.  We don’t understand all the truths of the Bible, and some might even make us feel uncomfortable.  Please don’t equate our beliefs with arrogance.  We come to many strong conclusions about what’s right and wrong in many areas, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, cohabitation, and more… but believing that God doesn’t condone something doesn’t mean that we think we are better than those who do it!  Those beliefs do shape how we seek to live our lives, and how we understand right and wrong, regardless of our feelings about those beliefs.  We trust that God knows best!

Notice their Care!

So next time a Christian invites you to church, asks you to study the Bible, or seeks to persuade you about biblical ideas… pause before being offended or defensive.  Someone cares about you enough to get uncomfortable and risk you hating them.  They believe in objective truth revealed in the Bible, and eternal consequences for the reception or rejection of that truth.

What’s holding you back from considering what your friend is urging you about?  Are you fully satisfied in life?  Have you found the meaningful purpose in which you can sink yourself into and rest in?  Have you found acceptance from others that cannot be lost?  The Bible tells good news of a perfectly moral God who knows the depths of all wrongs we’ve ever done, and offers forgiveness, joy, and purpose in trusting Jesus as Savior, because He died to fulfill eternal justice and restore a people broken by pursuing desires that cannot be satisfied anywhere like He does.  Your friend wants you to know and experience what he has found in Jesus.

Jesus gives this analogy:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

-Matthew 7:24-27

Let me leave you with this question:

Which concerns you more:

• The one who believes he is conducting his life wisely, while watching others silently?
• Or the one who believes one way is wise, and pleads with others to go that direction with him?