Going up to people to share the Gospel

[Lamb]

A friend of mine on Facebook made a post that indicated that if you aren't willing to go up to strangers to share the Gospel that you aren't really a Christian. Does the Bible say so? What are your thoughts on that statement.

 

[tango]

A friend of mine on Facebook made a post that indicated that if you aren't willing to go up to strangers to share the Gospel that you aren't really a Christian. Does the Bible say so? What are your thoughts on that statement.

I don't think the Bible says anything of the sort.

There is the call to "go into the world and preach the gospel", and "the world" means our hometown just as much as it means far-flung nations. If anything I'd be wary of someone who doesn't preach the gospel in any shape or form in their home town who wants to go somewhere remote to preach it.

Personally I'm skeptical of the idea of just going up to random people. To me that looks more like ticking boxes than doing anything useful, especially if the person doing it doesn't accept their target politely declining their message. If I was going to listen to someone spreading a religious message (whatever the religion) I'd want to see whether they actually lived it or if they were someone who had been paid to hand out tracts and didn't really care what was in the tracts.

 

[Lees]

A friend of mine on Facebook made a post that indicated that if you aren't willing to go up to strangers to share the Gospel that you aren't really a Christian. Does the Bible say so? What are your thoughts on that statement.

We are certainly to do the work of an evangelist. (2 Tim. 4:5) And wherever we go in the world, we should be willing to take the gospel to anyone. (Mark: 16:15)

But, to say one is not a Christian if you don't go up to every stranger and give the gospel, I believe is not true. And I don't know of any Bible verse that says otherwise. Some have a gift of evangelism and more prone to go up to any one, stranger or not. But not all have that.

And some with the gift, coupled with an extravert personality, can embarrass the heck out of you as they at times border on 'intrusion of privacy' instead of witnessing.

I think we should be willing to witness wherever we go. And if opportunity avails itself, when we meet a stranger for whatever reason, then we should look for the right time to witness to them.

Lees

 

[Josiah]

A Christian is one with faith in Christ as THE Savior, their Savior.

Now, Christians SHOULD act in certain ways - be as loving as God is loving, be as holy and perfect as God is, make disciples of all 8 billion people living today, and so on. All things Christians are COMMANDED to do. But not doing them does not mean that God takes back His gift of faith from us, it means we fall short of what God commands. We don't cease to be Christians, we continue to fall short of what God commands. Apples and oranges.



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[tango]

And some with the gift, coupled with an extravert personality, can embarrass the heck out of you as they at times border on 'intrusion of privacy' instead of witnessing.

I think we should be willing to witness wherever we go. And if opportunity avails itself, when we meet a stranger for whatever reason, then we should look for the right time to witness to them.

I think this is the key. The person who appreciates the honesty if we point out they gave us change from a $20 when we paid with a $10, or who asks why we bothered to stop and help them with something, is potentially open to hearing why we did what we did. If they ask more questions we are free to answer. If they don't want to know more we can respect that and move on.

The intrusion of privacy seems like a pretty good way to drive people away from churches. Whatever message you are trying to spread, getting in someone's face and not giving them space seems like a good way to make sure they don't listen.

 

[Manonfire63]

In what context are we talking to strangers about God?

- Someone like Saint Patrick, working to convert Pagan Ireland, there is context there.

- Given we are living in a Christian society, and someone is a street preacher calling people into repentance, there is context there.

- We are in a fallen society. A lot of people have set themselves against God.

To some degree, someone may need permission. Just going up to strangers and talking to them about God, they may be hard ground. That ground may need softened up, or even rototilled before anything of worth is set to grow.

I used to sell things business to business. Just walking up to sell something to someone who may be busy, it is hit and miss. You may need their permission first. There are ways to go about getting that permission.

Someone like Apostle Paul was both Jew and Roman Citizen. As a Roman Citizen, he had access to certain things non-Citizens did not. Romans would come and see him to hear about God's Glorious Kingdom.

 

[BruceLeiter]

A friend of mine on Facebook made a post that indicated that if you aren't willing to go up to strangers to share the Gospel that you aren't really a Christian. Does the Bible say so? What are your thoughts on that statement.

That unbiblical statement is judging people for not sharing the gospel with strangers and is wrong. We need, however, to be open to opportunities God gives us with neighbors, co-workers, and others God puts near us to become friends with them, not their lifestyles. And when God guides us, we need, with prayer to God, to share our testimonies of what God has done in our lives and what we believe about him without trying to convert them or arguing with them. God will do the rest in their lives.