Reader Question- What about Evangelism?

I was wondering what your view on evangelism is, espcially re:your latest on Christianity and universalism.

Regards,
Sarah

This one gets a little interesting, so here we go.

Evangelism is a VERY touchy subject in Christian circles. To some, it is something we HAVE to do, indeed, possibly our main purpose on this planet. There's a whole world of heathens out there and if we don't get the word to 'em, and fast, then they're doomed to hell and it will be ALL OUR FAULT! Get out there! Knock on doors, circulate the tracts, spread the Word, GO! GO! GO!

At which point, some of the rest of us start looking embarrassed and hide behind our menus so the waiter might think we just happened to be sitting at the same table but aren't really WITH them.

In some ways, I like the basic sentiment behind that kind of Evangelism. After all, if you honestly believed that someone would go to Hell if you didn't at least try to teach them about Christ, well then, NOT doing so really would be pretty despicable. Like watching someone drown and just shrugging it off. The problem is that in order to get there you would need to make some pretty big assumptions, the biggest of which being that  The Almighty Creator of the Universe is willing to allow the status of the soul of a creature made in God's own image to depend whether or not you personally are willing to get out of bed on any given day.

When I (briefly) moved in a circle like this, we looked on non-believers very similarly to how one might look on Poke'mon, like they were how we kept score as to just how well we were doing in the Kingdom. There was actually a "Christian" knock off of Magic the Gathering made where you kept score by how many lost souls you had saved. It was fun all the way up until the point that I realized that there is a section of Christianity that actually views the world this way, and a big part of the push that made me get serious about the Reformed aspect of my faith.

So I'm against that kind of Evangelism, because it is EXCEEDINGLY egotistical and self-centered, which are pretty good hints that it's not what God wants for us. That said, am I completely against Evangelism? Honestly? No. By some understandings of the word, that's what I'm doing here.

To clarify, I promised early on that I wasn't going to try to convert anyone, or guilt people into any action. I believe I have kept that promise. But let's say, hypothetically, that after reading something I wrote, one of you Nerdfighters contacted me and asked about getting connected with a church, based on what I had said. Not only would I do so in a hot minute, but I'd be happy about it all day.

You are precisely the sort of people I WANT in the church. Caring, intelligent people who are willing to get their hands dirty to fight Worldsuck? With a church made up of Nerdfighters, we could change the world. I'd love to be the pastor preaching to a group like that. So if you were to ask me if I was completely disinterested in whether or not you joined, I'd either have to answer no or lie.

But I don't think your eternal soul depends on it, or me.  And you're already fighting worldsuck. So why make a nuisance of myself and alienate people? Instead, I'll answer questions here, answer summons to various threads on ANF when people want some kind of advice or counseling, and in general try to forget to be awesome as little as possible. If that fits your definition of Evangelism, then I guess I'm all for it. 

I'd love to have you in my church, no question about it. But if all we can be is fellow Nerdfighters, that's not bad at all.