Unsolicited evangelism is not loving your neighbour

DamianWarS said:

Jesus says to "love your neighbour as yourself" but you seem to be missing the "as yourself" part. I don't see how this means the gospel cannot be heard. I am talking about unsolicited evangelism which should by no means represent the bulk mass of how the gospel is communicated; if it does then that's a problem. I am able to share the gospel to people all the time but I don't do it if they don't want to hear it, what possible value would that have except for them getting really annoyed at me. The message I carry is far great than I but if I'm rejected because of my inability to love then the message is never heard and certainly never understood regardless how loud or how many times I speak it.

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Well, I grew up without God in my life, and in my entire life no one ever told me about Jesus or explained the gospel to me. Christians today are hamstrung with the politically correct sensibilities of this age. I dearly wish someone had been bold enough to come to me earlier in life and told me how to know the Lord.

I'm glad you are able to share the gospel a lot, but again it is wrong to withhold it because you judge them to be unreceptive. The Lord commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples of all nations, and He didn't qualify that statement with "only if they want to hear it". We need to go by the word of God, not the sensibilities of people or this age. Eternity is forever, and people are headed for a lake of fire that they will be infinitely more unhappy about.

JoeP222w said:

And as I said elsewhere, you don't read a verse in isolation. You follow all of the counsel of God.

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Preaching to the choir on that -- people don't understand most verses without reading fully through passages and books. This one though, the 'golden rule'.

It's totally clear.

Like "love one another" it's a clear as a bell.

It's only whether we will obey Him, or not. When we fail, we can repent, and be forgiven.

But do that full reading for this also, and see for yourself. Nothing less is enough for me.
When you discover (if you haven't) the precious, central learning that we must seek the Lord, that's a huge gain. Also, it does seem that people who are trying to do the golden rule are in a better place to be knocking on the door.

DamianWarS said:

When someone says they feel like something is being forced upon them they are expressing an unwanted advance. By disqualifying these feelings you are saying their opinions don't matter and aren't really real to begin with. that's not a platform for the gospel to be presented on.

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I have no real problem with a person saying to me.. """Excuse me but i do not believe in god and have no interest in hearing anything more about the subject could you please cease talking about this subject""" Actually i feel a sence of a weight being lifted off my shoulders because i do not have to worry any more about the responsability of being a spokesman for the gospel to that person any more.. I like it when atheists calmly and clearly reject the message of God. I am ok with ending the conversation with them because i have done my calling to God and tried to share the message of Jesus with them..

So i am very accepting of their feelings of rejection of the message of Jesus and will respond quickly by ending the discussion and i will not directly bother that person again about the issue.. As long as they do not bring up religon as a topic around me then i am cool with the situation..

And i really don't like it when others project unplesant attitudes upon me in discussions like this.. positions i have never expressed.. Like """"saying their opinions don't matter and aren't really real to begin with"""" I have never expressed such an opinion and it is not right that such an opinion is unjustly projected upon me..

The Times said:

True my friend, however the promise of the greater works he revealed below....

All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14 is entirely focussed on Pentecost. The teacher who does the great works is working in us, if we truly believe and if we continue our walk with God.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father

We have to believe Jesus at his words and move onward and forward, regardless of what ever religious tolerance obstacles Satan throws at Christ's Church, in an effort to try and silence us and to put an end to the Great Commission.

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I can not argue with you. The Holy Spirit may train and appoint people to carry on the work of Jesus.

It was reported that Jesus tamed a wild man possessed by a legion (Roman military unit of over 3000 men) of demons. The man wanted to follow Jesus, but Jesus did not accept him, rather told him to go back to his family and people and tell them this wonderful thing God had done for him - Mark 5:1-20.

The demon possessed man had been sleeping in tombs and was fierce in his desire to resist. A Jew would not live in tombs as they feared corpse uncleanness - Numbers 19:11:22. The area where Jesus met the man was probably the shore of the lake in proximity to the Greek Gentille Decapolis towns of Hippos and Gadara. The Jews would not have been keeping herds of swine as they thought pork was unclean - Deuteronomy 14:8. Jesus could not accept this Gentile into his ministry as the communities of the Gentiles and Jews were segregated from each other. God sent Jesus to the Jews. The Book of Acts describes the disciples who were sent to the Gentiles.

DamianWarS said:

Door-to-door, church bbq's with a handshake of "Jesus loves you", steering conversations to make sure they hear the gospel, helping the needy while waving a banner. Whatever happened to loving our neighbour, whatever happened to being so discreet with giving that our left hand doesn't know from the right. Whatever it is we turn the gospel into a product and we are the salesmen. I don't want it so why should I expect my neighbour to want it to? If I'm honest and truly love my neighbour the way I love myself then I need to stop selling the gospel and start loving my neighbour.

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I agree that hidden agendas are unethical. But I would like to add a question to your list to balance it out...

Whatever happened to handing out tracts to strangers on the street?

DamianWarS said:

Door-to-door, church bbq's with a handshake of "Jesus loves you", steering conversations to make sure they hear the gospel, helping the needy while waving a banner. Whatever happened to loving our neighbour, whatever happened to being so discreet with giving that our left hand doesn't know from the right. Whatever it is we turn the gospel into a product and we are the salesmen. I don't want it so why should I expect my neighbour to want it to? If I'm honest and truly love my neighbour the way I love myself then I need to stop selling the gospel and start loving my neighbour.

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This is self-defeating. It is unloving not to share. I have never heard the gospel of "be quiet and leav3 them alone." Not biblical.

DamianWarS said:

handing out tracts to strangers is typically unsolicited evangelism so I would not add that.

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Maybe we need to concentrate on the difference between "solicited" evangelism and "advertised" evangelism, one being present and assertive, while the other is still present but .... just present and not absent. Just a thought ...

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

DamianWarS said:

I said to love your neighbour as yourself not be quiet and leave them alone.

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If by unsolicited you mean unwanted, then you are being unbiblical. Few people want to hear the truth. However keeping your mouth shut and not speaking the gospel is not only unloving, it is irresponsible and hateful because you know what happens to those outside of the Lord when they die. Silence is not loving. Your point is circular and self-defeating.

DamianWarS said:

when someone expresses a belief is being forced upon them and your reply is "No one can force another person to believe anything" it's a statement that counters their expression and disqualifies it. It can make a person think their feelings are unjustified and become invalided. My remark was less me projecting on you personally and more about how someone may receive a remark like that regardless of your intentions.

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Of course it disqualifies it because it is not true.. Because no one can force a belief upon another person.. My disagreement with someone else does not mean i hate them or i am disqualifying ALL their thoughts as being of no account.. I am seeking to bring light upon a false Point Of View to free that person from a misconception..

Peoples feelings are their feelings and yeah if their feelings are based on a misconception then their feelings are unjustified..

People can perceive what ever they will to perceive in regard to me or another Christian giving them the truth.. In the end if they are proud and unwilling to consider others views then they cannot be reached by a Christian and thus there is no point to the discussion.

Acknowledging a false P.O.V as being valid is not loving the other person.. It is justifying them in their false view and supporting them to remain in their darkness.. False views must be exposed and challenged if the person holding them has any chance to be freed from them and come closer to enlightenment..

DamianWarS said:

the spoken gospel should follow the commandment to love our neighbour as we love ourselves (as should the unspoken gospel). When we do it in a way that is unwanted then the gospel is being presented on a platform that is disregarding the recipient's spoken or unspoken request which will distort the message. We can still speak the gospel but we must do it in a highly strategic way so that it is received in a manner befitting this love. For those hostile to the gospel this takes careful contextualizing and often in small doses.

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The truth must be proclaimed. Paul proclaimed the gospel and suffered greatly. Clearly not everyone wanted to hear it. If you are saying speaking gospel to those who don't want to hear it is militmilitant, then you are wrong. Doing the loving thing doesn't always equal what the object of love sees as feeling good. Love is seeking the highest good for the object of the love. Context is important.
I'm talking of local churchevangelism. It should be verbal and intenintentional. Acceptance is not the speakers responsibility.

DamianWarS said:

this is not loving your neighbour as yourself.



the above is a reaction based on how you received what I said. you react defensively and then rejected my words. You continue to ride in that offence and not only reject what I said but misrepresent what I say. Words are powerful things and we need to be highly strategic with them when they carry the gospel so that they can be received, not rejected. When we knowingly offend someone we do a discredit to the gospel we carry.

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End of conversation.. I am not here to face unloving and unjustified accusation of being unloving.. How unloving and intolerant of you...

DamianWarS said:

there is a general misrepresentation of this second greatest commandment. For some reason people stop at "love your neighbour" and forget the "as yourself" part. The neighbour's world view and theistic view need be considered so that we can speak words of love rather than words that are interpreted as unlove. Both can be the gospel. Jesus tells us to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves not as wise as doves and gentile as serpents.

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I'm not sayinsaying that truth shouldn't be spoken in love. Regardless of one's views, the truth does not change. Ever. Your approach sounds seeker friendly and people-satisfying. Contectualizing is good, but anything that changes or softens the gospel to others theistic leanings is unacceptable.