I believe with all of my being that there is an eternal purpose to this life beyond becoming fish food or fertilizer. But to anyone reading this who has no faith at all I must confess my dilemma to you. If I truly believe this to be the truth and if my faith in Christ has genuinely changed my life then how can I not tell you? Why should you be offended if I care enough to reach out gently and in love.
Michael Kinsley wrote in Time magazine about the anger that some folks feel toward Christians who seem compelled to share their faith.
“You may not agree that your soul needs saving, but why is he wrong to try as long as he isn't prying away your soul against your will? As an ethnically Jewish nonbeliever, I find this fuss over conversion utterly baffling...But an insult? In a way, it is insulting to Jews that Fundamentalist Christians don't try harder to convert us. Oh sure, they're friendly enough now. But wait until Judgment Day. Then it will be, `Sorry, we seem to have lost your reservation.' And from this perspective, the Jewish policy of actively discouraging converts to Judaism starts to seem like `theological arrogance' indeed. At the same time, when you object to noncoercive conversion, it starts to look like the opposite of arrogance: theological insecurity. What are you afraid of? The decision will be made by you or by God, and in either case, there is no ground for complaint."
I suspect that technique is too often the rub. I was a victim of over the top zealous religious people as a teenager. I am still a little amazed that I eventually came to faith. Kinsley said you have the right to simply say no.
If I care about you I will naturally want to share the most important thing in my life. But I think you have some other rights as the hearer of my message. I wrote the following in my book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.
The Unbelievers Bill of Rights…
- I have the right to never have faith forced on me.
- I have the right to never be treated in a condescending manner.
- I have the right to always hear the truth.
- I have the right for you to patiently hear my concerns and doubts.
- I have the right to seek answers to those questions and doubts that you can’t answer.
- I have the right to be steered to resources for my own study and investigation.
- I have the right to be loved no matter how I respond to the Gospel message.
I hope that I honor you by following the list above. I hope you will understand that my wanting to let you know about the most important thing in my life honors you as well. I pray most of all that I will faithfully follow these words of Jesus.
"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."