Zombie passengers quietly shuffle along the early morning security line in Haiti’s rustic airport. Without warning, a loud voice from behind with discernible American southern accent, shatters the silence. “Jesus Christ is coming soon! Will you be ready? Repent of your sins and accept Him as your Lord and Savior!” (Bear in mind, we were in the foreign land of Haiti, and not… Saudi Arabia.)
Three hours later at the Atlanta gate, cramped passengers anxiously await exit from the aircraft. The same distinct voice rings out. “Jesus Christ died for your sins. You can have eternal life. Don’t put it off, my friends. Today is the day of Salvation!”
Awkward.
Here’s the thing: I resonate with my Christian brother’s doctrine and recognize his passion for lost souls. I share it! However, while in agreement with him, I was unable to muster even with a muffled “Amen”. Neither did anyone else. One can only surmise the range of emotions gurgling within fellow travelers. Perhaps it is just as well they kept their views to themselves.
In our evangelist’s defense, the Word urges us to be witnesses for Christ. In Luke 14:23, Jesus told a parable to resistant religious; then offered invitation to outsiders. He concluded his story instructing “compel them to come in”. Our traveler did just that.
Now lets interpret Scripture with Scripture. In II Corinthians 5 Paul states flatly “we try to persuade others”. He concludes, “God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore (another translation says ‘beg’) you on Christ’s behalf; be reconciled to God”. Strong verbs! —Though, notice the context. It is written to people with whom he had an existing relationship.
More so, the Apostle Peter, no shrinking wallflower in his youth, now as a seasoned follower of Christ penned in I Peter 3:15 “…Always be prepared to give an explanation to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope within you. Yet, do so with gentleness and respect”. Did you catch his qualifiers? Note his terminology, “asks you” and “gentleness and respect”. Perhaps Peter learned evangelistic tact the hard way.
I’m still ambivalent about my Caribbean caper. Somehow, I felt assaulted. I participate often in “Conversational Evangelism”. This however, was “Confrontational Evangelism”. I’m not sure that tactic is prime. I wonder if it did more harm than good. Were more people positively turned on or negatively turned off to the love of Jesus? Compelled or repelled? People deserve respect, particularly when they are a captive audience.
If you had been traveling with me, what would you have said …or not?