This is the content of that sheet:
[Trigger Warning for those who have been abused Evangelical Christianity]
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WHY DON’T YOU CARE ENOUGH ABOUT OTHERS TO MAKE INTENTIONAL PLANS TO SHARE THE GOSPEL?
Some further questions to help you discuss the first one.
If I really believe in heaven, hell, and an ongoing personal relationship with God, why don’t I want people I call friends and family to know God too? Am I really just mean and selfish and wanting to keep God to myself?
If I can find the time to read magazines, watch TV, go to the movies, or hang around the mall, what keeps me from using my time for advancing the kingdom of God?
Is my relationship with God so messed up that to share the Gospel means I’d be a hypocrite?
Could my desire to be liked and not thought of as weird be more important than obeying God or caring about where other people will spend eternity?
If I start to share the Gospel will it point out how little I really know God and how little I know about Christianity that I would be embarassed?
Am I really Afraid that if I really committed to sharing the Gospel I’d have to change too much? Or maybe Even Study My Bible?
Other reasons we came up with as a Group as to why we resist the idea of becoming Contagious Christians:---------------
So that's it. All I have is the sheet with those questions. Some of them are deeply manipulative and offensive, while others might be considered thoughtful. I'll follow up with another post with my thoughts, but I want to hear your thoughts first.
Edit: On second thought, I'll at least provide my own basic opinion:
I should have pointed out that that I don't actually share any agreement with any of it, except for "Is my relationship with God so messed up that to share the Gospel means I’d be a hypocrite?" and that for reasons aside from what the authors of this sheet would have liked.
Asking the questions in this sheet, especially the first two, is horrifying, manipulative, wrongheaded, and abusive. It is represents the sort of Christianity that I distance myself from and do not wish to be associated with in the slightest. It represents the sort of Christianity that I would ultimately like to help as many people recover from as possible.
In short?
ReplyDeleteBecause the best way to share any deeply held belief is to become the physical embodiment of it. Live in such an manner that people look at you and wonder what is different - What do you have that I do not?
In this, all actions would reflect that of your diety and every action that benefits yourself can also benefit others while exemplifying the ideals you associate with your religion.
And yes, I could absolutely be wrong.
I should have pointed out that I was repulsed and horrified when I found it, and that I don't actually share agreement with any of it, except for "Is my relationship with God so messed up that to share the Gospel means I’d be a hypocrite?"
ReplyDeleteAsking those questions, especially the first two, like that is horrifying, manipulative, wrongheaded, and abusive. It is represents the sort of Christianity that I distance myself from and do not wish to be associated with in the slightest.