Christians, Do you?

Question

view this as a tool for winning souls. What do you think we can do to more effectively convey the message of Christ?

Christian to Christian

Love in Jesus' name

Answer 1

Well.. Yes. I came to faith in Jesus partly by answering questions in alt.religion.shamanism and also in a dalnet chatroom called #wicca (I was a proud operator) I used to debate endlessly with Christians pointing out how they were cramming Jesus down my throat. Funny thing was. I dont remember anyone telling me I was going to hell outside of a clan mate in QUAKE the game. I was in CI Clan Inquisition. We dressed up as nuns and killed people it was our form of humor. After a while I started to question the sources of what I believed in. Later I came face to face with Jesus himself in a manner of speaking. I have been a Christian ever sense. So YES. The Newsgroups and Chat room helped. I hope this forum helps too. Just be yourselves and let your little light shine. We might just save some rear ends in the process.
Sorry for long post.
GOD bless ya

Answer 2

I think anyone who *does* view Y! answers as a tool for conversion has a screw loose. Seriously... that's tantamount to trying to effect policy change by bumping a thread on a message board.

You *are* familiar with the phrase "preaching to the choir", I assume. If so, then this is why it doesn't work. You get all the other proselytizers fired up and saying things in support of spreading the word of Christ, which the people who don't agree with you see as ludicrous, self-righteous, pitiable shlock.

No matter how pretty you dress it up, it's still the internet equivalent of two guys in suits with name tags knocking on your door and offering you "Awake" or "The Watchtower" or some 'special message' from the The Latter Day Saints.

Non-Christian to Christian

Love in the name of science, the Green Man, and The Lady

(and love to you up there, too, discordian! Hail Eris!)

Answer 3

From an atheist:

The single most important thing that Christians could do would be to emphasize faith.

Right now the vast majority of believers who come here (and to other public fora) claim to have evidence or even proof for their beliefs. They do not, and their attempts to support their claims wind up giving the impression that believers are either childish, dimwitted, dishonest, or all three.

At the same time, there ARE Christians running around who do understand that they have no evidence or proof, and that their beliefs are based in pure faith. Those Christians are the ones I can respect, and I suspect that if that were the norm, I would give Christianity another look. As we instead have fora full of ignorant, arrogant half-believers*, I have no interest whatsoever.

* Christians who can make themselves believe, as long as they never question their beliefs, but don't have the moral strength to get past that and recognize the need for faith.

I think that setting a good example by your behavior would also be extremely helpful. There are probably three or four Christians here who have done enough good to counteract the effects of some of the "Oh, look at how sure of myself I am!" morons, but there are dozens if not hundreds of those morons. Being sure of yourself counts for nothing, folks. No-one is impressed by that, especially if you can't spell or reason or support your claims.

If you are Christian because you think you have evidence, you need to go back home and think about it some more. Don't come out again until you realize that you are Christian because of faith, not evidence.

Answer 4

You could actually convey Jesus' message instead of conveying Paul's message about Christ. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God. Jesus didn't preach Jesus. Christians here just keep repeating the salvation/damnation binary decision, and since there's no compelling reason to believe in after life consequences, the message goes nowhere thusly:
Ya goin' to Hayell!
No um not!
Ya goin' to Hayell!
No um not!
Ad Nauseum,
Ad Infinitum.

Consider that Jesus never peached to crowds with messages of "Join up or God will crush you!" And that's what we most often see here. But Jesus preached the Kingdom in the here and now, bringing God's way into everyday life to make it better for all. His brother James did the same. Thousands listened!

Mostly only atheists ever bring up the Beatitudes here. It seems like many of the believers don't understand the relevance of them to evangelism. Jesus attracted followers with real world appeals to charity, altruism, compassion. All the "turn or burn stuff" on this site not only sounds like ignorant bigotry, but it gives no one hope in the here and now.

If you want to more effectively convey Jesus message then reflect Jesus thinking as opposed to the Christology the church has built up around Jesus. No one thinks avoiding a hell they don't believe in is a good reason to follow anyone, but the crowds followed Jesus because "He had compassion on them."

Answer 5

I used to think that maybe this forum could help bring people closer to Jesus by removing some misconceptions and answering some thorny questions. But now I'm not so sure, since most people here seem to ask questions just to mock, not to gather information or to learn anything. Does anyone really pay attention to what someone says when they actually give a good answer to a difficult question?

Answer 6

I can tell you think christ like first and do what christ would ask you to do. Example having problems Pray/ See a problem Pray Want people to be more christ like lead by example I say anytime you can minister the word or show a good example of the Lords work go for it there is way to much bad news to go around and God wants you to hear the good news. And so when theres bad go to God he will heal your soul.

Answer 7

Talk (or writing) is cheap; would never convert me to anything.
I want to see somebody do as they talk, and admire the effect their creed has on their life, acknowledge that it makes them a better person.
Hasn't happened yet. I've seen the opposite happen, perfectly nice friend got very religious, and was much harder to get along with afterwards.
Given a lot of stuff I read here posted by people who claim they are religious serves to put me off as well. So get everybody religious stop posting crap would be my first suggestion.

Answer 8

How about an Ex-Christian to Christian answer?

If you want to effectively convey the true message of Christ, stop trying to use this forum as a tool to convert others. Instead, show them the love and compassion your teacher would have shown them; listen to them and understand them and never try to shove a verse down their throats. After all, did Christ lead by force or by example? Did he not conceal his own identity as the "messiah" when he ministered?

Just a thought.

Love in Eris Discordia and the name of all humanity.

Answer 9

I view this as a tool to set an accurate example of a Christian. As opposed to the faces and voices we're all used to seeing in our culture, who represent our faith. I want to help people better understand Christianity, as Christ taught it.

Answer 10

No, I don't think we are going to win souls here, the majority of participants are here to ridicule, harrass and insult Jesus and also to try to wound Christians. Every once in a while I see a truely honest question, a young person wanting to know something about Jesus, or the bible and they don't know where to look. That's the ones that make it all worthwhile.