Beth over at Mutated Monkeys writes about "Getting Along", partly in response to my earlier post about "Jews for Jesus". She says that Jews for Jesus uses deceptive claims to woo Jews to Christianity, but the instances she mentions only seem deceptive to her because of her own system of beliefs, which is itself the topic of discussion to Jews for Jesus.
I don't know much about the organization, and they may in fact advocate theology that I would disagree with, as well.
Mainly, I wanted to address one sentence of Beth's:
So here's where I stand: I support perfect freedom of religion, so long as the religion in question doesn't want to impose its beliefs on me, either by trying to convert me to it, or by intertwining the religious and the secular into law.There are two separate issues here that she conflates unjustifiably. On one hand, I too would not approve of any religion (or person) imposing its beliefs on me; on the other hand, mere proselytization cannot be properly characterized as "imposition" of beliefs.
Along with freedom of religion and freedom of speech comes the freedom to attempt to convert others to your beliefs through peaceful proselytization. Beth appears to advocate proscribing such activities, and doing so would require abridging one of these fundamental freedoms.
Here is an earlier essay about "Religious Freedom" emerging in the Middle East, and the role of Christian missionaries.
You should be aware that proselytization has something of a bad reputation in many circles because it often goes beyond mear persuasion and veers close to outright bribery. Want this job, go to my church is what is feared.
Apparently some people believe it is our job to convert people when actually only God can change a person. Our job is to share it, not shove it down peoples throat. If it's a true, lasting salvation, it's because of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person, not a temporary, emotional "salvation" born out of fear or spiritual extortion.
I hope it's obvious that I'm not in favor of coercive proselytization -- both for theological and social reasons -- but there's nothing offensive to freedom and liberty if a private organization requires its employees to be of a certain religion. It may not be good policy (unless we're talking about church employees, for example), but it wouldn't violate anyone's rights.
The only instances in which bribery should be a concern is when it involves public officials using their government power to coerce religion.
I'm not questioning a person's right to proselytize. We had a situation here in Arizona where two young men were arrested for using a bullhorn to preach at a crowd and were arrested for it. This was obviously a miscarriage of the law and the charges have since been dropped. What concerns me is that this method does not seem to reach the lost as effectively as simply loving the unsaved and living a life that sets an attractive, godly example (kind of like what Jesus did!). We should, by all means, have the liberty to exercise free speach, but I believe people take more notice of the way we exercise our freedom in Christ. (btw, I hope my punctuations are correct!)
Setting a Godly example is, of course, important, but it is not wholly sufficient.
I agree with you that Beth has conflated two issues, but I can see where she is coming from. For a lot of people, a proselytizer can be as annoying as a telemarketer. I believe there are laws in place to protect people from telemarketers (no call lists), but there are not similar laws for proselytizers. I'm sure this is due to freedom of religion, and I don't think that's a problem - it's just a pain.
Yes! The gospel must be preached and we are the ones called to do it. But, in my own life I have been profoundly affected by people who preach not only with words but with actions as opposed to people yelling on street corners. I fully stand behind their right to preach that way though.
One more for 'living the life'!
When we are, indeed, living the life we're called to live, then we become attractive to others, not because of ME, but because of the Light I'm choosing to reflect; people are attracted to the Love of God and the Knowledge of God I'm sharing in my deeds AND my words...
So when I'm fully immersed in the water of the Knowledge of God, and fully immersed in the fire of the Love of God, there's not much ME left, and people around me find this VERY ATTRACTIVE, and are drawn to what-I'm-showing-forth...
Which provides an opportunity for me to also share, in words, the Source of what they find so attractive, and I can share the Good News of His Coming in the Glory of God.