f you are rude and disrespectful as you try to convince them, you won’t be successful. I also believe you would not be behaving as Christ did or asked of us.
I believe that when that kind of person faces judgment day, Christ will treat him as harshly as he treated others. “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive others.”
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First, there are several types of witnessing, all of which are successful. Confrontation can and has worked (even here on FR), some take a more genteel approach. Telling someone they are bound for Hell is not being “rude or disrespectful”, it is tell them the point blank truth. Christ (and paul, and Stephen and other) was very blunt and even “rude and disrespectful” to the Pharisees and others. Having a “live and let live” attitude is not Christian, it is allowing someone to be damned.
Forgiving others isn’t necessarily part of witnessing, and you just placed yourself in “condemnation” mode by assuming that you know how Christ will treat “that kind of person”.
However, if you do not like the tone of these threads, there is a very easy solution, don’t participate. It isn’t for everyone.
Well, gee, thanks for that. If you look back at the whole thread you will see that I was repeatedly asked to clarify my opinion. So I have repeatedly. Harsh posters don’t affect me so I don’t mind being here. I find it instructive.
Stephen did get a little heated in his comments, but don’t forget they were getting ready to kill him! The situation was a bit extreme, don’t you think?
Scattershot ridicule and disrespect done anonymously doesn’t seem to me like something the early martyrs would do... to anyone. I’m comfortable with admonishing that.
If you think I’m wrong after the many passages I posted from Scripture detailing how Christians are supposed to treat others, including sinners and non-believers, I guess that’s okay. It’s too bad, but it’s okay.
Perhaps a poll of FR ex-Mormons about what kind of evangelization worked with them might be instructive. Maybe you, with your response to harsh techniques, are in the minority. Would it matter if the majority of ex-Mormons said a respectful discussion worked better with them? If I were committed to a certain technique of evangelizing, I’d make sure it was actually effective. Otherwise, I’d be wasting my time or actually pushing souls away from Christ. That would be awful!
I certainly would not want to face my Maker having influenced even one soul away from salvation. What was it Christ said about people who do that? Oh, yes, it would be “better for them if they’d never been born.” That’s why I like to be very cautious about how I approach other souls.