Evangelism

At the beginning of the semester, I attended a church service and one Alpha class with my Singapore friends Angela and Michelle. Michelle is very Christian; Angela is not, but goes along to see what everything is about and to keep Michelle company. That was what I decided to do, also: see how things would go and keep my new friends company. Well, the overpowering message at that service was, “We are Christians and the world hates us, so be strong! Be different! They’re the evil ones!” and at Alpha, everything was concentrated on being “feel-good.” Everyone was telling stories—mostly “witness” stories about how they became Christians because they received signs from God or heard his voice or whatever—so I decided to tell the story about how, when I was ten or twelve, I went to a Christian camp where, when I asked my counselor what would happen to my dad when he died, because he was a Jew, she told me very bluntly that he was going to hell. I explained that this was unacceptable to me on a personal level and also because the Jews were God’s chosen people; surely he wouldn’t be so unmerciful. However, the group pretty much ignored me and went on to listen to a guy who said that he had come to Alpha to learn about Christianity because every time he was feeling down, a light bulb behind him would blow out, and when he turned around, it would magically come back on. Everyone was really nice and polite and impressed. That was the first and last time I attended that church.

Today, Angela went along with Michelle to a “Holy Spirit” day, a five hour long preaching praying marathon. Everything went fine until lunchtime; Angela said it was pretty much what she expected, with people preaching about the Trinity and how the Holy Spirit can change your life and such. However, after lunch, everyone was instructed to divide into two groups: people who were already Christians on the right, people who wanted to accept Christ into their lives, on the left. Angela said that when she turned to Michelle, Michelle said, “You can leave, but I’m staying.” So Angela left. Only one other girl ran out of the room, and Angela said she was in tears.

How manipulative. I can just imagine what would have happened if Angela had asked the question she told me was on her mind: so where does the third group stand? She would have been ushered into the “save your soul” group, forced to act out a ritual to make the rest of the church feel relieved that they had rescued another soul from the fires of hell, and left feeling guilty that she had not had the courage to stand up for what she did or did not believe.

What would I have done, had I been there alone? Would I have gone along to the right, pretending I am the Christian I once was? Would I have had the courage to walk out? Or does it even matter at all where you stand amongst a bunch of people who are so terribly misled?