Some customers at work today tried to convert me to Christianity. They just wouldn’t stop talking about how much God loves me, how I can be set free from sin, how I can be healed. They invited me and my coworker to come to their event tonight. Needless to say, neither of us even really considered going, although we said we’d “think about it”.
As soon as I took their invitation card, memories of past mass-marketed evangelism events came back to me. You come in clutching your friend, since you have no idea why you’re stepping foot in a strange place like a church. The night begins with an icebreaker game, where they make sure that you get separated from the few people there that you actually know, because for some reason, they think that putting you into a group with complete strangers and having you awkwardly avoid eye contact with them is somehow beneficial. Then, a band comes on stage who plays a bunch of songs about God that you totally don’t get, so you just sit and nervously check your watch every two minutes, waiting until you can go home. Finally, a speaker comes on and talks about how you’re a sinner, how you need God, how the ABCs of salvation can save you from burning in Hell. Then there’s an altar call, where they try to get people who have “made a decision for Christ tonight” to come up to the stage, so that people can lay hands on you and pray for you. After all that, you’re allowed to leave the sanctuary and pick at the snacks in the hall. Then you beg your friend to take you home because you felt so out of your element.
Although I am a Christian, I’m not a big fan of these types of events anymore. The way I see it, it’s just like spam - it’s unwanted, annoying and it makes you feel uncomfortable. Maybe I’m jaded, but I find that mass evangelism, like spam, is just a big numbers game. Get more people through the door and get more Christians leaving them at the end of the night. Although most people will just not be interested, a percentage will. In the same way that most people avoid canvassers on the street who shout this and that about abortion, marijuana or same-sex marriage, we avoid pushy Christians who look at people as if they are conversion prospects.
If somebody really cared about my spiritual life, they would take the time to build a relationship with me, cry with me, laugh with me, share their burdens with me. We could talk about what each of us think about God and share some dialogue. If a close friend wanted to talk to me about spiritual issues, I would absolutely welcome it. But when a random stranger wants to convert me to Christianity, I immediately close up.
It’s times like these when I feel alienated by modern Christianity, although I do believe in God. Sometimes, I really wish there was an alternative to the institutional church.
