Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Do Christians Have an Ulterior Motive for Being Kind?

Episode Date: August 10, 2023

Alan addresses the objection that some people claim Christians are only kind to people so they can convert them.

Is it true that Christians are kind to people only because they want to convert them? Well, that's what I want to answer in the latest episode of my podcast, Thinking Out Loud with Alan Schliemann. So I was recently challenged with the claim that Christians are only kind to people because they want to convert them. Now, there's really sort of two questions in that challenge. And the first question is, is it the case that Christians are motivated to be kind solely because they want to convert people? And the second question I think that's going on here is, is it appropriate to be kind for the sole reason of evangelism? Now, I certainly can't know

what is motivating any given Christian to be kind. After all, I don't have access to their thoughts. I can, however, know what I'm thinking and also address whether it's appropriate to be kind solely for the reason of evangelism. Now, personally, I know why I'm kind to people. And the answer is, is because I like people. I mean, I like all kinds of people, even those people who don't share my convictions. Now, I'm not trying to brag or make myself out to be someone who I'm not, but I'll tell you that honestly, I enjoy talking to people no matter their convictions. And in fact, people will approach me on the street or they'll come to my door and they'll try to persuade me to adopt whatever worldview they hold.

You know, sometimes it's Mormons or maybe the Watchtower Society, you know, who are the Jehovah's Witnesses. I've had black Hebrew Israelites come to my door recently and all sorts of other ideologies. And every time this happens, every time they come to me, I'm always intrigued by them. I'm intrigued by their ideas and I'm intrigued by their thinking. And even when I don't end up sharing my convictions about the gospel, I don't even end up telling them about Jesus, I still find pleasure in the company of people. And so for me, I can say, you know what? I'm not kind to people only because

I want to convert them. I just simply like and enjoy people. Now, there's another reason why I'm not motivated to be kind to people, just so I can convert them, and it's because that's not my role. In fact, if you look at what Scripture says about our identity, it says that we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. This is something that the Apostle Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5.20. And so my quote-unquote job, therefore, it's not to convert people. Rather, my job is to be a faithful representative of who I represent. And of course, that's Jesus Christ. So notice, I'm commanded to communicate God's message of reconciliation to the world.

And it's the Holy Spirit's job to work on the hearts and the minds of people. In fact, I like the way Mother Teresa puts it in her book, Love, A Fruit Always in Season. She says this, quote, God has not called me to be successful. He's called me to be faithful, end quote. And so it's not my responsibility to convert people or to make them into Christians, right? That's God's job. Now, he might use me in that process, and if so, I'm grateful to be in his service. But my responsibility is to be faithful to present the truth in a clear and gracious way, and then I'm going to leave the results up to God.

Now, if someone asks me for the reason for the hope that is within me, right? First Peter 3.15. Well, yeah, I'm prepared to give a reason and apologia, which is a defense. I'm prepared to give a reason for my convictions. And so that's why I don't feel the need to be nice for the sake of conversion. Now that of course does not mean that I tried to avoid being kind. So yeah, do keep that in mind. But notice, that's me. And I do recognize that that is simply just one data point, and it may not represent most Christians. So, well, what about others? Well, as I said, I can't know others' thoughts, but it wouldn't be fair to just simply judge an entire group of people's motives based on the mere claim that they're misusing kindness as a tool. Now, as far as the second question, I would argue there are three reasons why it's wrong for Christians to be kind to people only so they can convert them.

All right. And here's the first. We're commanded to be kind. In fact, in the passage I just cited about giving people a defense for their faith, we're also told to provide those reasons with gentleness and respect. So we're commanded to do more, to in fact love our enemies. This is what Jesus talks about in Matthew 5.44. So notice, if we're commanded to love our enemies, well, we're certainly expected to be kind to those who aren't our enemies, and those are the people who we might interact with on a daily basis.

Now, a second reason would be this. People are made in the image of God. And so that includes every person on earth. Therefore, anyone a Christian interacts with is an intrinsically valuable person who deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and kindness. In fact, I would say that actually it's Christians who have a strong justification to treat Muslims, Mormons, atheists, skeptics, and on and on, those people who identify as LGBT, or any other non-believer, as kindly and graciously as possible. Why? Because it's a part of Christian anthropology, right? I mean, we hold the view that every human being is valuable, no matter their income, their ethnicity, or religious religious belief or sexual identity, right?

People are valuable in and of themselves by virtue of being made image bearers of God. And so there's nothing anyone can say or do that can diminish that value. And then the third reason is this, Look, people are not gospel fodder. Okay, it's a lot of a better way to put it than that. You know, it's like they aren't valuable if and only if they are someone we can share the gospel with, right? That's the basic Christian anthropology I mentioned earlier. And so even if a person vigorously rejects the gospel, we should continue to treat them

with kindness. Now, having said that, does it help to be kind to people when you share the gospel? Well, of course, right? I mean, all other things being equal, people will be more receptive to your message when it's accompanied by kindness rather than, say, crassness, right? I mean, if you're rude or condescending or a bully, well, of course, that's going to undermine your efforts as an ambassador. And I think most Christians know that, and that's partly why they're kind. That, however, should not be confused with the claim that they're kind only because they want to convert them.

So, of course, at Standard to Reason, where I work, we've always believed in the importance of the message as well as the virtuous character of the messenger. And so it's why the ambassador model that we've developed at Stand to Reason is kind of a part of our DNA. We want believers to communicate God's message of reconciliation, but to do it in a winsome and gracious manner so that our character commends God's plan.

Well, that's all I have for you today. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to share it with a friend. And also don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app. And thank you again for listening. I look forward to thinking out loud with you next time.