e-ditorial: A Tale of Two Christians
© 2003, Kimberly Gretchen Batteau
The best of intentions are frequently ineffective at best, counterproductive at worst.
This is a tale of two Christians. Both are very dear to me. One is very different in her religious practices from the other.
The first is a pastor whom I chat with multiple times a week, and our conversations are frequently about Christianity and other religious matters. She is typical of Christians that I term type-s, or sharers.
The other is a blood relative, who I see several times a year. Based on mailings and e-mailings from him, it might appear that he has a much stronger desire to "save" me than does the pastor. He is typical of Christians that I term type-t, or tracters.
Tracters are those Christians who witness to others by one-way communication. It began with religious tracts, inexpensive leaflets left in places where others cannot avoid seeing them. More current media are spam and CD-ROM mailings.
The difficulty with this form of communication is that is does not invite rebuttal or additional discussion. It smacks of fascism.
And when the recipient is another Christian, he may clasp his hands and exclaim, "Amen, brother!" But the tracters aren't trying to convert Christians.
When the recipient is not a Christian, the response, in my experience, ranges from a confused "huh?" to outright disgust.
Tracting appears to be a very easy way for some Christians to appease their consciences by witnessing – if I may stretch the word – to others without the effort of reason or discussion. And it should not be surprising that, at least in my case, the pastor, in the conversations that we share, is much more effective in drawing me to the church than is my relative.
Had I found the secret to eternal life – as so many Christians believe they have – I would certainly want to share it with others. But I would not expect to gain many followers if I simply stated what I believed. Especially if my beliefs bordered on the paranormal.
Irrespective of whether you are attempting to share with someone Christian salvation, quantum mechanics, or a new recipe for apple pie, recognize that the more radical your concept, the more reasoning and discussion will be required in order to convince the other. The type-t's will be much more effective when they learn to become type-s's.