Thank you for the question, “Religious people, do you ever try to convert your agnostic, atheist friends (if you have any)? Why or why not?”
Jesus declared these words to his followers, “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NIV).
Christians are called to be witnesses of Jesus. They are to testify of his saving grace and their personal experience with others. Thus it is the responsibility of every Christian to share the Good News of the Gospel to individuals who are willing to consider the message of Jesus.
The word, convert, in our present culture portrays the connotation of forcing or badgering a person to believe something that one doesn’t truly believes. Fifty years ago, the term convert reflects one’s repentance of one’s former lifestyle of sin to a new lifestyle of transformed living. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. No Christian can “convert” another person become a Christian. That is a voluntarily decision on the reader or listener’s. The Christian is the messenger.
Yes, I do share the Gospel of Good News when it is appropriate to do so. I ask for their permission whether I can share with him/her what I believe about Jesus Christ. My non-Christian friends knows that I am a Christian and are not offended by my belief in Jesus.
The reason why Christians shared the Gospel of Good News:
A. It is commanded by Jesus (Acts 1:8).
B. It is desirous of others to have the same hope and love that one has in Jesus (John 14–16).
C. It is desirous of others to experience the grace and mercy of God (Acts 26:29).
D. It is desirous of seeing others in heaven with him/her (John 3:16).
E. It is a debt to humanity (Rom. 1:14–16).
SUMMARY: Christians can not convert another person. Christians are commanded by Jesus to be his witnesses and to engage in dialogue with others.
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