How to be a successful evangelist
Submitted by Heather on August 30 1999 at 11:47:12
|
[Cross-posted from RDC.] A post below got me to thinking about the different forms of evangelism in this world and of how many choices confront anyone who is planning to dedicate his life to evangelism. For anyone who has not yet made a choice of a career path in evangelism, or who is thinking of changing his career to a different type of evangelism, I thought it would be helpful to list the four types of evangelists that exist. 1) Type 1 evangelism has always been the least popular. It consists of attacking a person's beliefs rather than the person himself, and of listening carefully to what the other person has to say in defense of his beliefs. Characteristics of a Type 1 evangelist are that he attacks beliefs rather than people, he seeks common ground with his opponent, he asks questions to which he has no answer himself, he reveals the weaknesses he sees in his own arguments, and he is grateful when errors in his arguments are pointed out by others. This is a scary form of evangelism because it requires the evangelist to keep in mind that his own beliefs may be partially or completely wrong. The virtues of this type of evangelism are often overlooked; for example, when successful, it creates a deeper and more committed convert than the other evangelisms can. Type 1 evangelists are also effective against all other forms of evangelism (which is not true of Type 2 and Type 3 evangelists, who are ineffective against Type 4 evangelists). Most surprisingly, Type 1 is an indifferent evangelism, exposing even the errors of the evangelist himself, thus improving the world to a much greater degree than all other types of evangelism. Little need be said about its possibilities for creating peace within warfare. 2) The problem with Type 1 evangelism is that it takes so darn long; in addition, it requires the evangelist to keep a tight reign over his emotions. Given the pressing need that most evangelists of all types feel to convert the world to their point of view, many people prefer to become Type 2 evangelists. In this form of evangelism, beliefs continue to be attacked, but the evangelist ceases to listen to what the other person has to say. This is obviously a great time saver, and it also saves a great deal of emotional energy as well, as the evangelist no longer has to devote part of his strength to remaining polite. Our old friend Josiah David was a classic example of a Type 2 evangelist. One of the trickiest facts about Type 2 evangelism is how closely it resembles Type 1 evangelism; because in both cases beliefs are beings attacked rather than people, a Type 2 evangelist can convince himself that he is actually a Type 1 evangelist. The benefits of such cross-identification – believing oneself to be taking the harder path while actually reaping the benefits of the easier path – are obviously enormous. 3) The main problem with Type 2 evangelism is that it is not terribly effective; for some reason, people who are having their beliefs described in an insulting manner and whose own beliefs are not being listened to are surprisingly resistant to conversion. For this reason, many people prefer Type 3 evangelism; in this form of evangelism, beliefs are no longer insulted – instead, people are. Some child advocates fall into this category, as do some boylovers. Again, this type of evangelism obviously saves a great deal of time and emotional energy, and it can be a very effective form of evangelism when practiced on a societal scale. The key step is to demonize your opponent, making him out to be the embodiment of all evil. Since no one wishes to be the embodiment of all evil, or at least to be perceived that way, many people will convert out of a desire to remain good or to remain good in the eyes of society. Christianity found this to be a wonderfully effective method of evangelism in its early years, as did the Soviet and Chinese Communists. 4) Unfortunately, Type 3 evangelism, while it does result in mass conversions, is unable to work against certain stubborn holdo uts (many of whom, surprisingly enough, are Type 1 evangelists). At this point, an evangelist may decide to bring out the big guns – literally. Physical pain and death has always commended itself to evangelists who were concerned with making the quickest conversions and with preventing the greatest harm from contamination by opposing beliefs. Where some hope still remains that the opposition can be converted, torture is used; where no such hope exists, executions follow, in the hope that the damage from the immoral beliefs can at least be contained to the executed parties. Again, Christian governments have been fond of using this method, as have atheistic governments. It is occasionally practiced at an individual level, though; hence the murders of certain pedophiles over the years. When practiced in a society where Type 3 evangelism is common against certain groups, such individual acts of Type 4 evangelism are often condoned. My bias in this matter is known by all here; I am not even in favor of countering Type 2 evangelism with Type 2 evangelism, as I believe that the effects on both parties are self-destructive. What is so pleasing about this board is that, with the exception noted in the previous sentence, RDC's members have always practiced Type 1 evangelism. I'm well aware, of course, that this board was set up as a sounding board for Type 2 and Type 3 evangelists, and theoretically the possibility has always existed that any of us Type 1 evangelists could convert to one of the easier and quicker methods of evangelism. I hope, though, that all of us will sternly resist that temptation, and that RDC will continue to be what it has been from the beginning: an oasis of civilization in a very uncivilized world. Heather |