Can Christians Really Bring Someone To Christ?

Dear Evangelicals:

Provocative question, isn't it?

Is it really the "Christian" thing to convert people? I mean, everybody -- even non-believers -- thinks that's the Christian thing to do.

Everybody except me. And, no, it's not the first time I've been asked why I "don't believe in the Bible" but "call yourself a Christian".

Sure, I believe in the Bible -- the whole Bible. That means context is everything -- a view that irritates the nuance-averse to no end.

Back to the subject of converting non-believers to Christianity. What are we to make of Jesus's words in Matthew 28: 19-20:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

... when He also says this, in John 6:44:

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him."

... and this, in in John 14:6:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

How about this -- "Preach the Gospel, then step back, and let Me and God do our jobs"?

That's how I read it, anyway -- a symbiotic relationship between God and Christ, that works to open people's hearts in God's time; not ours.

 There's one last thing. When Jesus sent the disciples out to preach the Gospel for the first time, He said:

And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.

Shaking the dust off your feet signified being over and done with a place and its people.

So, if you wanna be converted, you'll have to hit someone else up.

Have a nice day.