JOHN 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day.
Sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God is central to being a Christian. Indeed, one of the last things Jesus told His apostles was to go into all the world and preach the gospel. So you must understand that I am not at all against doing so. I do however have serious objections to the way I have seen it done.
I was once in a situation with a group of Christians in a restaurant where the waitress had overheard our conversation and desired prayer for healing. Before they would pray for her, some of the people I was with forced her to say the words of the "sinner's prayer" and later congratulated each other that another one "was saved". People, we are not to gather those who have repeated the "sinner's prayer" as if they were notches on our gunbelt. "Oh boy, another one bites the dust..." In the first place, the waitress didn't want salvation, she wanted healing. The one may have led to the other, but the words she said did not change her life and the pressure that was put on her probably went further to making her want to run from our bunch rather than being drawn into it. Witnessing is not an excuse for rudeness or poor manners.
When Jesus talked about the sower sowing the seed, He said the sower scattered the seed on all types of ground. He didn't force the ground to produce. He simply gave it the opportunity to do so.
Mathew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Look again at the scripture at the top of the page. Unless the Father has drawn that person and the Holy Spirit has prepared their heart, saying a "sinner's prayer" is simply words and may do more damage than good. What if such a person now believes those words had "magic" in themselves and although nothing has changed in their life, they said the words and won't go to Hell because of it. Jesus came to offer us a new way of life, not fire insurance.
Another thing I have seen that made no sense was someone who had joined a Christian Web Ring, not because he believed what everyone else did but because he wanted to "witness". How many fish do you catch in your swimming pool? If you want to share the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, go where there are people who may not have heard it. You may not feel called to take on the really dark places like the satanic sites but there are plenty of other places to scatter seed. What about the automobile, needlework, graphics or other sites. Of course you are going to have to develop an interest in such things so you don't sound like a moron when you speak to those people but how else will you make a good enough friend to listen to what you have to say? Jesus never forced the crowds to listen to what He had to say but He loved to answer people's questions. Why don't we try to be more like Him?
From time to time, I visit sites that are clearly not Christian. I hope they will return my visit and leave a note in my guestbook. If you want to visit and respond to them, feel free but please do it in the spirit of love and not conquest. We have done enough damage to the image of the Kingdom of God through our good intentions. Let's let the Holy Spirit lead us in our responses. He is and always has been a gentleman.