avemaria40 Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Excuse me, you don't know my friends very well if you are calling them lukewarm. Like I said, people are attracted more to someone who lives their faith rather than talks about it. What do you think about Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott? They didn't spend time passing out tracts, they lived their faith but did not spend every moment wearing someone down about whether they believed and they both gave their lives for Christ when they were shot down at Columbine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I think passing out tracts is the reason why people reject Christianity in today's world. The tract passer-outers have turned a beautiful faith in Jesus Christ into something to be avoided. They have forced people to treat Christians as they would a telemarketer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicCid Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 They will know we are Christians by our Love. Actions speak louder than words and tracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball33 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 [quote name='CatholicCid' post='1082934' date='Oct 3 2006, 11:58 AM'] They will know we are Christians by our Love. Actions speak louder than words and tracts. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 [quote name='dUSt' post='1082856' date='Oct 3 2006, 12:19 PM'] I think passing out tracts is the reason why people reject Christianity in today's world. The tract passer-outers have turned a beautiful faith in Jesus Christ into something to be avoided. They have forced people to treat Christians as they would a telemarketer. [/quote] Exactly. In order to bring others to Christ, we must draw them into personal intimacy with Jesus Christ. Had Budge read Catechesi Tradendae, to which I linked him, rather than just dismissing it as Vaticanese, he would have read the words of Pope John Paul the Great on the subject: "Accordingly, the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity." -CT 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessalonian Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 (edited) [quote name='dUSt' post='1082856' date='Oct 3 2006, 11:19 AM'] I think passing out tracts is the reason why people reject Christianity in today's world. The tract passer-outers have turned a beautiful faith in Jesus Christ into something to be avoided. They have forced people to treat Christians as they would a telemarketer. [/quote] I have to disagree that tract passing out is the problem. St. Francis De Sales converted a whole town of Calvinists with tracts. To say that giving someone a little pamphlet with scripture on it is bad is saying the scripture is bad. Scripture cuts to the heart and that's why people reject it. Further I don't think we should blame tracts for people rejecting and scorning Christianity. Do we blame Stephen that the Jews rejected Christinity because he used harsh words and stoned him. There is so much sin in the world that when people are confronted with Jesus they howl. I agree that our actions must fit our message but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Edited October 3, 2006 by thessalonian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'm sure we can agree that when people feel that they are being sold something or that the tract-giver is just looking to add numbers, they are less likely to listen than when they believe the tract-giver really cares about them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 [quote name='thessalonian' post='1083042' date='Oct 3 2006, 02:28 PM'] I have to disagree that tract passing out is the problem. St. Francis De Sales converted a whole town of Calvinists with tracts. To say that giving someone a little pamphlet with scripture on it is bad is saying the scripture is bad. Scripture cuts to the heart and that's why people reject it. Further I don't think we should blame tracts for people rejecting and scorning Christianity. Do we blame Stephen that the Jews rejected Christinity because he used harsh words and stoned him. There is so much sin in the world that when people are confronted with Jesus they howl. I agree that our actions must fit our message but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. [/quote] Tracts can accomplish some things, but not when they're dealt out with no more personal effort than a telemarketer. I think that was dUSt's point. It's one thing to enter into a good conversation with a person, to show them Christ, to tell them about Him, and then to give them some reading material. That's perfectly fine. It's a totally different thing to hand out a bottle of cold water and a tract outside a baseball game and leave it at that. I'm certain that St. Francis de Sales, the very personable man that he was, did the former and not the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessalonian Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 Actually he left them at night on their doorsteps. Most certainly I think the personal approach is best but I do not condemn just handing someone something to read either and let the spirit of God work in their hearts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avemaria40 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I don't either, I don't condemn passing out literature. What I have a problem with is if someone offers a person a tract, the person says no, and they get bugged over and over again to take the tract. It's annoying and fruitless. Everyone has a different style of ministry and I don't think it's fair when people get judged for being lukewarm simply because passing out tracts is not their style or their way of serving God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessalonian Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 I agree that not everyone is called to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest T-Bone Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The new Jack Chick (tm) tract: Those people who do not pass out Chick (tm) tracts are doomed to Hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 [quote name='avemaria40' post='1083183' date='Oct 3 2006, 05:09 PM'] and they get bugged over and over again to take the tract. [/quote] I read that as "they get budged over and over again..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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