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Why do Christians go around trying to convert people? Why can't they just let people believe what they want to believe?

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Hi friend,

Thanks for your question! One way to put it is, if you had someone you really cared about that was drinking water that was dirty (but to them it tasted fine), wouldn't you want to tell them so that they wouldn't end up getting sick?

In the same way, Christians believe that all of mankind have sinned against God, and are "drinking dirty water", and the inevitable result of this dirty water is that it will get people sick, and they will ultimately die, unless they stop drinking the dirty water and drink clean water instead.

When you look at your heart and your desires, the Bible says in ✦Jeremiah 19:7(ESV) (9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?). The reality is, everyone on earth has struggled with at least one sin. Looking at another person with lustful desire, hating someone for something they did that wronged us, this is all considered sin in the eyes of God. In ✦Romans 7:15-20(ESV), Paul, an apostle says “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” The sin inside of us causes us to desire things that are not good, and it is only Jesus who can give us a "new heart" that gives us new desires.

Now God knows that as we are creatures made from dust ✦Psalm 103:14-16(ESV), we are prone to sin and to wander away from him ✦Isaiah 53:6(ESV). That’s why God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins, because God knew that no matter how hard we tried, we could not become sinless ✦Romans 5:18-19(ESV); a good work does not balance out a sinful deed that we have done, because the sin that was committed is against an infinitely holy God. When we hurt each other, it’s a finite crime, but in the eyes of God, the creator of all humans, we are hurting His creation, which goes against what he wants for his creation, and there must be consequences for the sins that we commit.

A judge would not be a fair judge if there was a robber on trial, and the robber said “yes, I stole $100, but then I helped a grandma cross the street. Shouldn’t I be allowed to go free because I did a good deed to balance out my bad deed?” A fair judge would still impose a punishment/consequence for the crime that was committed ✦Romans 12:19(ESV).

There are people out there who claim to be Christians, but they do not share the gospel in a gentle and respectful way. People who evangelize by saying "turn or burn" or "God hates __ people" are not real representatives of who Christ really was. When Jesus interacted with people who did not yet believe, he demonstrated love and kindness towards them (even towards people that society looked down upon, like tax collectors ✦Luke 19:1-10(ESV) and prostitutes ✦John 8:11(ESV)).

Hope that helps!