I failed to evangelize!

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SueKrum

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I’m a cashier in a grocery store, so the conversations I have with my co-workers are very short (during slow moments) and are within ear shot of anyone who might walk by, so I try and keep the conversation fairly light and politically correct (something that is difficult for me at time). I’m also not a very confrontational person and arguing with people makes me nervous.

So here’s what happened. it was me, an older baptest woman and a Hindue woman from India (yeah, sounds like the begening of a joke, but it’s not). They are building a new Hendue temple near where we work. The Baptest woman was saying how she’s happy for the Indian woman and bla de bla de bla. They started going on about how we are all worshiping God, so it doesn’t matter and the Hindue woman turns to me and says, “right Susan? you’re Catholic, but we all believe in God, so we’re going to heaven (or reincarnated or whatever). Don’t you agree?” I felt very uncomfortable and put on the spot because I don’t now believe that “all roads lead to haven” and that is not the teaching of our Church. I sort of felt like maybe God was giving me a moment to tell this woman about the Thruth, but all I ended up saying was, “I really don’t like talking about religion at work” and I walked off. Did I fail our Lord? how can I make up for it if I did? I feel kind of bad about how I handled the situation.
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a better response when challenged in a casual conversation like that, is simply to say, I am sure our beliefs differ, we all have different ideas. If you would ever like to discuss my Catholic beliefs, I would be happy to talk with you after work–and then go back to doing your job.
 
I hope I would have responded with something more like this:

“I don’t think so. In this day and age, it seems to be politically incorrect to say things like “I’m right, and you’re wrong.” But the fact is, we believe different things. We can’t all be right, and it seems unlikely that all roads lead to heaven. Also, I think my faith is weak if I were to say that you are just as right in your beliefs as I am in mine. The truth must remain the truth, and I respect you and your beliefs as you seek the truth, and I ask you to respect me and my beliefs as I seek the truth. But beyond that, only God can say.”

May God bless you as you continue to try to walk that straight and narrow path!
 
At least you didn’t agree to the statement, so maybe you will have a chance to discuss it with them later.

Usually work is the worst place to talk about religion and it is better to invite them to talk about it outside or at lunch. That way you keep the job and you share the faith.

God will allow you to make up for it later, just be patient and always ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within you.

God Bless
Scylla
 
Did you ever notice that we always seem to get these opportunities in real short moments of time and they always catch you off guard? It’s very hard to think fast on your feet. After all, we don’t want to be confrontational. We want to show Christian charity and yet get the point across in a short concise and convincing way.

Boy is that hard!!

Don’t feel bad. God sent you that experience and now we’re all learning from it. I’m really glad that you wrote this because now I have a chance to prepare for it in case someone says something similar.

Let’s see. What would I say? :hmmm:

“Well, I think that I’m going to leave that to God. He’s the one in charge.”

You know, I know that that might sound wimpy but I’m not convinced that God doesn’t take souls that worship him from other religions if those souls don’t know any better.

Hmm. I’m going to give that some more thought.
 
If you were meant to evangelize in that moment with words, the Spirit would have moved you to do so and you would have found yourself saying something you’d b totally surprised to hear coming out of your mouth.

Perhaps the purpose of the moment was to alert you to the mindset of these co-workers, so that, as you are doing now, you turn to the church and other catholics to help you find the courage to be God’s instrument next time the moment arises.

However, do be very careful that you do not spend the next couple of days arming yourself with information for rounds 2 and 3…this, can come off of evangelizing for your own sake rather than emptying your self to let the Spirit evangelize through you.

Remember, also, that we Catholic evangelize with our actions more than our words. Always be equitable, charitable and loving in your actions and you will touch the souls of others without uttering a word, if that is God’s will.
 
Perhaps the purpose of the moment was to alert you to the mindset of these co-workers, so that, as you are doing now, you turn to the church and other catholics to help you find the courage to be God’s instrument next time the moment arises.
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What a great point! I find this to be a good rule of thumb in general. When dealing with friends or co-workers, it’s best to get a sense of them first before you present your beliefs. Often, I will refer to my own sinfulness, or my uncertaintly about where I will be spending my eternal life. My parents especially always screech when I say this because for them, it’s clear that I MUST be heaven-bound! Same goes for friends who know that I live by all the teachings of Christ and His Church, NO MATTER WHAT! So when I comment on my unworthiness, I hope I am conveying the truth.
 
Don’t beat yourself up. I could spend all day re-living moments such as yours where I should have spoken up, or said something different than what I did.

Use this as a reminder to practice these type of casual opportunites in your head, so next time, if you feel comfortable doing so, you may be able to offer a bit of Catholic insight.

I find these type of situations the hardest - they are very casual, come out of the blue, you know the people aren’t looking for an in-depth discussion, and I think it’s hard to explain Catholicism in 2 second sound-bites.
 
At least you got the opportunity. I never do but I’m not going to complain.

If it were me though, I might have said a simple “yes”. Technically, out of ignorance, a Hindu can still go to heaven. Was I right?
 
CatholicSamurai said:
If it were me though, I might have said a simple “yes”. Technically, out of ignorance, a Hindu can still go to heaven. Was I right?
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It’s *possible. *Whether it is likely is another question, hence our obligation to evangelize. But as others said, I don’t think the op dropped the ball.

Scott
 
That is hard to respond right at the moment, but you can now be prepared if the religion topic ever come up again.

It is especially hard if it is co-workers.

With the Hindu woman, I would probably reply, “well this is my personal belief, but I believe that if anyone makes it to heaven, it is thru the blood of Jesus that they make it there, whether they realize it or not.”

This would be just a simple statement, which is stating your belief in Jesus, in a way that is not offensive to a non Christian.
And it doesn’t come off to Judgemental.

I use this as my pat answer, and I have heard positive replies to it.
 
I can understand the inclination to couch our speech in terms of “personal belief” but I think we need to resist that as much as possible. Our Triune God is the god of objective reality, not a god that exists only subjectively.

Scott
 
In cases of evangelization it can be very difficult to walk the fine line of “love of neighbor” while sharing your beliefs… at least when it comes to our neighbor’s interpretation of what we believe.

In that particular situation, I would be very careful not to sound judgemental of their particular faiths. Once you do that, you loose their hearts and minds from anything you may say. They’ll stop listening if they feel insulted.
I would phrase it this way…

“As a Catholic… I cannot say with certainty that I’m going to heaven just because I believe in God. I have to live a good and holy life, and strive towards sinlessness. I have to treat my neighbor with love and love God.”

Keeping it in the first person tends to sound more charitable towards them…
 
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