Pope Francis: Anyone Who Proselytizes “Not a Disciple of Jesus” | Answers in Genesis

Should we share the gospel with others? Well, that depends on who (or what) your authority is. If your ultimate authority is a fallible human being, then it would depend on what that person, or group, says. But imperfect humans should never be our ultimate authority. We must always judge what anyone says against the absolute authority of the Word of God.

When we understand and embrace God’s Word, we will know the difference between the truth and the lies, and we won’t be deceived.Find Out MorePope Francis was recently speaking with a group of high school students in Rome. He was asked about dealing with atheists and people of other faiths. His response was that Christians should never proselytize (usually defined as sharing one’s faith in the hope of converting others; Pope Francis seemed to be referring to this definition, as well as to force conversions in his remarks) and that those who do are “not a disciple of Jesus.” After all, he reasoned, “we are not in the time of the crusades,” “we are all children of God,” and “the church does not grow by proselytism.” “Rather,” he says, it grows by “attraction, by testimony.”

Now, I realize some may say he is just saying we need to be gentle, etc. in the way we do things. But using the word “proselytize” with its usual definition is, to me, a big concern. It should be noted that we judge all church leader’s worldviews (regardless of what denomination they belong to) against the authority of Scripture.So, let’s compare what the Pope seems to be saying here against the infallible, inerrant, unchanging Word of God:

Source: Pope Francis: Anyone Who Proselytizes “Not a Disciple of Jesus” | Answers in Genesis