I have always felt a bit conflicted about missions. I have always been a "show, don't tell" type of person when it comes to my faith, and the idea of going to foreign countries to evangelize seemed to me to be a little more aggressive than I prefer.On the other hand, Christ told his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." As Christians, we are disciples, or followers, of Jesus, and so just as Christ charged the twelve disciples during his ministry on earth to evangelize, we too are charged with the same task.
As with all things in the Scriptures, though, there is latitude for interpretation.
Missionaries take Mark 16:15 literally and go all over the world to share the Scriptures with people, urging them to accept Christ as their Savior. They are "fishers of men," bringing people to the Church and building people's relationships with the Lord. They take extra schooling to prepare themselves to be deposited into different cultures, and to help them make connections with strangers in order to develop enough trust to preach to them about their faith and build churches in their communities. They dedicate their lives to building the Kingdom of God because of their interpretation of that verse.
There are others, though, that interpret Mark 16:15 less literally. These disciples see the verse more as a guide for living a Christian life. These are the Christians that share their faith and are happy to discuss it with people, but take a less aggressive approach and let people ask them, or let people see their faith in how they live their lives. These are those that say, "Your walk talks louder than your talk talks." They believe that how they live their lives will impact people's hearts and lives.
I have had heated discussions with friends and family about the interpretation of Mark 16:15.
Those that interpret it literally do whatever they can to share the Gospel with anyone and everyone. I was a member of a church for a while that even did monthly "knocking" events with the youth group during which the teens would take their Bibles and knock on the doors of homes in the community to share the Gospel and encourage the residents to attend that particular church that Sunday.I did not participate in these events not because I was embarrassed to share my faith, but because I felt it was intrusive, and it was not who I am as a Christian. Some people are not comfortable being aggressive in sharing the Gospel with people. And to be honest, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Your relationship with the Lord is a personal thing. You are an individual, and ultimately, you are the one that will face God after your death. So don't you think it's important to do what is in your heart to do when it comes to missions and sharing the Gospel?
So "[g]o into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," but do it the way the Lord leads you to do it.
And peace be with you.
I found this post very interesting because I served a two-year voluntary mission for my church (LDS) in Belgium, a country that was at the time reportedly 98% Catholic, with a few Dutch Reformed and Jehovah's Witnesses thrown in, not to mention healthy Jewish and Morrocan populations. I have to agree with you--there is something very "in your face" about serving a mission, no matter which church or in what place you serve it. As I reflect on those two years of my life, I have to conclude that service to God happened most truly and meaningfully when I was in a place (spiritually and geographically) to serve someone. This is where I see the two approaches to proselyting that you point out here coming together. Being in a place to serve (remembering always that preaching when the hearer needs to hear is a form of service) is what Christ really expects of us. Of all the encounters I had with Belgians, the one I most remember and cherish involved no formal teaching, no requirement to commit or to reject a particular brand of faith. It was simply a moment when a child of God was suffering the loss of a spouse and we, as ministers of Christ, were able to provide some impromptu comfort and blessing. On that day, I feel, I was truly a missionary.
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