It is hard to imagine someone who has not had to deal with a co-worker in this country who has not been extremely vocal in their profession of the Christian faith. They'll talk about beliefs at length and as long as your beliefs agree with theirs, it will not lead to any argument.
To be fair, this kind of behavior is not limited to Christianity and I imagine all forms of religion suffer from this type of person in one way or another. I am not talking about the Priest or Preacher whose job it is to do this, but rather the religious hobbyist at your work place out to convert the world.
I spent some time recently speculating on why this might be the case. It seems that these people get nothing out of it other than annoying those around them, but according to Dale Carnegie, author of the self-help classic How to Win Friends and Influence People everyone approaches everything with the attitude of “What's in it for me?” It may seem surprising, but there is something in it other than alienating those around them or clearing out rooms. For the loudmouthed Christian preaching to the disinterested, it is not a matter of how many souls he wins for Christ, it is a matter of him expressing his identity.
It may seem strange that such an individual has something in common with a person who has struggled with their sexual identity for years suddenly coming out of their closet, but both are affirming who they really are. In both cases there is also quite a bit of insecurity. In one case, they have finally decided to stop living a lie, in the other they are trying to convince others of who they really are.
I do not like to use such phrases as spiritual maturity or any other wording that suggests a gage of a person's progress, but the individual proclaiming the gospel loudly seldom understands why their tactics do not work. The very thing they think wins them souls to Christ actually drives people further into their own belief systems and only serves to prove the increasing public perception of Christians as intolerant. (People like Falwell, Phelps and Robertson have not done their God any favors.)
I am not a Christian. I have a problem with the doctrine of salvation and a God that seems to play incredibly complex games with his creations. I also understand the identity bit, I used to be the same way when I was a Mormon, and since I'm writing an article like this, it is hard not to be a hypocrite about it, but living your faith silently and well sets a far better example and works better in the long run than preaching a daily sermon. As a Chinese philosopher once put it, “He who talks doesn't know. He who knows doesn't talk.”
Rather than trying to influence people by your words, if you are this type of person, why not try to influence people by your actions?
