I was recently sent a clip in which a very angry woman screamed at Christian speaker, Charlie Kirk, during some kind of Q&A. Charlie said he wants all people to come to Christ, provoking a very shocked gawk from the woman, who began (or rather, continued) screaming "You want all people to come to Christ? Even my Jewish family members? You want us to come to Christ? You want my Jewish family members to come to Christ?" Charlie calmly and politely responded "yes, and if you give your life to Christ, you'll be transformed from within". Before he even finished his sentence, the angry woman continued "What if we don't come to Christ? What are the consequences? What do you want to happen to the Jews? Solve the Jewish question, Charlie!"
Considering the attitude of this woman, I have to admire how calm and collected Charlie was. It's very obvious that this woman wasn't there to reason, but to vent her misguided emotions, and in a similar situation, I doubt I would hold up as well. But as she wouldn't even pause for breath, Charlie's answers had to be very short, and most assuredly did next to nothing to actually reach her.
Now, I don't want to write an article dedicated to displaying the appalling attitude of one random woman who showed up to a Charlie Kirk event. But I do want to address the extremely common concerns that she raised. The difference is, I have the advantage of not being on the spot, and not being shouted down. Those who want a reasonable answer may read, and those who want to be offended are forced to scream into their pillow rather than my face.
The first thing I would have said, though I doubt I'd have thought of it in the heat of that moment, is what are the consequences for not coming to gravity? If you hate gravity, you're not going to show regard for things like "safety rails", and may even consider them bigoted. But gravity still exists, and if you fall from a particular height, you may get hurt, or even killed.
A more realistic example is smoking. Smoking kills. It has been known for quite some time now that smoking is closely linked to lung cancer, among many other problems. This is to the extent where British law actually requires cigarette packaging to prominently warn of the dangers. An example can be seen in this image.
But speaking from experience, smokers really hate this. Either they already know the dangers, and don't want a constant reminder, or they don't want to know the dangers, and will get quite upset if you try to encourage them to quit.
But what are the consequences if they don't quit? Above all, lung cancer, heart disease, and the risk of strokes, but smoking harms the entire body. It can affect the teeth and gums, causing tooth loss. It can affect the bones, making them more prone to breakage. It can cause inflammation, and reduce the body's immune response. It can cause cataracts. In men, it can reduce the sperm count, reducing fertility. In women, it can make it harder to get pregnant, but of course even when pregnancy occurs, it threatens the baby. These are just a few risks of smoking.
So, you tell me, which is more loving? To proclaim these unpleasant truths, or to leave smokers in blissful ignorance, even possibly resulting in higher numbers of smokers? The obvious answer is that even if many smokers are offended, we should continue to educate people on the dangers of smoking.
The comparison is obvious. The consequences of rejecting gravity are high likelihood of injury or death. The consequences of smoking are health problems ranging from mild to severe, both for yourself and those around you. So, the consequences of rejecting Christ?
That all depends on whether or not Christianity is true. Christianity is not like Islam. We don't have offensive Jihad or apostasy laws. The Christian faith, which was delivered once for all to the saints in the first century (Jude 1:3), is an inherently peaceful religion that thrives on giving reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15), destroying contrary arguments (2 Corinthians 10:3-6), living at peace with all wherever possible (Romans 12:18), and even loving our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). With that simple structure in mind, there are no consequences an unbeliever should reasonably fear for rejecting Christ while on Earth. If we follow our Christian religion consistently, we can't touch you.
But Christ Himself can. Of course, if Christianity is false, that's never going to happen. He's dead, and He's never coming back. Therefore, Christianity is a permanently peaceful religion, as close to Pacifism as you can get without letting violent ideologies wipe you off the face of the Earth.
But if Christianity is true, first of all, why wouldn't you want to come to Christ? There just doesn't seem to be a point in the deliberate rejection of any truth, even a trivial one. It's of no consequence to me that England won the world cup in 1966, but it's true. Why you would reject a truth that will literally determine your eternal destiny is beyond me.
But what seems, to me, to be even more illogical is to act like those who want you to acknowledge the truth must logically want you to experience the consequences of not doing so. "I want you to give up smoking because smoking causes lung cancer." "Oh, so you want me to get lung cancer?" Do you see the absurdity? When Christians preach Christ, it's because we want them to receive the benefits thereof. "What do you want to happen to the Jews? Solve the Jewish question, Charlie!"
What do we want to happen to the Jews? Eternal joy. Everlasting peace. Every tear wiped from their eyes. We want every sin to be wiped away, every punishment to be nullified, we want death itself to die. In short, we want Jewish people to know their own God, because the greatest irony is salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). Jesus, our Savior, is their Savior. Our Messiah is their Messiah. Our God is their God. So there we have the Jewish question solved. Not in a Hitler way, as this particular Jewish woman wanted to imply, but in a Jewish way. Everything in the Old Testament points to Him! Everything in the New Testament is a fulfillment of God's promises in the Old.
Now of course, this isn't limited to just Jews. In fact, far more often, this objection comes from everyone but the Jews. It comes from the atheists. It comes from the Muslims. It comes from the Hindus, the Buddhists, the witches, anyone who rejects Christ acts like it's some kind of great insult to proclaim Him. Because the truth is, it is they who are full of hate. If you love someone, you tell them the truth, even if they don't necessarily want to hear it. And you hope they might. It's not easy, especially when they put up barriers like convincing themselves you're the hateful one, but it's also not impossible. Half our Bible was written by a Jew who used to kill Christians! And so he testifies "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:12-15).
It can hardly be argued that Paul hated Jewish people. In fact, he wished himself accursed for their sake (Romans 9:3). Paul was literally willing to go to Hell for his Jewish brethren. But of course, the ideal is that no one, anywhere, would go to Hell. God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4), and for no one to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Even the death of the wicked brings Him no pleasure (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11). So evidently, in God's own eyes, it is a great tragedy when someone goes to Hell.
Now, if you're offended by the very idea that someone wants you to come to Christ, you're obviously in denial about the possibility you'll go to Hell for rejecting Him. The first problem is that won't change a thing when you meet Him and find out you will. But the second problem is regardless of whether it's true or not, we believe it is, just as you believe it isn't. So why are you offended? Sit down and reason with us. We'll show you why we believe, you can show us why we don't, and at the end of the day, we can coexist in the world we share, hoping to share the next one too.