Question: was the man at the other end of the phone treated with the best level of Christian charity ? He asked if you were interested in duct cleaning. You could have said no [*]. You asked if he was interested in Christmas, and he said, emphatically, no. That he replied at the end with a hostile vulgarity is irrelevant to the question I am asking here.
* Matt 5:37. Yes, I know the context is about not needing to use an oath, but there is something about “[not interested in Christmas], Well you should be ..” that makes me think it applies. I welcome dissent on this.
Dissent welcome or not, here it is:
I have used this kind of approach with scam artists/ersatz duct cleaners many times and have no regrets. In one case, I had a 15 minute talk with a Muslim that, although he remained unconvinced, was illuminating.
Another call lasted around 30 minutes and the scammer ended up admitting his need for Christ, praying and promising to find a church.
In my less than humble opinion, Christians in the west conduct themselves too much like wilting pansies.
If anythng, I think I may have been too generous with this caller.
Dear David, Does this mean you’re not interested in Air Duct Cleaning?
His closing could use a little polishing up…..
Question: was the man at the other end of the phone treated with the best level of Christian charity ? He asked if you were interested in duct cleaning. You could have said no [*]. You asked if he was interested in Christmas, and he said, emphatically, no. That he replied at the end with a hostile vulgarity is irrelevant to the question I am asking here.
* Matt 5:37. Yes, I know the context is about not needing to use an oath, but there is something about “[not interested in Christmas], Well you should be ..” that makes me think it applies. I welcome dissent on this.
Dissent welcome or not, here it is:
I have used this kind of approach with scam artists/ersatz duct cleaners many times and have no regrets. In one case, I had a 15 minute talk with a Muslim that, although he remained unconvinced, was illuminating.
Another call lasted around 30 minutes and the scammer ended up admitting his need for Christ, praying and promising to find a church.
In my less than humble opinion, Christians in the west conduct themselves too much like wilting pansies.
If anythng, I think I may have been too generous with this caller.