Objection:
You are proselyters! Why not focus on your own beliefs and allow others the space to practice theirs in peace?
Answer:
To this charge, we plead “guilty,” for the dictionary defines “proselyte” as “to win over to a different opinion, belief, sect, or party,” and that is our work. Christ Himself gave us this command in Matthew 28:19 (NASB): “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them.”
This proselytizing was the mission of Peter, James, John, and the mighty evangelist Paul, and we follow in their footsteps, continuing the work they began. The apostles preached to nominal believers in God that the Messiah of the Old Testament had come. They called upon the heathen to turn “from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). They traveled to the ends of the earth to fulfill their God-given task of proselytizing. We do the same. To the nominal believer, we proclaim that the Christ of the Old and New Testaments—who came to die for our sins—will soon return to this earth. We urge the heathen to turn from their idols to the true God and to prepare for the imminent coming of His Son from heaven.
Everywhere, we encounter men and women holding un-Scriptural beliefs about the significant events that lie ahead, failing to worship the Creator of the heavens and the earth as He has commanded, particularly on the Sabbath (see Exodus 20:8-11; Revelation 14:6-7). If we remain faithful to God, we must use every Christian means possible to redirect these misguided beliefs—to proselytize. We fail in our duty to Heaven if we do otherwise. Where would the world be today if Luther, Calvin, and other Reformers did not preach for people to abandon their previous religious views—proselytizing them? Our task is to complete the work of these Reformers, and we are proud to follow their example and adopt their methods.
