Lenten campaign 2026
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Living in a polarized world of social media comments and YouTube debates, it can seem like evangelization is an activity in which we argue against someone until they admit defeat.
We often assume this is the case based on the vast number of social media influencers (many of them Catholic priests), who "speak the truth" by mowing down heretics with their "convincing" arguments.
Sometimes it's great to be able to present the truth of something and show the error in opposing viewpoints. That's been a part of the work saints' have done since the beginning of the Church.
But at times today, it can seem normal to call people names, thinking that the other person will eventually realize their stupidity and see the error of their ways.
Is this what evangelization is all about?
Souls, not arguments
New York Times bestselling author and Harvard professor Arthur Brooks recently pointed out the error of this definition of evangelization in a keynote address at SEEK26. He explained, "You're going to find people who attack you and what you hold true ... and when that happens, then there's a temptation, a temptation to fight back, to fight fire with fire."
Yet, Brooks continued, "that's the wrong approach for a missionary, because your job isn't to win arguments. It's to win souls."
The key thing to remember, Brooks explained, is that "even when you win an argument with a better argument, you haven't won a soul."
Evangelization is fundamentally about an encounter with Jesus Christ. Our job is to show that other person the love of Christ, rather than the logical inconsistencies of their beliefs.
St. John Paul II wrote a similar summary of evangelization in his encyclical, Redemptoris Missio:
The kingdom of God is not a concept, a doctrine, or a program subject to free interpretation, but it is before all else a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God. If the kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer the kingdom of God which he revealed. The result is a distortion of the meaning of the kingdom, which runs the risk of being transformed into a purely human or ideological goal, and a distortion of the identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom everything must one day be subjected.
In order to be a truly effective missionary, we need to reflect the love of Christ to others, as St. John Paul II explains, "It is not possible to bear witness to Christ without reflecting his image, which is made alive in us by grace and the power of the Spirit. This docility then commits us to receive the gifts of fortitude and discernment, which are essential elements of missionary spirituality."
We need to remember that as much as it may seem like we need to have a convincing argument to convert our family or friends, the most potent weapon is loving that person with Christ's love.
Here's a reflection from Benedict XVI about dialogue:
True, dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding – that is correct. But all the same, the search for knowledge and understanding always has to involve drawing closer to the truth. Both sides in this piece-by-piece approach to truth are therefore on the path that leads forward and towards greater commonality, brought about by the oneness of the truth.
As far as preserving identity is concerned, it would be too little for the Christian, so to speak, to assert his identity in a such a way that he effectively blocks the path to truth. Then his Christianity would appear as something arbitrary, merely propositional. He would seem not to reckon with the possibility that religion has to do with truth.
On the contrary, I would say that the Christian can afford to be supremely confident, yes, fundamentally certain that he can venture freely into the open sea of the truth, without having to fear for his Christian identity. To be sure, we do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us: Christ, who is the truth, has taken us by the hand, and we know that his hand is holding us securely on the path of our quest for knowledge.
Being inwardly held by the hand of Christ makes us free and keeps us safe: free – because if we are held by him, we can enter openly and fearlessly into any dialogue; safe – because he does not let go of us, unless we cut ourselves off from him. At one with him, we stand in the light of truth.
