It’s not about making coverts; that is something God alone controls. Rather, we live shalom so that no human has any excuse when they stand before God without Christ.
This is our goal: We demonstrate the revelation of a merciful Creator so that no one can deny knowing redemption was available. Our mission is only to make it visible. That includes receiving into shalom fellowship those who embrace His mercy. People convert themselves.
This is why we say that we live in this fallen world only to shine His glory. There is no other purpose for putting up with the Curse of the Fall.
I wonder if the modern evangelical movement has a lot to do with our affluence. I don’t mean philosophically, but practically. Very generally speaking, we have a lot of disposable time, whereas in past times our skillset was much more specialized, and the task of the religious propagation was left to actual religious leaders or those in that vocation. But now with excess free time, it seems like expectations for us have changed.
That question would require digging into social history. It’s much more complicated than you suggest, but you are on the right track. The modern evangelical movement was born in the USA in a series of “Great Awakening” movements that started with the likes of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. However, you can find religious revivals throughout history, some more or less real, and a great many that were fake for various reasons. Most of it comes from a misreading of the Bible, reading certain biases back into it, so that the model of social stability was lost.
Makes sense. Thanks Ed.